Sangh Parivar

Every political analyst worth his by-line believes the biggest hurdle Modi faces is within his party and even the most insignificant among Modi’s supporters keep asking wistfully whether the BJP and the Sangh Parivar would let this man be the PM.

The principal reason why so many in the BJP are opposed to Narendra Modi becoming the PM is the simplest of all reasons. Too many senior leaders have been around in BJP for too long and many of them have had occasion, at one stage or another, to look at him like a bright young man who executes plans efficiently. For about a decade in the 1990s, for many of the BJP stalwarts he was a backroom boy who could be trusted to organise meetings and yatras efficiently which they could spearhead smilingly and successfully.

He held senior positions in the party and successfully pushed through several decisions that had few takers in the party, including the decision to change the regime in Himachal and to side with Chautala in Haryana. Thus Modi did play a strategic role in BJP’s central organisation between 1995 and 2000 on several occasions, he was somehow viewed more as a part of the administrative machinery than the leadership.

Yet, he was too young and the seniors who thought they were too senior continued to look at Modi as a bright and young executive assistant whom they courted not because he was a political leader of some consequence but because he was a manager and an administrator who took care of details. Advani had never had to bother about his constituency after he started contesting from Gandhinagar constituency. In 1998 when Gujarat went to polls without the assembly completing its term, Modi was sent to ensure that the party machinery functioned smoothly. He went, he ensured the BJP returned to power and then he came back to New Delhi to resume his role as a backroom boy.

However, after the big earth quake in 2001 the party was left with no option but to give him a publicly visible role by making him Chief Minister of Gujarat because only he was considered efficient enough to regain lost ground within the short time available. The young man of yesteryears was appointed as Gujarat Chief Minister and he started converting himself into a political leader at a furious pace almost instantaneously. His stock with the people of Gujarat rose too suddenly to too high a level. This was followed by his mass appeal spreading through out the country because egged on by the so-called liberals and intellectuals, the media persistently kept the arch lights focussed upon him. A decade down the road stalwarts of yesteryears are trying to figure out where and how they were overtaken.

It is only human for the BJP stalwarts to feel at least uncomfortable, if not aghast, at the prospects of reporting to a man who was of little consequence until a decade earlier. This phenomenon isn’t as incomprehensible as many believe since it frequently happens even in private organisations. An entrepreneur’s son can be accepted as CEO of a company but if a management trainee is appointed CEO of a billion dollar company within a few years of joining, some of the senior managers are bound to feel dismayed. Perhaps that is why Congress has stuck to its dynastic system where no bright young boy can ever spring from nowhere in particular and claim the top job over the heads of septuagenarians and octogenarians who have been around for several decades.

However, there is a bigger reason why he faces so much of opposition within his own party and this is also the reason why people around the country love him so much and have started looking at him expectantly.

Narendra Modi’s problem is that he ignores nothing. It is often said that he doesn’t forget and doesn’t forgive and that may well be true to some extent but it is also true that he keeps abreast of all issues any organisation headed by him is supposed to address. Whatever else he may or may not be, anybody who has worked with him knows that he is a strict disciplinarian who unfailingly praises and promotes the performers and never fails to reprimand the errant and punish the rogues. Periodic evaluation of performance of his team members is a compulsive habit of Narendra Modi. He deems it an integral part of governance.

Most senior leaders of BJP know that he would behave with his ministers exactly the way Indira Gandhi did, with the added caveat that the Iron Lady wasn’t as meticulous in matters of governance as Modi is. Few remember Indira Gandhi for having warned under performing ministers whereas Modi watches each ministry and department with an eagle eye. If a project is scheduled to be completed by a given day, the concerned minister and bureaucrats know that Modi is going to seek confirmation of completion on the due date. If reasons for any delay aren’t adequately convincing, he minces no words when reprimanding those responsible for completion of the work.

Obviously, ministers do not enjoy much of ‘discretion’ under Modi, particularly in terms of doling out favours, and this is what puts many off. Its not that Modi clears every file. He does allow a great deal of leeway but that is entirely in proportion to performance, which is unfailingly reviewed periodically.

Equally important is the fact that Modi follows certain basic rules scrupulously. He has set his own boundaries which he never fails to adhere to. Written and unwritten rules aren’t meant to be flouted frequently. He displays flexibility only in the rarest of rare cases. For example, soon after taking over as CM, he told all Gujarat based industrial houses that he would back them in every sense of the word but they should never ask him to circumvent any stated policy and must not indulge in unhealthy competition with each other when dealing with the government. Nobody should try to outsmart others. Torrent Chairman Sudhir Mehta insists Modi has followed this rule in letter and spirit.

No doubt ambitions of individual leaders are also resulting in hurdles in Modi’s candidacy. Perhaps there are some in BJP who would rather see UPA coming back for a third term than work under Modi or even let him be PM. But Slowly, the reality that BJP has no prospects worth the name in the near future unless a mercurial persona like Narendra Modi galvanises it, is dawning home. The result is that a vast majority of middle rung leaders and even some of the senior leaders are beginning to realise that unless the party is led by Narendra Modi they would have to live in obscurity for another five years. Some believe power burdened with responsibility is better than no power at all. Either way, support for Modi within BJP is growing by the day.

Though Modi unreservedly credits the RSS for making him what he is, stories of Nagpur being wary about him being the Prime Minister aren’t baseless. India Today has quoted a senior RSS official as saying “The Sangh knows that he can win the elections for BJP but his dictatorial style will make him bigger than the party and RSS itself. He will become BJP, much like how Indira Gandhi became Congress.”

Apparently, except the grass root workers who keep rooting for Narendra Modi as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, most of the senior leaders seem to be reluctant, if not opposed to Modi’s candidature. There is no denying the fact that opposition to Modi within the Sangh Parivar is substantial. The internal turmoil the party is facing is best illustrated by the fact that after openly endorsing Modi as the most suitable candidate for prime ministership, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha has already made a U-turn and has declared Advani as fit for the top job.

Obviously, Modi’s nomination as his party’s prime ministerial candidate can hardly be taken for granted at this juncture, though his caravan seems to be expanding swiftly. There are simply too many contenders for prime ministership in the BJP. Even Yashwant Sinha told a TV channel in January that he considers himself fit for being the PM, though he admitted sheepishly that he lacks the popular appeal Modi has. The official stand of the party is that it would decide its prime ministerial candidate at an appropriate time, which means still there is considerable opposition to Modi’s candidature. Some even suggest that the newly elected MPs should elect their leader after the elections are over. However, a large number of BJP leaders are beginning to realise that if Modi isn’t declared the face of the party, after the polls, BJP will be electing only its own leader, not the nation’s Prime Minister. 

How long will the party be able to resist the temptation of riding the Modi wave to power would depend upon several factors. How the political scenario unfolds in the remaining part of the year is anybody’s guess. Several major states are scheduled to go to polls before parliamentary elections are held. But as noted columnist Swapan Dasgupta says, “Modi does not have to go begging to the BJP. Pressure from below will compel the BJP to come to him.” The world’s most respected magazine, The Economist, recently described Modi as “the single-most popular candidate in the country to be the next leader,” insisting that “if the party wants to campaign on the economy and efficient government, Mr Modi is its likeliest candidate.”

Source:  http://narendramodi-willhebepm.blogspot.in/p/sangh-parivar.html