The Congress Method of Blocking Modi

Note: This is the translation of Pratap Simha’s piece entitled Narendra Modi Haniyalu Congress Hidida Daari Yenthaaddu? that appeared in Kannada Prabha on 21 July, 2012. Translation is entirely mine and has the author’s approval.

NM

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

I’m always reminded of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi whenever I read this poem entitled Still I’ll Rise written by the black poetess, Maya Angelou. Although Angelou wrote this in the context of her protest against White racism, it seems to me that large portions this poem were written keeping Modi in mind. The opening lines You may write me down in history/ With your bitter, twisted lies, especially apply one hundred percent to Narendra Modi. Over the past 10 years, that is, from 2002 there’s no abuse, no allegation that’s not been hurled against Modi. No invective has been left unused while abusing him. The Congress party and its major and minor cohorts in the media have carefully indulged in a systematic campaign of Modi’s character assassination. Despite this, their efforts have gone in vain because he’s won election after election with a two-thirds majority. That’s not all. In the ensuing 2014 Lok Sabha elections, there’s every indication that he is likely to be the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate.

If that happens—if the BJP declares Modi as their Prime Ministerial candidate, let no doubts remain that this poses the biggest danger to Rahul Gandhi.

And it is to prevent exactly a situation like this that the Congress party is working overtime. The Assembly Elections scheduled in December 2012 will witness yet another victorious Modi. It takes 92 seats to capture the 182-member Gujarat Vidhana Sabha. However, if the BJP under Modi manages to garner a tally 100, it will be portrayed as a defeat of Modi. This is why the Congress party is willing to stoop down to any level to ensure that the BJP bags a figure under 100. The media as usual, has become a willing handmaiden to aid the Congress party in its every nefarious move. However, this time around, some people have already shed light on such dirty tricks.

Madhav Nalapat’s Congress Plans Sleaze Campaign against Modi in the Sunday Guardian, Minaz Merchant’s Target Modi in the Times of India Blogs, and Aakar Patel’s Spent guns target Modi in the Express Tribute narrate the despicable road chosen by the Congress party to stop Modi at all costs.

According to Nalapat, the Congress has identified two ways to accomplish this. The first is the one it implemented in Uttarakhand and Karnataka. In these states, the Congress capitalized on the BJP’s infighting and its in-house traitors thereby wrecking the governments. In Gujarat, it has already yoked up the disgruntled BJP elements in the form of Keshubhai Patel and Kashiram Rana, and has pitted them against Modi. The second way is vile way of direct, open character assassination. More specifically, the Congress party has already readied plans to film a fake CD showing Modi engaged in the sexual act, and then to release it to the public at election time through its pliant media agents. The obvious goal is to tarnish Modi’s character and reap electoral benefit. This sleazy plan is already in operation with the assistance of a certain lady NDA office-bearer from Punjab. This lady has apparently netted a Tamil actress by buying her a flat in Chandigarh and landing her roles in two upcoming Tamil films. At the opportune time, this actress will file an affidavit stating that the Gujarat Chief Minister had sexual relations with her.

But why is the Congress party after Modi with such zeal? What is it about him that’s giving it sleepless nights?

Today, the only person who stands between Rahul Gandhi and the Prime Minister’s chair is Narendra Modi. Do you recall just one person who the entire Congress party has pursued with such a feverish determination in its long history? The argument that it is pursuing Modi because it’s concerned about Gujarat’s Muslims is shallow. One of the worst riots to hit the state in 1969 was under the Congress government led by Chief Minister Hitendra Desai. The combined death toll comprising both Hindus and Muslims was 2000. The reason? The Al Aska mosque in Jerusalem, which was pulled down in 1969. This event in some faraway country provided a convenient ruse for Muslims in Gujarat to launch an unprovoked attack on Hindus worshipping peacefully at the Jagannath temple. It’s not that the then Congress government was unaware of this fact. Historically, Hindu-Muslim riots in India have always been initiated by Muslims. This too, is a fact that the Congress party is well-acquainted with. However, it repeatedly uses the Muslim card for obvious, vote-bank reasons. In the present day, it’s using the same card to discredit Modi and quench its insatiable lust for power because it has run out of all other options. However, if we allow such divisive politics to succeed, we can only shudder at the future of this nation.

