By Dyuthi:
Belonging to a middle class family in Gujarat, being a young volunteer in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the icing on the big, fat cake – holding masters in Political Science. Doesn’t this sound a perfect recipe for a great politician in making? Yes, you got it right. I have been talking about Gujarat’s longest serving Chief Minister. Moreover, a greater insight to Mr Narendra Modi’s contribution towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is nothing but essential.
His active participation in the RSS activities caught the eye of BJP’s very own Mr L.K. Advani. He was asked by Mr.Advani in 1981, to direct the process of campaigning in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. And it is a known fact that there was no looking back since then. But undoubtedly, Modi has been a politician who has always been under the scanner for his involvement in the Gujarat riots, his support of the Hindutva etc.
The BJP, independently, is in no way a people’s favourite. There were incidents where the reforms with respect to oil price deregulation were encouraged and today they stand on a different ground altogether. Being a strong advocate of the Hindutva, the BJP might have earned a greater vote bank ten years back. But as the world is transforming, people are becoming more open-minded and are not ready to compromise upon secularism. Similarly, another major incident that left a scar on the BJP’s image in public is that of the Godhra riots. Though they won many elections consecutively post that, the people of India have now discovered that there is more of favouritism towards the Hindus by the BJP. In such a situation when the BJP is losing out on their image and rapport with the public, the higher politicians, without doubt would look at Mr Narendra Modi.
But in my opinion, Modi is not the best choice for this major election. The BJP needs direction and guidance in order to win the hearts of the people. In such a case, if Narendra Modi advocates Hindutva and if he refuses to apologize for his inflammatory remarks, it would be a big no. The future lies in the hands of those who have the ability to conquer as people need to be wooed by the speaker. The public these days would like to prefer young blood. No offence meant, but in spite of all reforms and activities that he took up under the state of Gujarat, Narendra Modi strongly supports the Hindutva, which may force people to doubt his intentions his belief in secularism.