Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Modi, Gandhi and Kejriwal in the fray for PMship) that was published in Newsband

Modi, Gandhi and Kejriwal in the fray for PMship

Narendra Modi has made a dramatic entry in affairs which was so far strictly the business of the BJP’s central leadership. Since his admission into the BJP’s elite Parliamentary Board, the Gujarat Chief Minister visits Delhi very often and meets the who’s who of his party.

Modi’s advise is that the BJP must get real in its war against the government, and to do this it must harness the social media’s potential and focus on its own performing governments such as in Gujarat.

Modi knows his strengths are a worshipping middle class and a rank and file fidgeting to have him run for Prime Minister. He knows too that the road to that destination is not easy. It doesn’t matter if the Janata Dal (United) and the Shiv Sena are against him. It doesn’t make a difference. Modi should be careful of the fact that he faces resistance from within the BJP. L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj do not favour him. Modi is doing the right thing by directly engaging the public. He is rightly concentrating on the big idea — of a new, aspirational India led by its young.

There are four reasons why Modi is the right candidate for PMship. He is honest. He has displayed good governance. He rightly focuses on industrial development by moving from agriculture to industry. He has the ability to see through a problem and put in hard work. He undoubtedly has good communication skills.   

Modi has the support of the fourth pillar of Indian democracy which is discussing, debating and arguing pros and cons of Modi as the Prime Minister. He is undoubtedly far ahead than any politician of today although some facets of his personality is not appealing to some people.

Within BJP, who is more suited than Modi to be PM? L. K. Advani is famous but he is 86 years old and is notorious for being an architect of the Babri Masjid destruction and indulging in unnecessary yatras. Sushma Swaraj talks in chaste but unfathomable Hindi, perhaps a zero in other languages, and she has RSS links. Varun Gandhi can only make hate speeches. He is known as the son of late Sanjay Gandhi and nothing more.

Modi on the other hand is a darling of the middle classes. He is well known for the developmental feats he achieved both in the commercial and social sectors in the state of Gujarat. Even US representatives were impressed by Modi’s performance and were keen to known the modus operandi made use of by the Modi government.

If Modi has support from sections of middle class, it’s because of the work he did for his state and hence was rewarded. His competitor Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, has low attendance in parliament and his constituencies Amethi and Rai Bareily are the poorest.

BJP’s continuing to hesitate in considering Modi for PMship and the fact that Congress is neck-deep in corruptions and scams will only benefit none other than Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party which is providing most of the qualities required by the current scenario in our country. It gels with the thought-process of common people of all age-groups. This fact is bound to keep both BJP and Congress absolutely alert.