Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Count chickens after they’re hatched' that was published in Newsband

Count chickens after they’re hatched

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi received a lot of praise during the Bharatiya Janata Party’s two-day National Council meeting held in Delhi. He got a standing ovation for his hat-trick of Assembly election victories. The standing ovation given to Modi gives a clear signal of BJP having picked its lot for the top job. Whether at all it will be wholly endorsed is yet to be seen.

But Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan made it clear that the Gujarat Chief Minister was not the only ‘vikas purush’ around by providing an account of his own superlative performance in a State left “impoverished” by years of Congress “misrule.” Under his stewardship, MP had posted an average GDP growth of 10.20 per cent and a growth in agriculture of 18.91 per cent: “No other State in the country has achieved this,” he said to the obvious embarrassment of Modi.

Veteran Lal Krishna Advani asked for a reality check, especially on corruption: “We forgot that the people judge the commitment of any political party to fight corruption not by its pronouncements but by its practice and, when the need arises, by its punitive actions,” he said.

The all-out projection of Mr. Modi suggests that BJP is preparing for an eventuality where some of its partners might desert it.

Modi’s running theme was that India needed positivity and self-confidence which only the BJP could provide.

The negative point of Modi is that as a CM of Gujarat, even after three terms he is not in good terms with USA. Locally if he is in good terms or not with the RSS etc will be seen only after the election date is announced.

While accusing the Congress party of promoting dynasty, the BJP has started promoting personality cult of Modi; it is worse than dynasty. That the senior most leader had a dissenting voice brings to light the unspoken division within the rank and file of the party. It is to be noted that personality cult make autocrats detrimental to democracy.

Modi has grown and is surviving in Gujarat with his masterly skill of inducing hatred, personal insult of anyone opposing his policies and playing to the gallery. In the process he has inspired millions to believe that hatred and insults are the only virtues in politics. Now he wants to emulate his success at the country level.

Some political pundits are of the opinion that BJP should fight the election without naming a PM candidate. All leaders should join in the fight to oust the corrupt regime. In the eventuality of BJP and its allies securing the majority then they can squabble about who is PM. No need to count the chickens before they’re hatched.