Why BJP doesn't want Modi?

PATNA: There are two reasons beingoffered in Bihar for the absence of the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi inthe BJP''s campaign trail in this crucial state.One, there is a fearthat Lalu Prasad may get him arrested on some pretext in order to consolidatethe Muslim votes further. Second, even if Lalu spares Modi, the BJP itself doesnot want the most visible Hindutva mascot on the horizon to say things whichwould once again push the confused Muslim vote bank back into the Lalufold.Either way, one thing is clear. Modi, who emerged as themost-sought-after star campaigner for the BJP in elections heldoutside Gujarat after the post-Godhra riots in early 2002, is not figuring inthe BJP''s scheme of things in Bihar.A telephone call to Modi''soffice in Gandhinagar, inquiring about the possibility of his visiting Bihar,evoked the expected response. "So far, nothing has been finalised," said a closeaide.Sources in Bihar''s BJP said the possibility of Lalu even goingto the extent of arresting Modi cannot be ruled out. "Let us not forget that itwas Lalu who arrested Advaniji''s Rath Yatra in 1992 and prevented him frommarching to Ayodhya," said a senior leader. He explained that with both theCongress and Paswan-led LJP actively wooing Muslims, Lalu could resort todesperate measures to keep his M-Y combination clicking.Lalu hasmade the interim report of the Justice Banerjee committee, which speaks of thepossibility of the S-6 compartment of Sabarmati Express being burnt due to afire accident from the inside, a corner-stone of his campaign. In normalcircumstances, the local BJP was expected to invite Modi to answer some of theGodhra issues raised in the report, which Lalu is trying to capitalizeupon.Instead, the central leadership of BJP has sent Modi tocampaign for the Haryana elections from where he has just returned to Gujarat.The only other Hindutva face, which is really visible in Bihar, is that of UmaBharti. Here too, instead of addressing large public meetings through a typicalhelicopter-borne campaign, Bharti has been told to undertake road shows in thecountryside so that there is more contact and less talking.BJPinsiders say that they are deliberately not raising Hindutva issues in the Biharcampaign and are letting JD(U)''s Nitish Kumar spearhead the NDA''s campaign whichis focussing only on two issues: the decadence in 15 years of Lalu rule and acomplete break-down of law and order during this period.However, afinal call on whether Modi is really needed or not in Bihar will be taken onlyafter the first phase of polling on February 3 when the party does a quickanalysis on whether Lalu''s Muslim support is really disintegrating. And if onewere to take a cue from the Urdu language press of Bihar, the general feeling isthat a rather subdued BJP campaign is making it difficult for Lalu to raise thebogey of communal forces and play on the threat perception of the Muslimvoters.