Twin dilemmas for BJP: Narendra Modi poses a problem and opportunity
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Narendra Modi's rise in BJP has also marked the re-emergence of the never-saydie LK Advani as a rallying counter with the backing of Modi baiters.When you go to bed tonight, you can be sure of waking up to a cacophony on your TV screen that would easily eclipse the IPL fireworks. Expect another blitzkrieg from Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Monday, this time at a Ficci meeting in Delhi.
Modi will be taking the stage just weeks after storming back into the BJP's parliamentary board and just days after the surprise show on a CII stage by the usually reticent Rahul Gandhi. That should be inspiration enough for Modi to deliver a power-packed speech at his dream destination — the Dilli Durbar.
BJP leaders should be panting in anticipation at Modi's counter to Gandhi. But would they be? Far from it. Truth is the Modi bluster is not music to the ears of the BJP brass because it complicates the party's urgency to project a cohesive leadership and rope in more allies to expand the NDA and take on the Congress-led UPA in the approaching elections.
For once, the BJP leadership is scenting power in Delhi given the multiple crises and image meltdown of the UPA. Yet, Modi's unprecedented and aggressive projection of himself as prime minister-inwaiting is creating a simmering tension among BJP leaders, rifts with existing allies and roadblocks to roping in new pre-poll partners. The irony is that Modi is also BJP's most visible, popular and successful leader. In other words, Modi poses a problem and opportunity for the BJP.
Look at the bundle of conflicts within the BJP. When Modi was brought back into the BJP's parliamentary board, his camp painted the town red by projecting it as a decisive step towards him becoming the NDA's candidate for prime minister. The attitude of other BJP leaders couldn't have been more different. They chose to play it down as an unrealistic and avoidable hype. After all, Modi was only back where he was six years ago — as one of the 12 members in the parliamentary board.
LARGER GAME PLAN
Party sources familiar with the BJP's innards helped dissect the larger politics in the organisational reshuffle. According to them, for every gain cornered by Modi, his rivals forced him to concede in equal measure. While Modi has definitely tightened his grip in the BJP central leadership in the reshuffle, it also marked the re-emergence of the never-say-dieLK Advani as a rallying counter force with the backing of the likes of Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar, anti-Modi RSS sections, much to the dismay of the Modi camp made up of Arun Jaitley, Yashwant Sinha, Amit Shah and Smriti Irani, among others.
Modi forced himself as the only CM in the parliamentary board by checkmating Advani's push for Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan. He also got confidant Amit Shah, out on bail in a fake-encounter case, named as party general secretary.
But Advani exacted a few decisions for himself from party president Rajnath Singh: his and RSS' nominee Murlidhar Rao was made general secretary (GS). He also ensured Ananth Kumar remained as GS and Uma Bharti became a vice-president. The Advani camp, along with Singh and Nitin Gadkari, also backed Varun Gandhi's elevation as GS. The Advani camp also ambushed the Modi-Jaitley push to make Smriti Irani general secretary, forcing her to settle for the less important vice-president's post.
Modi will be taking the stage just weeks after storming back into the BJP's parliamentary board and just days after the surprise show on a CII stage by the usually reticent Rahul Gandhi. That should be inspiration enough for Modi to deliver a power-packed speech at his dream destination — the Dilli Durbar.
BJP leaders should be panting in anticipation at Modi's counter to Gandhi. But would they be? Far from it. Truth is the Modi bluster is not music to the ears of the BJP brass because it complicates the party's urgency to project a cohesive leadership and rope in more allies to expand the NDA and take on the Congress-led UPA in the approaching elections.
For once, the BJP leadership is scenting power in Delhi given the multiple crises and image meltdown of the UPA. Yet, Modi's unprecedented and aggressive projection of himself as prime minister-inwaiting is creating a simmering tension among BJP leaders, rifts with existing allies and roadblocks to roping in new pre-poll partners. The irony is that Modi is also BJP's most visible, popular and successful leader. In other words, Modi poses a problem and opportunity for the BJP.
Look at the bundle of conflicts within the BJP. When Modi was brought back into the BJP's parliamentary board, his camp painted the town red by projecting it as a decisive step towards him becoming the NDA's candidate for prime minister. The attitude of other BJP leaders couldn't have been more different. They chose to play it down as an unrealistic and avoidable hype. After all, Modi was only back where he was six years ago — as one of the 12 members in the parliamentary board.
LARGER GAME PLAN
Party sources familiar with the BJP's innards helped dissect the larger politics in the organisational reshuffle. According to them, for every gain cornered by Modi, his rivals forced him to concede in equal measure. While Modi has definitely tightened his grip in the BJP central leadership in the reshuffle, it also marked the re-emergence of the never-say-dieLK Advani as a rallying counter force with the backing of the likes of Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar, anti-Modi RSS sections, much to the dismay of the Modi camp made up of Arun Jaitley, Yashwant Sinha, Amit Shah and Smriti Irani, among others.
Modi forced himself as the only CM in the parliamentary board by checkmating Advani's push for Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan. He also got confidant Amit Shah, out on bail in a fake-encounter case, named as party general secretary.
But Advani exacted a few decisions for himself from party president Rajnath Singh: his and RSS' nominee Murlidhar Rao was made general secretary (GS). He also ensured Ananth Kumar remained as GS and Uma Bharti became a vice-president. The Advani camp, along with Singh and Nitin Gadkari, also backed Varun Gandhi's elevation as GS. The Advani camp also ambushed the Modi-Jaitley push to make Smriti Irani general secretary, forcing her to settle for the less important vice-president's post.
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