Narendra Modi vs Nitish Kumar

India gave Congress party a second opportunity to make good in 2009, but it seems bent upon wasting the goodwill.


Jyoti Malhotra September 24, 2011

On Day Two, last week, of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s fast for communal harmony in an air-conditioned hall in Ahmedabad, the carefully orchestrated image makeover nearly fell apart when several victims of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom began to protest against the lack of justice meted out to them, even after nine years, and a key ally of the BJP, the Janata Dal (United) party led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, trashed Modi’s claims to top-quality governance.

Now many of us in the subcontinent love to hate the overweening power of television, arguing that it focuses on the trivial and the sensational, as it races towards the weekly ratings chart.

But in the last few days, television has performed an untold service simply by keeping the camera on Modi and broadcasting, live, the changing dynamics between him and a fawning BJP leadership. From 83-year-old LK Advani to senior leader Arun Jaitley, they all invoked Modi’s greatness in leading India to new horizons.

Modi kept a straight face throughout, accepting gifts of shawls and head-gear from all communities with perfect aplomb, as if he were being crowned. He and his media-savvy partymen invited every major TV channel to interview him. We all saw how Modi touched his mother’s feet, received her blessings, and only then began his fast.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had sent two emissaries, and Akali Dal Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal flew to Ahmedabad just so he could hug Modi in person.

Only Nitish Kumar didn’t show up.

It must have really hurt, but Modi is made of sterner stuff. Even if you try and spoil his party, he will simply smile and tell you that Ratan Tata as well as the Americans believe that Gujarat is a safe and happy and prosperous state and will continue to lead India’s socio-economic indicators in the years to come.

Truth is, Modi is right. Tata moved his eponymous small car factory, the Nano, after he was thrown out of West Bengal three years ago, to Gujarat. And in the last week, WikiLeaks have told us that Washington believes that it is Modi, not Rahul Gandhi, who will be the next prime minister of India.

Now everyone is entitled to their views, including the Americans, and here I will offer up thanks that they don’t vote in the Indian elections ­— at least not yet. But the one fact that shines forth at the end of Modi’s three-day fast is that while he is a formidable politician, in the foremost ranks of the BJP leadership and Gujarat’s Number One citizen — he hasn’t charmed the rest of India yet.

Make no mistake, India’s heart still beats for the secular man or woman. India gave the Congress party a second opportunity to make good when it returned to power in 2009, but from all accounts it seems bent upon squandering the enormous goodwill.

Atal Behari Vajpayee knew that if he wanted to rule India, he had to become bigger than the BJP. That is why, in the wake of the Gujarat riots, he advised Modi to invoke the ‘rajdharma,’ literally, the rule of the King over all his subjects — Hindu and Muslim, upper and lower caste, tribal and urban.

By arresting the riot victims, Modi has shown us that he’s not listening to Vajpayee. That is why it is even more important, henceforth, to pay heed to what Nitish Kumar is doing.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2011.

COMMENTS (23)

Abhi | 12 years ago | Reply I wish cud reccommend this more than once.@UV:
Zakhir Zaid | 12 years ago | Reply

The divide has been becoming more and more off late. Modi being shunned by Nitish, and Advani being shunned by Bhagwat. Knowing that modi has ties with bhagwat and nitish with advani. I do not understand how the BJP can be functioning in such a haphazard manner. Someone please instill some sense of reality in them, which is this, the masses can see the political party functioning erratically, without any central authority or course of action..

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