Incumbent Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won in the State Assembly elections with a huge majority in Gujarat for the third term recently.
While charisma and leadership are often overstated in a democracy, nothing else appeals to people, unless a leader such as Mr Modi, delivers as per promise.
Despite so many regional satraps with mass following, very few have been able to project their clout at the national level.
Moreover, one regional satrap is not unusually viewed with suspicion by another so that the consensus is to have someone with no mass following at all. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is a perfect example.
But Mr Modi defies the rule.
The conservative politician has a mass following as well as national appeal. If he leads BJP to victory once more elsewhere, he could emerge as the party’s prime ministerial candidate in the next general election.
He represents far right conservatism, seeking to build a strong nation, economically vibrant and attractive to foreign investors.
India’s Century
“The 21st Century belongs to India with scale, speed and skills,” he said.
If Mr Modi’s politics represent dynamism in contrast to the laidback Indian politics, his capitalist vision and emphasis on growing the middle class challenges India’s experience with central planning and stagnation. Which is why, despite criticism in the Indian and foreign media, he has been able to galvanise voters in his home state.
His real test would be to project his popularity beyond Gujarat and increase support for BJP at the national level.
It is however far from certain whether he will secure his party’s nomination for the post of Prime Ministership and be accepted in any Alliance which will challenge the left in the next election scheduled for 2014.
Costly mistakes
In run up to the 2004 general elections, BJP, under the leadership of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a frontrunner but lost to the Congress.
Similarly, in the 2009 general elections, despite a change of guard in the leadership with Lal Krishna Advani taking the mantle of the Prime Ministerial candidate, it failed to learn the mistakes it committed in 2004.
It is clear that BJP’s aggressive posture after a few wins in the state elections or political capital gained out from the mistakes made by the Congress Party irritates a majority of the people – a simple lesson that the Party has failed to understand.
On the other hand, BJP is politically reactive on issues concerning people.
This works well in state elections, with voters either choosing the opposition for a change or re-electing the incumbent government as it they did in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
Modi in Delhi
However, BPJ lacks sound and pragmatic ideas, values and judgements at the national level- policies that are articulated in a sophisticated manner with decorum.
Political pundits and analysts will watch with interest if Mr Modi is able to rejuvenate BJP into a truly national party fit to form the federal government in 2014.
Balaji Chandra Mohan is our Correspondent based in Delhi.
