Second Generation Of BJP Leaders Show The Way.

BJP Chief Ministers, right to left, Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), P K Dhumal (Himachal Pradesh), Arjun Munda (Jharkhand), Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (Uttarakhand) and Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Modi

After she was put in a bind, Sushmaji “endorsed” Narendra Modi as a “fit candidate” for PM. It was the kind of endorsement that one gives to a rival. In fact the entire core team of BJP leaders is behaving like rivals. Despite of single handedly destroying BJP’s chances in 2009, Advani is still nursing his dream. Sushmaji still has not realized her place in the party. She is a good orator with limited public appeal and a disastrous Delhi CM tenure under her belt. Gadkari knows his role exactly and that way has stayed out of this power play. Jaitley has never won a Loksabha election. He and Gadkari are probably the least qualified of all.

These people are all campaigning in Gujarat but the statements and body language betrays a lack of enthusiasm. Gujarat election has the potential of becoming a political body blow for Congress. That should enthuse even the moribund in the BJP but not this crowd. On the other hand, the CMs of all the BJP ruled states have not only endorsed Modi without any reservations but also have been campaigning for him. These two events have long-term implications on the future of the BJP. First of all, the current crop of the BJP leadership has outlived its utility. These people are mired in petty rivalries and seemed to have reached a plateau of mediocrity. On the other hand, this next generation of BJP leaders i.e. the BJP CM’s, Sushil Kumar Modi and a number of younger leaders have shown that they realize that the party has to move away from sloganeering and perform when given a chance. From that point of view, the current leadership failed miserably in handling the Karnataka situation. It was a tremendously important state, BJP’s foothold in the great Indian South but thanks to inept management, it may be lost back to Congress.

The BJP CM’s have shown how to govern with efficiency so we know that they are all competent men. None of them, other than BSY have been implicated in anything despite of the entire Congress machinery against them. We know they are all very honest. They have won elections convincingly. So we know that these guys have mass appeal and can extrapolate that to the national level. Their enthusiasm is palpable. I am sure they also have big egos but clearly that is not showing. They clearly are not bothered by the hoopla around Modi’s move to the national scene. These guys give me hope that there exists a second generation of BJP leaders who can continue to lead us for the next decade and beyond.

To have a second generation of such competent leadership will make the BJP a very important player in future. Congress high command has no desire of bringing up anyone as long as Rahul and Priyanka are around. The regional parties including Trinamul Congress are all either family run or based on a personality cult. No scope of second-generation leadership there. That only leaves the Commies who have second-generation leaders but Commies are never going to be a national force and will remain in Bengal and Kerala.

It is because of this that I feel good about the future of the BJP. If only we can lift ourselves up from the current mess and find a way to win 2014.

The image is from ahmedabadmirror.com
An article of interest is:http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_gujarat-polls-bjp-cms-slam-upa-on-campaign-trail_1769565