12-24-2007, 09:51 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Dec 25 2007, 01:57 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Dec 25 2007, 01:57 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Life after V-G Day</b><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Ashok Malik
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In the one week between end of polling in Gujarat - on Sunday, December 16 -- and announcement of results, Mr Narendra Modi was in Delhi to attend a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC). As he walked in, the Gujarat Chief Minister was greeted effusively by his colleagues. <b>Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Naveen Patnaik posed for photographs with him, joking with the photojournalists that, "This is the NDA together." <i>{Has anybody seen this photo?}</i> Another NDA Chief Minister walked up and told Mr Modi, "I hope you're winning. Don't let us down." </b> <i>{this might be Nitish Kumar}</i>
<b>The most touching -- and politically loaded -- gesture came from Mr M Karunanidhi, the ailing veteran who rules Tamil Nadu. Ignoring physical discomfort, the DMK patriarch got up to shake Mr Modi's hand. On verdict day -- Sunday, December 23 -- after Mr Modi had won a famous victory, Ms J Jayalalithaa, the ADMK leader, called up the Gujarat strongman to congratulate him. It left at least one political observer wondering how Mr Modi had united Amma and Kalaignar. </b>
Through the Gujarat election campaign, non-Congress politicians -- not all of them members of the NDA -- were in touch with the Modi camp, making inquiries about the state of play. <b>Many of them realised triumph for Mr Modi and the BJP in Gujarat was essential to give the NDA fresh energy, and to weaken the Congress</b>.
Why were Mr Modi's new friends acting the way they were? As hard-boiled political practitioners, they were appreciative of a fellow politico and a mass leader who had fought a tough election, taken on a range of forces and yet emerged on top. It was peer respect. It was also recognition that, at some point, this was a man they may have to do business with, in the bewildering coalition-building enterprise that is national politics.
<b>Politicians are inherently pragmatic, not obsessed with TV studio shibboleths.</b> It is so different with political pundits. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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What this shows is that BJP doesn't have to dilute anything to re-energize NDA. What pseudo-pundits say about requirements of dilution of BJP's ideology is pure trash. Modi, who was termed as its liability is actually becoming its most important asset.
Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, insisted that Modi should not be present at his swearing in ceremony. I am looking for the day when all NDA CMs insist that he should be present at their ceremonies.
...
In the one week between end of polling in Gujarat - on Sunday, December 16 -- and announcement of results, Mr Narendra Modi was in Delhi to attend a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC). As he walked in, the Gujarat Chief Minister was greeted effusively by his colleagues. <b>Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Naveen Patnaik posed for photographs with him, joking with the photojournalists that, "This is the NDA together." <i>{Has anybody seen this photo?}</i> Another NDA Chief Minister walked up and told Mr Modi, "I hope you're winning. Don't let us down." </b> <i>{this might be Nitish Kumar}</i>
<b>The most touching -- and politically loaded -- gesture came from Mr M Karunanidhi, the ailing veteran who rules Tamil Nadu. Ignoring physical discomfort, the DMK patriarch got up to shake Mr Modi's hand. On verdict day -- Sunday, December 23 -- after Mr Modi had won a famous victory, Ms J Jayalalithaa, the ADMK leader, called up the Gujarat strongman to congratulate him. It left at least one political observer wondering how Mr Modi had united Amma and Kalaignar. </b>
Through the Gujarat election campaign, non-Congress politicians -- not all of them members of the NDA -- were in touch with the Modi camp, making inquiries about the state of play. <b>Many of them realised triumph for Mr Modi and the BJP in Gujarat was essential to give the NDA fresh energy, and to weaken the Congress</b>.
Why were Mr Modi's new friends acting the way they were? As hard-boiled political practitioners, they were appreciative of a fellow politico and a mass leader who had fought a tough election, taken on a range of forces and yet emerged on top. It was peer respect. It was also recognition that, at some point, this was a man they may have to do business with, in the bewildering coalition-building enterprise that is national politics.
<b>Politicians are inherently pragmatic, not obsessed with TV studio shibboleths.</b> It is so different with political pundits. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What this shows is that BJP doesn't have to dilute anything to re-energize NDA. What pseudo-pundits say about requirements of dilution of BJP's ideology is pure trash. Modi, who was termed as its liability is actually becoming its most important asset.
Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, insisted that Modi should not be present at his swearing in ceremony. I am looking for the day when all NDA CMs insist that he should be present at their ceremonies.