Modi still soars above the fray
The common man loves his way of doing things. It is not as if there is a drought of honest and hardworking leaders in the country.
Their political adversaries don’t raise questions over the personal integrity and honesty of Nitish Kumar in Bihar and Manik Sarkar in Tripura. I also wanted to mention Arvind Kejriwal in this list of upright CMs but…The PM’s penchant for change management has compelled the Opposition space to shrink. When he faced criticism about wearing a suit priced at ₹10 lakh and that his was a ‘suit-boot’ government, instead of defending himself with words he focused on changing his appearance.
He realises that no electoral victory is meaningful without a strong organisational structure. Which is why he appointed his trusted colleague Amit Shah as party president. As was expected, Shah has not left any stone unturned in making the BJP relevant in the current context. Today if some of the faces of the party are people who earned their spurs in the RSS shakhas, there are other officebearers who’ve studied at Wharton and Cambridge. If army generals occupy key party positions, so do farmers.
Modi is anticipating that he may have to fight a united Opposition in 2019. The battle won’t be easy. Since there is little room for error, the NDA has already announced that Modi will be their prime ministerial candidate. The Opposition needs to act, and fast. But can such decisions be taken in haste?
Political pundits are keeping an eagle eye on the forthcoming presidential elections. It is clear that an NDA candidate will win the elections for India’s first citizen and even if the Opposition camp puts up a contest, it will only be symbolic. Symbols and personalities have enormous significance in a democracy. Clearly, it will be the first litmus test for a united Opposition and its reverberations will be felt till the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.