Modi’s massive public rally in Goa, is more significant than being a simple voter mobilisation in the scenic coastal state. Goa after all sends only two MPs to the Lok Sabha. It was instead, important for the national perspective of the party. Given that the state receives visitors from all parts of the country and also various parts of the world, Modi wants to portray Goa, along with Gujarat, as a model BJP ruled state and also project Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, an IIT Bombay alumnus, in direct opposition to Kejriwal, for his honesty, integrity, simplicity, firm and people friendly approach.
Modi said “Goa should act as messenger to the country”. Though he didn’t name the Aam Aadmi Party or Kejriwal, his reference to it was loud and clear.
The BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate knows that he has already taken the campaign against the Congress to a certain level and has been successful in both creating and encashing on the rising exasperation against 10 years of Congress rule at the centre. Modi only had to keep going strong vis-à-vis the Grand Old Party but he realises that he can no longer afford to ignore the new kid on the block which has been gaining lot of traction in some of his social constituents. “Those acting as a shield of the Congress are equally guilty”, he said.
By talking about Parrikar’s credentials, and then his own, Modi tried to convince the people not to vote for “television faces” which were neither tried nor tested. “Imagine what would happened had Manohar Parrikar had been in Delhi. The country would have known about his good work but what can we do, he is in Goa and media can’t see anything beyond Delhi. I have been working so hard, serving the people of Gujarat for the last 12 years but I have always been portrayed as vanquished in TV and newspapers. I could never make a place for good. Leading the country needs a big vision and implementation of the right policies. The country could advance only if it is led by leaders who have a tried and tested track record and experience. TV faces can’t do that well.”
The Aam Aadmi Party has begun expanding nationally with an aggressive membership drive. Kumar Vishwas created a buzz on Sunday by his visit to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's bastion of Amethi, while Yogendra Yadav made a foray into Haryana.
If Modi chose his public rally to attack Aam Aadmi credentials, other party leaders are taking different other routes to question the young party’s capabilities. His trusted party colleague, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun has made a strong and direct pitch against AAP. “The AAP government has so far confused substantive governance with style of governance. It may be entitled to its unconventional style of governance. The unconventional style is not a substitute for substantive governance. Publicity without any substantive governance is simply gimmickry. Responsible governance has a long lasting impact. Gimmickry is always short lived", he said.
Kejriwal’s experiments to hold a Janata Darbar on the streets of Delhi and subsequent chaotic scenes have raised questions about their ideas of governance.
Though Modi for a change did not directly target Rahul Gandhi, he went after Jayanti Natrajan, a Gandhi-Nehru family loyalist, who was the environment and forest ministry. “We had heard of Income Tax, Sales Tax but in Delhi a new kind tax, Jayanti (Natrajan) tax was being levied. A file in the environment ministry would not move without payment of the Jayanti tax.” He then went on to say how the UPA government disallowed a decision to lease mining rights in Gujarat through auction.
Former Environment and forest minister Jayanti Natrajan’s resignation had officially been publicised as her desire to work for the party than as a removal from the government on charges of money making for clearing or keeping files on hold in perpetuity.
The BJP leader is also making home minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s directive to states to review terrorism related cases against arrested Muslim youth under various criminal offences a big electoral issue, which can have socially polarising effects.
Though Modi was cautious enough to also clarify that criminals have no religion and law does not discriminate between accused on basis of their religion, he did make it political by accusing Congress of vote bank politics. “See the audacity of the home minister. He writes to us in the states to ensure that Muslims are not arrested for involvement in criminal acts. The state functions on one philosophy -punishment of the guilty and justice to the innocent. Moreover law and order is a state subject. How can the home minister dictate to states?”
Goa has been lucky for Modi. First in 2002 it was the venue where his chief ministerial position was saved, and then in June 2013 when he was officially made the face of the party’s 2014 campaign.
Now after this sudden AAP challenge Modi will hope that Goa yet again proves lucky for him.
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