Isliye Modi !

Have we ever experienced such excitement for a General Election in our country? Have we ever waited so desperately for the D-day? The answer is a clear no. The election campaigns by all parties have been huge. For the first time its a three sided National contest between the old and experienced INC and BJP, and the newly formed AAP. A three sided contest seems even more interesting than a triangular ODI series these days. The news channels and print media have all been concentrating solely on the chief election news.

To decipher the mood of the people is a little too difficult a task, considering the demographic dynamics of India. A country of more than 120 Crore people where approximately 80 crore are eligible to vote. How do you understand what each one of them is going to do and who is voting for whom. The question is very serious considering the economic problems the country is facing. The Indian Currency has been constantly weakening. The Country has threats from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

The question that stands still is whom to vote for?

The contest is essentially between three candidates, namely, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal. All three have vast differences in the ideologies they support and the way they canvass themselves and their ideologies. Who and why deserves to win is the question which is to be responded on various touchstones.

The first touchstone is that of connection of the leader with the public at large. A political leader essentially needs to connect with the public at large. Unless the leader is a populist one, it becomes rather more difficult to pull crowds and win the battle of ballots. Narendra Modi has done hundreds of sabhas all over the country in past few months. Three sabhas a day and all of them in different states says a lot about the character of a person aged 63. Narendra Modi would not go to the homes of Dalits in a simple kurta-payjama and have lunch there sitting on the floor. Narendra Modi doesn’t drive a simple Maruti car. He would arrive at a rally in a chopper, dressed up in extravagant outfits that even a youngster would be tempted to wear. Who would want their PM to be behaving like a poor man himself. What hope does he have and what hope does he give to the people if he himself weeps on issues of poverty? 

Although being termed as a Hindutva propagator, and filing his nomination from Varanasi, Modi did not go for a holy bath in the Ganges in front of the whole media fraternity. He doesn’t need to look ‘Aam’ to connect to the public. His chai pe charcha would be held at a posh A/c hall. He doesn’t need to look and behave as an ‘Aam Aadmi’ to connect with numerous others. The only requirement to connect with the public is the content of what you speak. Narendra Modi has been through everything in his life and that makes him comfortable wherever he goes. He can connect to the student crowd at a Delhi college convocation and to a farmer crowd at a rally in Haryana. He can connect with the poor crowd in Orissa and equally so with a crowd of businessmen at Vibrant Gujarat summits. He stays himself wherever he is, but ensures that he connects to the audience and makes sense to them. Probably, the vast experience of dealing with humans has only made him so versatile to be able to understand the worries of a Dalit locality and also that of a posh one.

Everyone should ask his / her ownself a simple question, whom do they want to lead them. Would you want a man sitting on a Dharna while being a State’s Chief Minister to be your leader? Would you want a man whose party was literally forced to pass Lokpal Bill, taking credit of the same lead you? Or you would want a dynamic leader who can speak his heart out on issues that most politicians avoid, to lead you. A man who has the audacity to question China on the issue of invasion into India, Pakistan on terrorism and Bangladesh on infiltration.The Prime Minister represents the country at an International platform. Would you want your PM to be an intense pessimist who is only good in criticising others and having no achievement of his ownself whatsoever? Would you want your PM to be a man who is dumbstruck by a few straight questions from a news reporter in an interview? Or you would want your PM to be a man who has tremendous success as a Chief Minister of Gujarat for over a decade under his belt?

Rahul Gandhi takes credit for passing RTI and Lokpal bills. Has political rivalry stooped down to a level where a Government seeks to take credit for passing legislations? Is it not the job of the Government to legislate?

The other touchstone for deciding a leader should be the personal achievements of the leader himself. The biggest achievement Rahul has, is his last name; Gandhi. Its legacy. Legacy of tyranny and abuse of power. What has he done by himself? An average person starts planning his retirement after entering into 40’s. This man still seems to be pursuing his internship as a politician. His attendance in the Lok Sabha is very low. He doesn’t participate in debates on major legislations. What is he doing? Its been a decade now. The same decade that Modi has utilized from being just a Chief Minister of a State to the Prime Ministerial candidate for BJP. What has Kejriwal done thus far? He left his government job to work against the Government and for corruption free India. Joined India Against Corruption in furtherance thereof. Left India Against Corruption to form a political party. Came into power, became the Chief Minister of Delhi and left that job also in less than 50 days just because other parties did not support him in passing a legislation. Can the responsibility of running the country be put on such an amateur? Who knows what he might do on being the Prime Minister (Assuming that he becomes). Modi has a record of winning Gujarat elections successfully for three consecutive terms. Has efficiently administered the State for over 10 years. Imagine the pressure that man must have had on facing two setbacks in the first two years of Chief Ministership, first being the destructive earthquake in 2001 and second being the Godhrakand in 2002. Still, Modi has administered and nurtured the State very efficiently. He has brought abundant foreign investments into the State.  

The next issue that needs to be considered while deciding a leader is the future that the leaders show you. The future that Rahul Gandhi can, at best, show, is to widen the communal divide and to grant Scheduled Caste status to a few other castes just a few months before the next election. What plans does he have for the nation? Is the empowerment of people enough? Do people just want to file RTI Applications and be happy? Do people just want reservations for their castes? Do they just want apathy of the leaders? No. The people of this country want to do so well that they don’t need anybody’s apathy, and the Government which provides ample basic, educational and employment opportunities is the best suited and sought for. 

Finally, a leader should be judged on the manner in which he deals with criticism. Rahul Gandhi has always avoided media interactions. Arvind Kejriwal seemed to have been liking the media attention he got only until he was praised by the media. The day his failures as Delhi Chief Minister were brought forward, he started abusing the media. The man who has been most maligned by the media for the 2002 riots does not abuse media on every occasion and declare the whole fraternity to be a paid one. Narendra Modi didn't go haywire and played the 'victim of media card' before the Gujarat 2012 elections. He waited and he criticized the media on the 20th December, 2012. The day on which, he had won Gujarat elections for the third consecutive term.

Go out and vote for change.

Jai Hind.