“Don’t cross the path of Narendra Modi.”
In the past one week, this realisation has come to Uddhav Thackrey, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Hemant Soren and to Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
A warning was given to Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackrey in 2019, he did not listen. In thirty months, Uddhav realised his mistake. Found Droupadi Murmu as an excuse, and now wants to return to Modi fold. He is under pressure to take up the Hindutva line again. This pressure is coming from Eknath Shinde formerly his deputy.
Not only Uddhav but a realisation had come to Sharad Pawar also.
In one shot Narendra Modi took on Sharad Pawar and also Uddhav, the two top leaders of Maharashtra.
Sukhbir Singh Badal who had shown his trump card of “Farm Law” walked out of NDA. He too got routed in Punjab in May assembly polls, and is now waiting for Modi door to open.
Hemant Soren at Deoghar was full praise for Narendra Modi.
So, what is happening in the political scene?
An expected dramatic re-entry of Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh with double engine and bulldozer syndromes. The turn of Indian politics in 2022 began with this “UPYOGI”concept coined by Modi.
Shortly after UPYOGI Narendra Modi sprang yet another surprise of Droupadi Murmu.
These two projections are bound to yield fruits for National Democratic Alliance in 2024 Lok Sabha polls. NDA led by Modi is to face only regional satraps and not a gigantic national party Indian National Congress having been decimated in past ten years, to rule only Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh.
Next to UPYOGI coinage, Modi articulated yet another ‘theory” of “short circuit and short cut” at Ranchi. Speech.
This explicitly revealed his political push. “Whom did Modi have in mind?” has come to mark all our deliberations.
Now let us go back to 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Narendra Modi had two major slogans – Gujarat Model and Congress Mukt Bharat. If you correlate these two, an in-depth analysis of persona of Modi will be easy.
And if you stretch it further for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, BJP and in particular Narendra Modi is ensuring that 5 dynasts state parties are to be the arch rival for him, thus eliminating Congress from 2024 Lok Sabha poll scene as principle opposition party.
Why Indian Politics Turns Only During Presidential Polls?
Each time during the Presidential elections, Indian politics takes a different avatar. Be it 1969 (VV Giri) or for that matter 2017 (Ram Nath Kovind). But Narendra Modi rewrote the Indian system of Presidential polls, with his shrewdness. Added to his image of “Sab Ka Saath Sab Ka Vikas” the slogan has gone deeper into the mindsets of downtrodden.
You may criticise Modi, but he brought each of his political rivals into his wide spread net in 2022, with the ‘ tribal-woman’ card of Murmu. It was Modi who got Uddhav Thackrey to get elected to Upper House of Maharashtra. But in two years, Uddhav had to resign that. Let’s see how moves are being made in a few non-BJP ruled state.
The Maha Saga
A BJP general secretary said, “If the Shiv Sena is willing to embrace the Shinde-led rebels and have an alliance with the BJP, the central leadership will assist them. One phone call will keep Uddhav like the adage one apple keeps doctor away.
Sources say that there is a larger message in Thackeray’s decision to concede to his MPs on Murmu: that he is willing – even eager – to maintain cordial relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and mend broken fences with the Centre. Through Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackrey decision on Murmu, Thackeray would want to subtly convey that the Sena-BJP relationship is still an open-ended affair.
The Shiv Sena’s decision to back National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee, former Jharkhand governor Droupadi Murmu, for the presidential election might not change the outcome for the poll to elect India’s first citizen (she was winning anyway), but it has major implications, in Maharashtra and nationally.
Sena’s support is not merely a morale booster, but open the doors for reconciliations between Modi and Uddhav, Modi and Soren, Modi and Badals, Modi and Naidu.
But interpreting the decision – which came only after an overwhelming majority of Sena parliamentarians told Uddhav Thackeray to back Ms Murmu – holds significance for India’s richest state.
It indicates that after striking a combative pose, Mr Thackeray is hitting conciliatory notes (last week, he said that the doors of Matoshree, the seat of Sena power, were open to rebels who brought his government down) because he realises that any more confrontation with chief minister Eknath Shinde will lead to further splintering in the party.
It shows that his hold on the party remains tenuous and despite his public gratitude to alliance partners, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, the Maha Vikas Aghadi is on its last legs.
It indicates that the Sena is yet to recover from the vertical split it suffered last month, and continues to play catch-up. And, it has underlined the Bharatiya Janata Party’s astuteness in nominating an Adivasi woman to the highest office, making it politically and symbolically tough for parties to oppose her elevation.
Modi’s Trip To Jharkhand
Timing of Modi visit to Jharkhand to open Deoghar airport and AIMS hospital is important. It comes close to the Presidential Elections. The bonhomie between Modi and Soren was evident. CM Soren said, “If the Centre continues with its cooperation and if the public supports us, I can assure from this platform that Jharkhand would be among the leading states in the country within the next five years.”
Modi style of approach is unique. Modi will leave New Delhi for Deoghar but will stop at Patna. In other words, “two functions in one trip“ Never you would have seen him travelling up and down New Delhi. He will invariably stop over at a third place. Be it Indian or foreign visits.
From my political understanding, the Congress leaders and the three Gandhis, will get realisation of Modi, after they have burnt their fingers. At a time when the NDA, led by PM Modi, has announced Draupadi Murmu, a woman from Adivasi samaj, as it’s nominee for the President’s office, a move that will significantly empower the tribals, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar an IPS officer hailing from Karnataka served in Jharkhand -calls Draupadi Murmu evil by association! Just because she is a tribal.
Murmu, having already secured the support of several non-NDA parties such as the Biju Janata Dal, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the YSR Congress Party, is virtually sure of a victory in the July 18 election over Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.
Short Circuit And Short Cut
“Short-cut politics is a challenge today. People could get votes through populist measures. But the truth is that any country that resorts to short-cut politics is bound to face short-circuit,” Modi said at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in Deoghar. “But there is no short-cut for hard work.”
Without naming any political party, Modi hit out at political opponents, saying previous governments used to resort to short-circuit politics. “I appeal from here in Deoghar that you need to reject short-cut politics because people who practice it would never give you new airports, roads and medical colleges in each district,” he added.
The Significance Of Telangana General Council
Insiders in Narendra Modi dispensation hinted to me that Hyderabad was chosen by Modi to hold BJP national executive and general council. BJP debates pros and cons. BJP gets feed back from RSS and other external organisations. Modi with his experiences of having addressed 1800 rallies in 8 years, gives him a pulse reading of Indian politics.
Having saturated in Hindutva belt the BJP outreach should hit at southern states, was the final resolution.
Close to presidential nominee announcement, the onslaught on “gore parivarvad” Narendra Modi wanted to show his power of pushing at Bob, Beta, Beti sarkar. Amit Shah in a lighter vein quoted that BJP politically punctured cycle in Uttar Pradesh and now moving to take the air out of four wheels of Car referring to the election symbols of Samajwadi Party and Telangana Rashtraiya Samiti. Now the road is clear for bulldozers for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, a “national highway” to New Delhi’s newly constructed Parliament House building.
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