A lot is being made of the recent speech made by Rahul Gandhi. I am sure that everyone has heard or read about it by now. Comparisons are being made between Rahul’s speech and the two speeches made by Modi. Comparing Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi is akin to comparing an alley cat and a lion. Clearly they both belong to the same biological family of cats (because they are both politicians). But that is where the comparison ends. Modi needs to ignore all this and tune the cacophony out.
So far Narendra Modi has addressed a college campus in New Delhi and invited guests at a conclave. While important, these are still small steps. What he needs to do is to get out and start addressing crowds in the states that BJP must win like UP, Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra and other such states. In my opinion, the most important speeches of Modi’s political career are going to be made at campuses in Lucknow, Allahabad, Agra, Aligarh and other cities in UP. The reason for this is that he needs the youth of UP to hear of his vision first hand and not through the media’s biased eyes. They need to feel the power of the man. They need to hear a different kind of speech – one where action is emphasized over rhetoric. Once the youth get energized, they will be able to convince people around them. It seems that energized youth voters in the US convinced their grandparents to vote for Barak Obama which was amazing. Modi is already shaping this to be a campaign in the mold of a presidential election. He needs to take pages out of the Obama’s hand book who won despite of obvious prejudices and difficulties. Under George Bush, economy had become so bad that people were clamoring for change. It was up to Obama to use exploit that sentiment and win despite of his race.
There exists a similar situation in India. No one outside of a Congress meeting thinks that things are alright in the country. Manmohan Singh may say that he is open to a third term (which may still happen if the Indian voters do not unite) but it is clear to all that this man has been a total disaster. Anything that Congress is trying to offer is a rehash of their disastrous policies. India is waiting for something new. That is what Modi’s biggest advantage is. He already has established himself to be a performer. He does not need to convince the entrepreneurs and the business class. They are aware of his prowess. What he needs to do is to step outside of Gujarat and address the youth and the women of India and convince them that he can duplicate the Gujarat experience for the entire country. Women of India need to hear how he is going to make it easy for them to run their households. Youth of India needs to hear about how their future is going to be made safe by actionable policies and good governance. And of course by youth and women I do not mean people from New Delhi or Mumbai. I mean regular voters from the bylanes of Lucknow and galis of Varanasi. Voters form dusty tehsils and parched farmlands. Voters from riot prone areas and forgotten areas from the Maoist / naxalite belt. Hopeless Hindu voters from West Bengal and Kerala and Muslim voters from UP who have been victimized by the pseudo-secular votebank politicians of SP and BSP. Those are the people who need to hear Modi . There is no use trying to convince idiots from JNU and other leftist outpost of our misfortune. The next election is about India and her sons and daughter of the soil. Those are the people who need to hear Modi and become aware of existence of such a politician.
It gladdens my heart that steps are being taken to do just that. Fellow conservative Shashi Shekhar writes the following about the BJP Foundation Day speeches in Gujarat:
First the speeches signalled that the BJP is now in campaign mode and that it will not shy away from pulling punches. Second, that the BJP is no longer trapped in the negativist mindset of the past many years with even Rajnath Singh speaking a new language, floating a Big Idea on “radical devolution of power to the States”. Third, that while the BJP may be concentrated in a few States its main leadership has its sights set on even marginal States like Kerala and West Bengal with the hope of breaking new ground. Fourth, that the BJP will take the Congress head-on over its abuse of institutions for political leverage. Last, that Narendra Modi has assumed the mantle of not just being the de facto ‘first among equals’ leader but also that of the Chief Motivator for the rank and file of his party.
That is what I call as good news. It is a long road but as the saying goes - A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.
The first step has been taken. Knowing the kind of warrior Modi is, I am sure that he has this thing planned out. It is up to his supporters outside of Gujarat to get out and campaign for him.
Shashi Shekhar's article can be read at: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/04/06/modi-signals-gloves-are-off-62753.html
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