Modi vs Congress : Dilemma of Indian Democrats

K Indrasena Reddy

Narendra Modi’s public meeting at Hyderabad on August 11 is historic in the sense that it inaugurated the series of 100 such meetings throughout the country as part of his national campaign. Ever since Modi was elevated as Chairman, National Election Campaign, for 2014 elections at the BJP Goa conclave, he has been at the centre stage of national politics and the national media. The slogan of Modi’s Hyderabad public meeting was Navabharat Yuva Bheri.

Lal Bahadur Stadium, the venue of the meeting, was not able to accommodate the large crowds who came for the meeting. Modi’s 50-minute eloquent peroration is a critique of the policies of the Congress Party in respect of rampant corruption, unemployment, brain and resources drain of the youth going abroad for education and employment; black money stacked in foreign banks; apathetic attitude of the government towards border incursions by Pakistan and China; and dynastic rule. Some of the seminal issues raised by him are: Development, Change, National Security and Integration. His clarion call to the people was for “liberation of the nation from the Congress misrule.”

Modi’s Hyderabad meeting is an occasion for contextualization of various political scenarios before the people and the imperatives of a national government at the Centre on the lines of the Nehru’s first Cabinet. The Time magazine predicted Modi’s possible ascendency to the Prime Minister’s position almost 15 months ago through its issue of March 16, 2012, with his portrait on its cover page, substantiating the same with a convincing commentary on him.

Modi is known for the development of Gujarat as a model State. He is bound to be declared as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate any time so as to brighten and ensure its success before the Congress Party or any other conglomeration can throw up a rival to him in the ring. The Congress coterie is likely to prop up Rahul Gandhi, the fifth generation young man of the dynasty, as its Prime Ministerial candidate. One wonders if he can be a match to Modi in terms of political exposure, experience, will power and commitment to preside over the destiny of 120 crore Indians.

The impact of the misrule of Congress and the net result of its anti-incumbency factor of a decade can be its swan song whenever elections are held. The Third and Fourth Fronts will become proactive only when the chips are down. The Third Front is known as the non-BJP and non-Congress combine, and God alone knows which parties constitute the Fourth Front. For instance, can Samajwadi Party stick to its stand against the BJP and the Congress? What about the role of Mayawati in the post-poll scenario? What will be the stand of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress as she is known for her allergy against the Left parties?

The Left parties may not be in a position to play a crucial role in the formation of the new government. Is Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal (U) going to support the Congress Party against the BJP even if the Congress loses the electoral battle? The political scenario in AP on the eve of the bifurcation is most unpredictable at present. The Third and Fourth Fronts have a limited agenda of being part of the party in power. AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa, Shiv Sena, RLD, Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal and many small parties normally go with the ruling coalition. The social media managers of the BJP can turn the tide to Modi’s advantage. Moreover, the BJP will project Modi as the first OBC aspirant for the Prime Minister’s job in post-independence India.

The BJP is well ahead of the Congress party in its campaign. The Congress is yet to announce its leader for the 2014 electoral battle, and it is still caught up in its own characteristic indecisive state on several unresolved issues. The Left intellectuals are worried about the possible emergence of Modi as the Prime Minister for obvious reasons.

But was the CPM top brass not responsible for stalling Jyothi Basu’s elevation as the Prime Minister of India? Had Basu been allowed one term as Prime Minister, the political shape and history of the country would have been a lot different today. Did not the Left Government in West Bengal write its own death warrant through its Nandigram and Singur agenda?
India is in need of a strong-willed political leader like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel since the present national scenario is comparable to what India had been on the eve of Independence in 1947 with the presence of several hundred Princely States? What should be the role of democratically minded intellectuals in moulding public opinion on the eve of crucial national elections?

This precisely is the dilemma of progressive Indians. The Congress, the hazy Third and unformed Fourth Fronts are busy in their own intriguing game of election-oriented politics. Under these circumstances, there is an imperative need for a national Government in 2014 on the lines of Nehru’s first Cabinet which included non-Congress veterans like Dr. Shyam Prasad Mukherjee of the Jana Sangh and Dr BR Ambedkar of the Labour party.

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