The novelty has worn off Narendra Modi’s shows in Madhya Pradesh, but he continues to stay afloat on media hype and pungent anti-Congress rhetoric. There are signs that the returns from sorties to the state are diminishing for the BJP’s top crowd-puller.
Modi, who drew a crowd of several lakh people in an unprecedented show of the party at the Jamboree ground just six weeks ago, was forced to address a much smaller crowd at a much smaller ground on Monday.
However, the bald patches on the Dussehra maidan didn’t dampen his aggression. His oratory remained as sharp as ever. The crowd kept demanding samples of Modism against Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh and Modi kept them entertained.
Modi accused the Congress of dividing the country based on communities, villages, and language. This part must have relieved the local leadership as it has always feared a Modi overkill could put off the minority voters kept in good humour by Chouhan. He managed to make a “good copy” for the media at every opportunity.
At Sagar he said, “I want to congratulate the mosquitoes here as they had dared to bite Shahzada (Rahul), because no one from his family had been touched in the last hundred years.” Let alone touching, if anyone said a word against the Gandhi family the party loyalists would not spare him, Modi said and the audience lapped up the crass humour.
There has been curiosity to see how he deals with the serious charges of getting a woman stalked in Gujarat. Modi said, ‘‘Congress has lost its sleep over Modi, so it is targeting me personally. I am confident if Indians need my services, no harm will come to me.’’ While there was sumptuous praise for the state government the attacks were reserved for the Congress central leadership leaving state issues scarcely touched. Modi hasn’t for a moment lost sight of 2014.
The assembly elections are but the threshold that must be crossed. He responded aggressively to the Prime Minister’s observation that the BJP was lowering the level of political discourse in the country. He said, “Rahul Gandhi called us a party of thieves. How does that raise the level of political discourse? Yes we are thieves as we have robbed the Congress of its sleep,” Modi thundered. Modi’s oratory continues to be biting, but if the party has a feeling that the Modi fatigue has started seeping into people, they are admitting it openly.
The party has promised another dose of 15 such meetings in the next four days as the campaign for the 25 November polls nears its tail end. BJP leaders attribute the thin attendance to dropping evening temperature and the marriage season. Modi’s belligerence can instil instant anger against the prime minister and the Gandhi family among the audience.
But can it offer a solution to the failures and infirmities of the state government once Modi leaves the scenes and the voter wakes up to realities like corruption, poor infrastructure and rising crime in the state. The Congress apparently has its homework done on the Modi front. The party’s campaign committee leader Jyotiraditya Scindia says the Congress was happy that Modi was campaigning extensively in the state.
“Obviously the BJP doesn’t feel confident about Madhya Pradesh. As far Modi is concerned, he is more than welcome. He is no stranger to the state. He was the party in-charge of MP polls in 1998, when the BJP got trounced and the Congress government was formed. “Wherever Modi has campaigned in the assembly polls, the Congress has come to power, whether it is Karnataka, Himachal, Uttarakhand. So he is more than welcome in MP. He is a good omen for us,” Scindia added.
Regardless of audience’s response to his jibes and questions about how much of his charisma can translate into votes, he has shaken the Congress out of its inertia. There are diverse views on whether Modi’s sorties can force the Congress faction leaders to close ranks and pull off its best show.The Congress show of unity has not impressed pollster,s as the candidates still keep complaining about sabotage by rival factions in most constituencies.
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