Modi, his party leaders readying for big moves

A day after exit polls that said Narendra Modi is likely to be India’s next prime minister, the BJP leader was busy yesterday in his home state of Gujarat, meeting with all state legislators and parliamentarians from his party.

All forecasts showed the BJP and its allies trouncing the Congress, and most indicated the BJP-led coalition would seal a narrow majority.

Results of the national election are due on Friday, and some experts warn against over-confidence in a BJP victory given notorious forecasting errors for the last two general elections.

But Modi’s gathering in Gandhinagar is being interpreted as an exercise to find consensus on who will succeed him as chief minister of Gujarat if he moves to Delhi to run the country.

“There is a process…the high command will take the decision that will be ratified by legislators but all that will happen post-May 16,” said Om Mathur, a party leader, striking a note of caution, according to NDTV.

But privately, many party leaders admit that while the BJP does not want to be seen as jumping the gun in assuming Modi has got the job he sought, informally, the process of finding his successor in Gujarat is well underway.

The front-runner is Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel, who is a trusted aide of Modi and an experienced administrator. Finance Minister Nitin Patel and Industries Minister Saurabh Patel are also in the running, as is Bhikhu Dalsaniya, an organisational secretary of the BJP and liaison with the BJP’s ideological parent, the powerful Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS.

Because this is being seen as one of the last meetings Modi will chair as chief minister, office bearers were invited to attend yesterday evening’s conclave as well – another signal that Modi’s move to Delhi is now being taken as a given.

Meanwhile, Congress yesterday said the exit pollsters “deserve the Nobel prize for miniaturisation” taking a dig at pollsters who have projected a poor show by the party in Lok Sabha polls, reports PTI.

“Those who try and capture the essence of Indian polity in exit or opinion polls on sample sizes of varying sizes deserve the Nobel prize for miniaturisation for a country as diverse as India,” party Spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.

He said he was talking of such a prize because these pollsters “are capturing the hearts and minds of over a billion people or X billion voters on sample sizes of 10-20-or 50 or 90,000 or one lakh. Besides, this is being done on the “most diverse spots on earth that is India.”

Coming down heavily on such polls, he said those who failed to learn lessons of history are condemned to repeat them and the same applied to these pollsters and exit pollsters. He said how exit polls have proved wrong in 2004 and 2009 general elections.

The exit polls predict a rout for the Congress and its senior leaders have now rushed to cushion party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, who led the election campaign, from the impact of a possible crushing defeat.

Union minister Kamal Nath made clear that the “results will be based on government performance and Rahul Gandhi is not a part of the government.”

Another, Jairam Ramesh, seen as part of Rahul Gandhi’s core group of advisers, said: “Gandhi was an indefatigable campaigner. He held 125 rallies, went to every state. He brought the spirit to our campaign.”

Ramesh said it was the Congress’ “gameplan, well thought out,” that it would not project a personality, alluding to rival BJP’s campaign being built around the persona of Modi.

The BJP yesterday predicted that the Congress will find its scapegoat in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in its attempt to protect party President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul from criticism.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC), projected to do well in Lok Sabha polls in the 42 constituencies in West Bengal, yesterday ruled out a post-poll alignment with the NDA.

“The question of supporting such a formation does not arise,” national spokesperson of TMC Derek O’Brien told PTI in Kolkata when asked whether the party would support NDA, projected in the exit polls to form the government headed by Modi, if it falls short of majority mark and approached it.

TMC, which secured 19 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal last time when it had an alliance with Congress in 2009, would do “much better” this time when it fought alone, he said.