The fact is that despite numerous attempts over the last 10 years, the Congress has been unable to find even one flaw in Narendra Modi. Why?

Typically, every successful politician or leader or public figure has a team or at least one shrewd adviser who guides and advises the leader on various matters. A Chandragupta Maurya had a Chanakaya, Harihara and Bukka had Vidyaranya, Shivaji had Samarth Ramadas, Swami Vivekananda had Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and so on. In present day politics, this applies to a Mayawati who had Satishchandra Mishra, Naveen Patnaik who had Pyaremohan Mohapatra, Mualayam Singh Yadav who had Gyaneshwar Mishra (and later Amar Singh), NTR and Chandrababu Naidu who had Ramoji Rao, Karunanidhi who had S. Guhan and Prof. Naganathan, Jayalalithaa who has Cho. Ramaswamy, and Deve Gowda, who has YSV Datta. None of these leaders took any decision without first consulting their advisors and every decision once taken, has the imprint of their advisor in some form or the other.

If this is the case—an age-old precedent—who is this one person who advises and guides Narendra Modi?

There’s no answer to this question because Narendra Modi is his own King and wise counsel. Historically, the Congress party is known to “book” such advisors and exploit the weakness of the adversary through this key person. However, despite painstaking efforts spanning a decade, the Congress party encountered a solid wall in the case of Narendra Modi because—apart from having no advisor—he is clean. Of late, the Congress has explored the avenue of trying to tarnish him through his family and relatives—for example, a relative who became rich overnight thanks to Modi’s Chief Ministership. However, even this turned out to be a dead end. The handlers and the dirty tricks department of the Congress party apparently found out that Modi isn’t in politics for selfish ends, and was forced to accept the fact that Modi’s interest lay in Gujarat’s interest. It’s left to our imagination as to the future of this nation if a man like this becomes Prime Minister.

This is the reason Narendra Damodardas Modi has captured the imagination of the Indian masses.

He comes across as an introvert. It’s hard to predict when he speaks or when he doesn’t. By himself, he’s a great strategist. In the 2007 Gujarat assembly polls, he steered the BJP to a two-thirds majority without calling in any central leader from the party to the campaign trail. This is because of the confidence that comes from demonstrating performance and delivering clean governance. Thus, it’s clear that he’s the only leader in India who can mount an effective opposition to Rahul Gandhi. Although Nitish Kumar has earned fame of being an able administrator, his reach beyond Bihar is limited. Within the BJP, the Congress hasn’t doggedly gone after its top leaders like Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj even once in the last nine years. This is because the Congress doesn’t consider them as worthy political opponents. The only one who continues to bear the brunt of the Congress party’s attack is Narendra Modi. 

Influential leaders across the country like Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, Chandrababu Naidu, Oommen Chandy, and Deve Gowda seem to have been busy cultivating only Muslim votes at the exclusion of everything else. Mamata Banerjee seems to be on a warpath to make the Bengal exchequer pay salaries to Mullahs. Looked at from this perspective, Modi appears to be the only politician and leader whose politics isn’t based on appeasement. This apart, Modi is one of the finest orators we have today. He has in many ways, filled the vacuum left behind by Vajpayee in terms of attracting massive crowds by the sheer strength of his oratory. The Congress has not one person who can come even light years close to this, and is understandably angry.

One of the easiest slurs to assassinate the character of a person is to brand him corrupt and a womanizer. In the 2007 Gujarat election campaign, the Congress used this wretched card—it alleged that Modi was already married and that his wife works as a school teacher. This time around, it’s outdone itself by stooping to a new low with the filming of a fake CD. And that’s not all—according to Minaz Merchant, the Congress party is pulling no stops. It has created an entire stop-Modi machinery by roping in all sorts of activists, mediapersons, and disgruntled BJP elements. However, as Maya Angelou says,

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise. You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Let Narendra Damodar Modi rise, vanquish his opponents and lead India towards progress and prosperity.

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