Let Modi Campaign in UP

In any organization, there are those who rise because of hard work and capability. Then there are those who rise on charm, oratory and proximity to the right people. The latter may do very well but will never ever earn the respect of the middle to lower level leaders and grassroots workers. That is because the respect has to be earned. It does not come with the post. That is why you would find the latter kind are disciples of Machiavelli who famously said: It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both. The Gandhi family is that way. The BJP also have their share of these false prophets. You have people like Arun Jaitley in top positions despite of never having won any election personally. Whenever he has been in charge of a BJP campaign in a state election, the results have been less than pretty. Then we have Nitin Gadkari who seems to be the BJP’s poor answer Digvijay Singh (there is no one like Digvijay Singh) who seems to be busy shooting of his mouth instead of making good decisions in a quite and effective manner.

As far as the former kind are concerned, I have been telling my friend Swami Thambi that at the end of the day no matter what the perceived baggage, Bhai Narendra Modi is the tallest leader the BJP has. He has earned the respect of the middle and lower tier leaders along with the workers. He has done that by being a performer and a winner. During the elections in Bihar, the party workers wanted him to campaign. Of course Nitish Kumar who still has pretensions of being a secular leader snubbed him. Now in UP which is the most crucial reaction facing the BJP, the local leaders and workers want Modi to campaign. However, Gadkari is not only keeping him out but have made a Modi baiter in charge of UP elections even though the man has little to do with UP. Gadkari is justifying this with the elusive Muslim votes in mind. As per a report this is what a BJP MLA from eastern UP said:

"Are the Muslims dying to vote the BJP? Modi has a tremendous ability to motivate our cadres, our hard-core backers and even some of the floating voters. He's an asset."

Though dripping with sarcasm, the statement rings true. Muslims in Gujarat may vote for Modi because then benefit from him directly. However, Muslims in the rest of the country are a brainwashed lot thanks to the efforts of the pseudo secular politicians, media and their own leaders. THEY WILL NEVER EVER VOTE FOR THE BJP. That is why the BJP should try to mobilize their Hindu base and ensure a maximization of Hindu votes in their favor. Who better to mobilize that base than Modi? That should be more than enough to capture UP or any other state. Gadkari should worry more about the party’s success and less about his own fat ego. I hope that he does not end up cutting his nose to spite his face.

BJP fails to finalize candidates' list for UP

“A sulking Katiyar is not the only problem. A debate has begun on whether Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi would be enlisted in the campaign. Gadkari — who virtually snapped communication with Modi after the Gujarat chief minister did not attend the BJP's last national executive—reportedly told confidants that he would be a "liability" in a state with close to 20 per cent Muslim population.”