Narendra Modi’s Nomination – Heroes And Zeroes

It is more of a relief than pleasure that I felt when I heard the news. It feels that the BJP did the right thing after exhausting all other possibilities. While Modi clearly is the hero here, working tirelessly for the last decade against a relentless opposition from everyone including his own party. This man has gone through more “agni-pariksha” than any other mortal. At every stage, he has proven his mettle, silenced his critics and enthused his supporters. He has done everything that is needed to earn this nomination. However, he has not arrived at this point in history all by himself. I would like to make a list of those who deserve a tip of the hat and those who deserve severe admonishment.

Heroes:

1. Narendra Modi himself. I don’t think anything more needs to be said at this stage.

2. Amit Shah. The man clearly is Narendra Bhai’s man Friday. A significant amount of credit for Modi’s electoral success has to be given to Shah. Judging by the moves this man has made in UP gives you glimpse into this man’s organizational capabilities.

3. Modi supporters. An ardent bunch, this group has single handedly taken it upon them to take the fight to the media and the NGOs who have bullied every conservative in the country. We at Net Hindu would like to think that in some miniscule way, we contributed to the pro Modi wave. Modi supporters in the BJP itself ensured that their voices could not be ignored for the deaf old men in Delhi and Nagpur.

4. However, the biggest hero is Rajnath Singh. I feel bad that I always thought that he was responsible for the debacle in 2004. It is clear now that Advani and his crew ran a roughshod over Rajnath. Why is he the big hero? Until a year ago, Modi was still who he is today. However the list of people opposed to him was immense. For the moment let us ignore the Modi’s non BJP enemies. Even in BJP, there was a tremendous opposition from the Delhi establishment. These incompetent leaders have benefitted from the status quo and have used the putrid concept of collective leadership to hide their failures and incompetence. As we have seen in the last decade or so, BJP has been reduced to a B team of Congress. Under the leadership of Advani, the BJP’s presence in the states with UPA allies was reduced to a shadow. BJP got wiped out of Odisha, Andhra, Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka (this one really is on Advani and Ananth Kumar). The same leaders wanted to keep Modi out of Delhi because he was the one man who could mount a credible challenge to the do-nothing thumb-twiddlers in Delhi. They were also afraid that their usual corrupt ways and quid pro quo practices would be disabled. With Modi around them may actually have to get up and do something or take a stand. None of the Delhi based BJP wallahs wanted Modi in. Now the old men in RSS who had inflicted a clown like Gadkari on the hapless BJP were more than happy to inflict again. All this was done in the name of the anti-personality cult these old men were seemingly stood opposed. It was clear that with Modi at helm, these men who were to BJP what Sonia is to Congress, would be marginalized and lose their importance. For a while it seemed that these men would rather lose the next election and re-elect Congress rather than elect Modi. Behind the scene machinations clearly engineered by Rajnath Singh corrected all that. The first proof of his grand design became evident when Gadkari was removed and Singh became the chief. After that somehow, the RSS elders came around and became Modi backers. They probably realized that he was the best chance for a conservative at helm. I would really like to thank them for this all important change of heart. After this the challenge was Advani who knew that with a weakened Congress, it was the best opportunity for him. What this old coot failed to see was that the only reason why Modi has a good chance of winning is because there are voters out there who are willing to vote for him but not BJP. Advani did everything he could to stop Modi’s nomination. In fact not too long ago Modi came out and said that he would be happy serving Gujarat till 2017 which clearly was his way of expressing his frustration at the roadblocks to his nomination. Even the BJP CMs were giving mixed signals. I am sure that it was Rajnath Singh’s deft politicking that brought this one home. If Modi wins the 2014 election, the nation would owe a debt of gratitude to Singh. I certainly do.

Zeroes:

1. Sushma Swaraj and MM Joshi. They did their best to keep Modi out by ganging up with Advani. However, they redeemed themselves by doing the right thing albeit as the last resort.

2. Lal Jaichand Advani. What can I say about this man? A cantankerous old man who is still trying to scuttle the BJP boat. A true blue traitor to the party who in his hubris has destroyed the very entity he claims to have built. This man has ridden the coattails of greater men than he and thinks that seniority somehow makes him a claimant to the PM’s chair. This man should have been born into the Gandhi family. He cannot go away soon enough.

3. Naysayers outside of the BJP. To this group of bitter losers I would say thhhbbbbppppptttt!!

It is only the first step in the right direction. With this under his belt, we can already see the grand design that Modi with the help of Rajnath Singh and others has planned. That of course will be a topic of another post. But for now:

Hamara Neta Kaisa Ho?
Narender Modi jaisa ho!!!