Gujarat CM Narendra Modi races ahead of BJP pack

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi surged aheadof his BJP peers with his high-profile fast on Saturday to position himself asthe leading prime ministerial candidate of the party for the next generalelections due in three years.This well-choreographed fast has helped Modi break away from the pack. Virtually everybody else in the BJP was in attendance as Modi occupied a vantage position and surveyed the crowd. The likes of Lal Krishna Advani, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad were reduced to playing the role of support staff and cheerleaders in what was without doubt a complete Modi show.But can it really be assumed thatthe leadership question in the BJP is settled once and for all? Have the othercontenders simply faded away, overawed by Modi's spectacular politicalshowmanship or will they lie low till a fresh legal controversy comes back tohaunt the Gujarat chief minister? Ahmedabad-based political analyst AchyutYagnik, thinks it's the latter.Social scientist Shiv Vishwanathanvisited the site, where Modi basked in the attention of the politicians and themedia and noticed how the chief minister was trying to make a transition fromthe poster-boy of Hindutva to the symbol of a new "secular ethic". He observedthat there was nowhere "any sense of justice" or "a sense of apology." He saidit felt as if he was in the presence of "a monarch who had organized whatappeared to be democratic sycophancy".The all-religious attendanceat the fast, the chant of Allah ho Akbar, had an artificial ring to it andsounded rather contrived, Yagnik said. It seems that for Modi it is a tightropewalk, he cannot overplay any particular card and alienate his Hindutva followerswith a definite tilt towards a secular platform.Already, asProfessor Ghanashyam Shah of Indian Institute of Advanced Studies in Shimlasaid, Modi has alienated the far right in Gujarat. "The VHP doesn't trust himany more. The likes of Togadia have been humiliated. The Bajrang Dal believesModi didn't help its supporters out in the riot cases. And the Bharatiya KisanSangh is upset with his generosity with agricultural land which he is eagerlygiving away to industrialists."For the BJP, it's never going to beeasy to take a final call on Modi. His presence may always mean losing bulk ofthe minority votes. There is no guarantee that those who are disenchanted with aUPA government running out ideas will automatically turn towards the Gujaratstrongman. Modi remains a factor in his home state but outside the borders ofthe western province, he remains an untried entity. "And with the scars of the2002 riots yet to heal, there will always be a divisive aspect to his politicalpersonality," said Professor Shah.Not everybody in the NDA familyhas welcomed Modi's aggressive move towards the national stage. Bihar chiefminister was conspicuous by his absence. Professor Ram Guha, who believes thatModi is a "megalomaniac", said that the fast made it transparent that theGujarat chief minister "saw only one rival and that was Bihar chief ministerNitish Kumar".Even AIADMK boss J Jayalalithaa made it amply clearthat her party's presence in Ahmedabad did not signal any far-reaching politicalchanges. Speaking in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu chief minister said that hersupport to Modi's fast was "an expression of goodwill" and dismissed suggestionsthat it implied a shift in political dynamics.There may not be toomuch doubt, as political commentator Swapan Dasgupta argued, that "Modi hasestablished himself as the first among equals" and overtaken other contenders inhis party. But, Dasgupta didn't forget to add, that the Gujarat chief ministerhas a long distance to travel and "these are only the first few steps".