news details |
|
|
| Need for all to start with a clean slate | | Lessons to be drawn from Gujarat elections | | Early Times Special Correspondent
Jammu | Dec 24
Nothing succeeds like success. The spectacular victory of BJP in Gujarat, under the stewardship of Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, cannot be helped conceding the same by all the opponents of the BJP and more so of much defamed and maligned Narendra Modi, who has played the hat trick consecutively for the third time and the BJP winning power in the state for the fourth time without any break. Little short of two third majority won by the party, the major credit of which goes to Modi, which has proved all the calculations and pre poll and exit poll predictions wrong and the failure of the Congress to wrest power from the saffron front, despite all the fair and foul means and tricks used, degenerating the poll campaign to a no hold barred war of words, singularly attacking Modi, comparing him with Hitler and describing him as the "Merchant of Death", killer of Muslims and so on, provoking Mufti to retaliate in the similar undignified manner, has many lessons to be drawn.
First of all, as the victorious Modi has in his humility stated at the victory rally in Gandhi Nagar as well as while speaking to the media, with the elections over all the bitterness and avoidable mud slinging resorted to by both sides during the election campaign should come to an end. It is hoped that the spectacular win of Modi and his party in the elections will instead of turning their head mad in intoxication, they will show more magnanimity and tolerance of the opponents and fully accommodate their concerns. This is time for Modi to heed the advice rendered to him by the then prime Minister and his party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the wake of post Godhra riots in Gujarat, to follow the Raj Dharam. Whether in autocracy and more so in democracy the ruler has to administer justice to all sections of his people, irrespective of whether they voted for him and his party or voted for the opponents, their religion, caste and creed. It is hoped that Modi would become wiser and shall the impression created about him by his detractors as enemy of any community and overtly and covertly creating polarization and wedged between the two communities. It will be better if he himself takes the effective measures to assuage the hurt psyche of minorities, creates in them a feeling of belonging and a sense of equal partnership in the development of the state and the country and remove, if any, sense of insecurity and fear among them. On their part the minorities, more precisely Muslims in Gujarat should repose confidence and faith in their Chief Minister and no more fall pray to the machinations of their exploiters, who want to use or misuse them as their vote bank, playing politics over the dead bodies and suffering of others.
Another lesson to be drawn from the failure of the Congress to avail of the incumbency factor against the ruling BJP in Gujarat, is that by acting as a B team or a replica of BJP, it cannot dislodged the former from power and capture the same. Any victory of Congress under the prevailing circumstances, by dislodging Modi, on the support and strength of a large number of BJP rebels would have been virtually the victory of BJP in proxy. There is hardly any character or personality of Congress left in Gujarat, with the party led and dominated by former BJP stalwarts, like Shankar Singh Waghela, Suresh Mehta, Kanshiram Rana and many others. The people always prefer the A team and the original against the B team or photo copy of the original. This has been the lesson from changing political fortunes of the parties, either in 1977 or in 2004.
Still another and perhaps the more important lesson is that the slander campaign against an individual or a party does not pay, rather it recoils on those who indulged in it. The parties must come before the electorate with positive programs, rather than count on the real or imaginary negative points of the opponents. The high voltage Congress campaign throughout electioneering in Gujarat was to malign Narendra Modi and highlight his alleged negative points, calling names and even hurling abuses rather than to present positive and better side of their own party. It is unfortunate indeed that the tallest leader of the Congress of high stature, Sonia Gandhi stooped to the level of bazaree tactics of describing Narendra Modi as Merchant of Death (Maut Ka Saudhagar). With the same not working and not paying the party, Sonia Gandhi has only brought herself to ridicule and subject of criticism even by his own party members, who in private complain of these remarks having recoiled on the Congress, with Modi exploiting the same to his advantage.
It will be far fetched to draw the conclusion from the BJP victory in Gujarat to be harbinger of the party coming back to power in the centre in the next elections. The landslide victory of the party in Gujarat and also its expected victory in Himachal Pradesh, the result of elections where, will be out only after four days, will definitely serve a great moral booster for the party, but to call it a trend setter for the general elections in the country will be only a miscalculation, since India is a vast country with various states having divergent priorities and perceptions among its people. This victory should in no way lead to a sense of complacence in the BJP, which needs many more vote catching personalities in different states, who strike their chords with the masses at large. It shall also have to draw out a program and line of action which rebuilds party's credibility and acceptability at the national level.
Any over expectation and casting Narendra Modi for a leading role, even short of projecting him as the next Prime Minister, the loud talks of which are being made by certain quarters, will be a great folly. The spectacular victory of BSP supremo Mayawati in UP in the recent past had also given rise to similar speculations of her prospects of becoming the Prime Minister of the country. But her halt has stopped beyond expanding to UP. The drawing blank of her party in Gujarat as well as the expected poor performance in Himachal Pradesh is a pointer towards this direction. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
