Modi Coronation: Alarm bells for Mandal politics and caution for supporters

Yesterday on 13 September, BJP took the decision of making the obvious, official. They named Narendra Modi as their prime ministerial candidate as being demanded by cadre from long. It is this beauty of democracy the India is that a person who was a tea vendor 40 years ago is now aiming for being most important person in India. And going by the support I see not just on Social Media but on streets (at least urban), he have more chances of succeeding than failing. We must congratulate BJP on doing so, It wasn’t long ago that intellectual pandits used to call it as Brahman Thakur Baniya Party and they have named a lower caste OBC as their top most electorate contender. While Modi himself, his party and his supporters do not see him through caste prism, we have to note that India never had any OBC Prime Minister. Here Modi and his party not identifying himself through his caste is understandable as BJP and RSS has always tried to put forward a united Hindu face but his supporters (mostly Brahman, Baniya and Thakur clan people) bypassing caste credentials is a small step in right direction which will go a long way in moving India away from Identity politics. Hopefully it will seep through other communities and India will get rid of Identity driven electoral battles which have kept real issues at bay for far too long. Although it is too early to say but it can well be a distressing sign for people who have benefited most by playing Identity politics.

This elevation have generated a lot of euphoria in BJP cadre which is understandable because after long they will have a leader who will be giving them a sense of ability to compete. 9 year of marginalization and continuous infighting among top leadership had sucked out enthusiasm. Modi has been able to restore enthusiasm and faith in the workers . Now they will fight hard to help their leader reach where they want him to be, 7RCR. While Congress Govt. and Manmohan Singh have done everything possible to make their job easier, still it will not be a cakewalk.

Biggest challenge to BJP and supporters is to keep their feet rooted during this phase of euphoria. It is very easy to convert dedication to a leader in over adulation and complete subversion to everything he does especially when mind is in state of extreme joy. While I myself is a big supporter of decisive leadership, we need to be careful about a trait in personality of Modi which media and opposition have exploited to project him as authoritarian. There is very fine line between being decisive and authoritative. Modi currently, I believe, is on positive side of that line but we know power gets to head quicker than weed. So this is a note of caution to the cadre, its a job well done but be careful. Importance of Advani’s, Sushma’s and Yashwant’s is equivalent to Rajnath’s and Jaitly’s if not to Modi himself. Cadre must not push them to sidelines and become similar to Congressmen under Sonia Gandhi.