Modi, BJP & 2014 Elections: Ignore The Noise

Manmohan Singh recently said “Joh garajte hain who baraste nahin”. He then went on to quote Chacha Ghalib. Wow. A lot of words from a guy who kept quiet through the systematic pillaging of the nation by his allies, terrorist attacks, beheadings of our soldiers, brutal rapes, farmer suicides amongst slew of travesties and tragedies. Yeh who sajjan hain jo nah toh garajte hain na hee baraste hain. It took one speech by Bhai Narendra to wake this sphinx up from his power-induced stupor. Meanwhile, the Mamata Bannerjee who is the CM of a state where the workers riot and strike more than any other state said that they riot in Gujarat, not in Bengal. Noise coming out of the anti Modi lobby is becoming shriller. In fact the closer he gets to the official declaration of his ascension to the national stage, the anti Modi hate speeches are going to become nastier and nastier.

In fact a non issue like the speech at Wharton has filled the anti Modi lobby with glee as if permission to speak at a US university or visa to US is some kind of validation for an Indian leader. Those with even a cursory knowledge of US politics know that political correctness has run amok in that country. Liberals have been meeting with known America haters like Hugo Chavez without any consequences. A typical US university is bastions of liberalism and as a result preach freedom of expression but do not practice it.

Even conservative writers in India are bothered by all this. One author is worried if Modi can ignore his critics. People are worrying if Modi is going to be enough to put BJP over the top in the next elections. I have a suggestion for all those people.

As a researcher, I know how to differentiate between baseline noise and relevant data. If you want to use a traditional analogy then think of Arjun who could see nothing but the eye of the fish. That is precisely what the BJP have to do. Modi already knows what to do because that is what he has been doing since the tragedy at Godhra station and riots after it. The party needs to FOCUS. The next election is akin to the eye of the fish. All the rest is just background noise. Modi has essentially been given the lead role. His speech at the BJP meet was meant for the party cadre and it did the trick. The enthusiasm in the workers was palpable. An expert hand at this, Modi clearly knows what to say to whom.

Modi and the BJP need to ignore the increasing din from the Modi detractors and focus on the message of development, prosperity and India first, all encompassing kind of secularism (something we on this blog have been a long time proponents of). The voters are clearly tired of same old politics. The voters want to hear about clear cut and implementable plan rather than trumped up statistics and Ghalib poetry. Modi has implemented a lot of plans that have been working wonders in Gujarat. Those plans can and need to be implemented on the national level. That is the message the voters want to listen. The response of students at SRCC tells us that.

Let us leave the statistics, poetry and good looking / polished fluff to Congress. Let us stick to the basics – integrity, food, development, security and path ahead for our children. In the end, actions speak a lot louder than words. Congress has failed the nation. Modi has delivered at state level and can deliver for the country. That should be the message which rises above the cacophony.

A good article on the Wharton fiasco can be read at: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/03/05/fiasco-of-modi-at-wharton-52433.html