Modi needs to take his battle to Amethi and Rae Bareli

Tuhin Sinha Monday , May 20, 2013 at 17 : 48

Even though the BJP might still be nowhere close to officially declaring its PM candidate, Narendra Modi has decided to go all out and focus his energies on the key state of Uttar Pradesh. His trusted aide Amit Shah has been made in charge of the state while Modi himself is apparently very close to finalising a Lok Sabha seat in the state from where he would be contesting the polls.

Modi's ambitious plans for UP which constitutes 15 per cent of the strength of Lok Sabha actually make a lot of sense. Modi is only too well aware of his polarising impact and if he can succeed in converting the battle for UP into a pro vs anti-Modi battle, there is every chance of that pattern extrapolating itself across the country. Of course, the plan is dicey and laden with perils but that's where his proactive approach shines through compared to other BJP stalwarts. Modi rightly knows that leading from the front is perhaps the party's best bet to reverse its fledgling fortunes in a state which once gave the party 57 MPs.

While Modi and his spin doctors are definitely working to a time-bound plan, sooner than later he will need to shift gears and take a few important calls.

In my opinion, the most tricky challenge that BJP has faced in the last 9 years is to decide whom to focus their attack on: the PM or the Gandhis (Sonia and Rahul). The Gandhis have successfully manoeuvred the situation to make themselves seem more conscientious than the PM. The BJP leaders, on the other hand, have fallen for the bait, and attacked the PM relentlessly, only to unsuccessful ends.

Sure, we have a weak, ineffective, helpless PM, who is also unabashed being so. It's actually quite tempting to ridicule and rip apart such a person. But the fact is that Indians are essentially eternal sympathisers who feel more pity than hatred for the PM. No wonder then that despite his abject non-performance, they still don't quite hate him.

The BJP needs to restrain itself from going overboard against the PM. A shrill, high voltage campaign against a weakling doesn't work as the party had discovered in 2009 as well. Instead, the BJP needs to focus itself on exposing the PM's bosses (Sonia and Rahul) who get away by conveniently faking distance from the PM and hence seeming more upright.

One of the key challenges for Modi, thus, would be to help his party get their focus right. They need to focus their diatribe against the Gandhis and not the PM. To that extent, Modi must take his battle to the Lok Sabha constituencies of Rahul and Sonia. For the first time since 1977 when Indira Gandhi was defeated in Rae Bareli, the Gandhis are once again on an extremely weak footing in their home constituencies. Public resentment over corruption is very high. Moreover, having served two consecutive terms, a strong anti-incumbency factor is at play in both these constituencies. At the same time, the "Gujarat model" has caught the fancy of people in general, in ill-administered states.

The prevailing situation, thus, provides Modi just the right opportunity to go for the kill. Modi must now focus on unseating Sonia and Rahul from Rae Bareli and Amethi respectively. Nothing is more damaging for a mass leader than losing his/her favorite constituency. Moreover, that will be a sure-shot way of decimating the confidence of Congress cadres across the country.

Of course, to achieve that, Modi might have to make another colossal gamble: he must contest from Amethi. The plan is undoubtedly dicey but a surer way to ensure his PM ambitions. Besides, he could contest from a safer seat in Gujarat too.

Big gains demand bigger risks. While in the past the BJP has suffered for 'playing it safe', the time has come for Modi to reverse things and deal that decisive killer blow that would throw the Congress out of power.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/unapologeticallyright/2850/64588/modi-needs-to-take-his-battle-to-amethi-and-rae-bareli.html