by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Rattled Modi Goes soft on regional parties,
Puts Plan B in Operation, Tells leaders not to attack non-allies
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Jan. 21
Rattled by state-level alliances and adjustment of seats in states by the Opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opted for Plan-B.
Rather than naming and shaming leaders and parties individually, Modi has decided to play safe and choosing to attack them for forming an “unholy” alliance. Earlier, he was hitting hard at all & sundry calling them name individually at public rallies and interactions. But not any more. He is soft-pedaling with some non-Congress non-BJP parties.
For example, during his visit to Odisha in Bolangir last week,
he did not speak a single word against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik either directly or indirectly. He did not even mention that the BJP will win 15 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state and dislodge Patnaik.The PM indirectly criticized the BJD government only one issue – poor utilisation of District Mineral Fund. This sudden change of heart on the part of Modi, has created speculations over the emergence of a new equation that may take shape up after the general elections. This mood of Modi also left many senior BJP leaders red- faced. This was in sharp contrast to the approach of BJP Chief Amit Shah who vowed to dislodge the Patnaik government. It would be worthwhile to mention here that on earlier two occasions when Modi visited Odisha in December-early January he had bitterly attacked the “Corrupt” Naveen Patnaik government.
Perhaps, things changed after the SP-BSP alliance in UP and later coming together of Opposition parties in Jharkhand and Bihar too.
In fact, none of the senior leaders of the BJP including the PM and BJP Chief have uttered a single word against BSP chief Mayawati. On the contrary, BJP leaders are saying in private that Mayawati became CM of UP three times with the help of the BJP and she will come around after the Lok Sabha polls.
Modi has been lashing out at the Congress for all the ills of the country and blaming it for "ill-treating" regional parties.
The leadership has also issued stern warning to motor-mouths of the BJP not to speak out of turn or personally attack any of the these leaders personally. The way, UP BJP MLA was reprimanded and made to apologise publicly is an indication that the party is moving with extreme caution.
A senior Cabinet Minister told Lokmat that barring Lalu's RJD and Samajwadi Party, all other parties have been part of the alliance with the BJP during the past 20 years and none were untouchables.
Be it BSP, TDP, National Conference, PDP, JMM, JVM, BJD, DMK, AIADMK, TRS or even TMC, all were part of the NDA.
Even when DMK leader M K Stalin openly proposed the name of ally Rahul Gandhi for the post of PM, Modi went out of his way to placate him. Modi said to party workers through a video conference in Chennai that the BJP was open to alliances and cherished its old friends. This was a clear hint that it was looking to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu – before or after the LS Polls.
Ends
