A month back, when some local leaders of the BJP in Hyderabad proposed 5 rupee ticket’ as entry fee to listen to and attend the rally to be addressed by Narendra Modi, the organizers surprised everyone. In fact, the BJP was subject of ridicule and pun for charging entry fee for a public rally which is not done. In fact, as so far as my memory goes, there has not been any such instance of selling ticket for a rally of a politician. The Congress was quick to take a jibe at the BJP for selling Modi and selling ticket for his rally in the stadium in Hyderabad. But the Congress and other opponents of the BJP in general and Narendra Modi in particular were proved wrong by the people of Hyderabad who gave a thumping response to Modi’s rally as the massive turnout at L B Stadium on Sunday proved.
The
organizers of the rally wanted to test the water. People would have come to the
venue otherwise also if they wanted to attend the rally. But paying rupees five
for entry to the stadium demonstrated a determined and committed crowd that
cheered Modi during his speech.
The BJP
should also thank the Congress leaders for unwarranted attack on Narendra Modi
that goes on to create curiosity about
Modi. Seeing the massive crowd in Hydrabad, Rashid Alvi of the Congress said
that the crowd in the rally does not mean electoral support for the BJP in the
southern state. Agreed, Mr Alvi, the
crowd in any political rally is no guarantee that all would vote for the Party
or the leader who are present in the public meeting. But why you Mr Alvi and
your other Congress leaders fight shy of admitting that the massive response in
Hyderabad is an encouraging signal indicating the mood of the people. It goes
against the Congress.
The rally
was also significant in BJP reaching out to regional parties in the south to
join the NDA for the next year’s general elections. Modi appealed to the TDP
leader Chandrababu Naidu and J Jayalalitha, chief minister of Tamil Nadu and
leader of the AIADMK to join the NDA as both these parties were at one time
ally of the NDA and were part of the Central Government headed by Atal Behari
Vajpayee.
I would not
like to repeat what the Gujarat chief minister said at the rally since it has
been widely reported by the media, but would like to say that there was marked
departure from the past when Modi addressed the rally.
By certain
actions and some statements, the Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh
Chauhan was mistaken as taking a stand unfavourable to Modi. He donned a skull
cap on the occasion of Eid celebrations something which Modi had declined once
when he was offered the cap at a rally of the minorities in Gujarat. But Modi
heaped praises on Shivraj Singh Chauhan
in Hyderabad. Chauhan on his part lost no time in returning the complement when
he compared Modi with Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. Modi also praised L K Advani
who is generally seen as opposed to Modi.
The
Congress Party and its leaders are a worried lot. After the Sunday rally in
Hyderabad, the top leaders of the Congress have gone into huddle to check
Narendra Modi from gaining fresh ground in the country. Will the Congress be
able to turn the tide, perhaps not?
-R. K. Sinha
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