BJP voted Narendra Modi as member of its Parliamentary board & election committee. This appointment is clear indication of positioning Modi as leader of BJP for upcoming elections & candidate for prime minister post if BJP can cobble up a majority. And the effects are already apparent with LK Advani tendering his resignation. If nothing else, the coming months shall introduce some much needed energy into the indian political scene.
I believe that Modi was elected not from support of top BJP leaders but despite of them. There is ground swell of support for Modi and BJP leadership has had to heed to this support at ground level. In my view, he is the BJP leader with highest recognition & support across country. At the same time, he is the leader who will polarize opinions & most probably make his opponents join together with common aim of defeating him. So by choosing Modi, BJP will bond their supporters more closely and at the same time face with opponents who are willing to go extra mile to see Modi defeated.
And in between these extremes, there is a large middle group who decide elections. And i believe that this group looks at Modi and his record in Gujrat and is impressed. This middle group is interested in progress and wants good infrastructure. This group wants better life & politicians who are able to do something. And this group, when times choose between BJP & Congress, will go with Modi. The first question is that how many of this neutrals will overlook the problems with Modi & chose to support him for the things he has achieved.
Secondly, the question will be how Modi's governing style & personality affect BJP. Modi, by all accounts, has a autocratic way of governance & is very result oriented. Indian politicians are good at lots of things, governance is not one of them. Also, the leadership follows the dictum of never be direct with anyone. Also, Indians are not good at taking direct feedback or criticism. One can imagine that political leaders are even more touchy when it comes to taking orders. So Modi's style will be difficult for most of the top BJP leaders to accept. I would not be surprised if even before elections, Modi has to deal with lot of discontent within his own party. LK Advani for me, is just first of many top BJP leaders who will find it tough to live with Modi's persona.
Coming period will give us answers to these two questions & they will define how Modi's BJP will perform in elections. He will need to get leaders who completely support him (and hopefully get rid of all those who don't) and then come up with a plan and hope enough neutrals will support him.
One thing being overlooked is that Modi also provides Congress with rallying cry. If Congress uses this correctly, it could make a good showing.
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