Modi faces tall order to better 117
4 Dec 2012 6:36 AM IST
With less than 10 days to go before polling begins for the Gujarat assembly elections, chief minister Narendra Modi finds himself embroiled in a battle to better his 2007 performance lest his detractors within the party pour water on his prime ministerial aspirations. In the past few days, Modi is making attempts to engage the Congress into a debate around post-Godhra riots but the grand old party has so far managed to stay away from committing a 2007-like harakiri.
There has been a beeline of BJP leaders visiting Modi’s fiefdom ostensibly to be part of the campaign but also to do a reality check on the Gujarat chief minister’s much-vouched-for charisma.
Leaders returning to the Capital after their jaunt in the poll-bound state are heard asking whether the party under Modi would better its 117 (out of 182) seats mark. Much importance is being adduced to this figure before a decision is taken to enrol Modi as the prime charioteer of the BJP bandwagon in 2014 general elections.
Modi himself realises that despite the television surveys going berserk over a pro-Modi wave in the upcoming polls, the chances of bettering the 117 mark would be hugely dependent on the BJP polling 49.12 percent votes, which it got in 2007. Having been in power for more than a decade despite his developmental blitzkrieg, Modi is faced with natural set in of anti-incumbency. Over the past few years, he has tried to overcome this by making an attempt to cut ice with the minority community.
With the 10 per cent of Muslim voters still disinclined to vote for the BJP, the Gujarat chief minister in the past week has attempted to consolidate his Hinduvta appeal by engaging into a shadow bout with senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Congress president.
Modi hopes to polarise votes on the same lines as 2002 and 2007, which paid him rich dividends. The question is will the Congress oblige Modi this time around. A fall in vote share, the Gujarat CM realises, will have the knives out for him within his own party.
There has been a beeline of BJP leaders visiting Modi’s fiefdom ostensibly to be part of the campaign but also to do a reality check on the Gujarat chief minister’s much-vouched-for charisma.
Leaders returning to the Capital after their jaunt in the poll-bound state are heard asking whether the party under Modi would better its 117 (out of 182) seats mark. Much importance is being adduced to this figure before a decision is taken to enrol Modi as the prime charioteer of the BJP bandwagon in 2014 general elections.
Modi himself realises that despite the television surveys going berserk over a pro-Modi wave in the upcoming polls, the chances of bettering the 117 mark would be hugely dependent on the BJP polling 49.12 percent votes, which it got in 2007. Having been in power for more than a decade despite his developmental blitzkrieg, Modi is faced with natural set in of anti-incumbency. Over the past few years, he has tried to overcome this by making an attempt to cut ice with the minority community.
With the 10 per cent of Muslim voters still disinclined to vote for the BJP, the Gujarat chief minister in the past week has attempted to consolidate his Hinduvta appeal by engaging into a shadow bout with senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Congress president.
Modi hopes to polarise votes on the same lines as 2002 and 2007, which paid him rich dividends. The question is will the Congress oblige Modi this time around. A fall in vote share, the Gujarat CM realises, will have the knives out for him within his own party.
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