Fwd: MISSION 272 PLUS - THE ACHIEVEMENT OF NARENDRA MODI (Opinion article by Shri Muralidhar Rao)

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From: "Muralidhar Rao" <empoweringindiapmr@gmail.com>
Date: 17 May 2014 22:05
Subject: MISSION 272 PLUS - THE ACHIEVEMENT OF NARENDRA MODI (Opinion article by Shri Muralidhar Rao)
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MISSION 272 PLUS - THE ACHIEVEMENT OF NARENDRA MODI

Muralidhar Rao (BJP National General Secretary)

In the history of each nation comes a defining moment, which has the potential to alter the course of its future. The 16^th general elections represent just such a moment. For the first time since Independence, a political party has sought – and won - a huge mandate purely on the issue of good governance.

The print and electronic media has expended reams of newsprint and millions of sound bites discussing the failures of UPA government, so there is no need to belabour the point. Channelizing the widespread anger against the UPA into a pro-Modi wave was the challenge. Political opponents of BJP termed the Modi-wave as a media and money-fuelled creation. But they have no idea of the hard work, strategising, planning and execution undertaken by the BJP's Modified team.

The historic and massive campaign led by Narendra Modi responded to the nationwide cry for change - dislodging the UPA and forming a stable and performance-oriented government in its place. The BJP campaign was two-pronged. The first aspect was to highlight the failure of the UPA government on all fronts and the second was to convince voters that the BJP was the viable alternative.

An inherent strength of BJP has been that - unlike the Congress - it has always been a cadre-based party. And till date, it remains the only party which has never suffered a vertical split. The decision to nominate Narendra Modi first as campaign committee chief and later as Prime Ministerial candidate was not a decision taken by a family or a coterie but was the outcome of a groundswell of support that he enjoyed amongst the masses, on account of his track record of good governance in Gujarat. Voters saw for themselves the difference between the performance of BJP governments in the states and that of the UPA government at the centre. The track record of the NDA government at the centre also added a trust factor.

Narendra Modi was able to identify himself with the aspirations of young India. The 21^st century was spoken of as India's decade, but in less than a decade the UPA government had managed to kill the India growth story. He correctly gauged public sentiment and established a connect with the youth. That he is seen as a youth icon vis-à-vis Rahul Gandhi, who is 20 years younger, says it all! The only other similar instance that comes to mind was Indira Gandhi's Garibi Hatao slogan of 1971.  Since the mainstream media had largely been hostile to him, he successfully used the social media to establish a direct connect with the youth.

Many had hoped for the demise of NDA (and thereby BJP) when Narendra Modi's name was announced as the campaign committee chief and later on as the Prime Ministerial candidate. When one of our oldest allies left us immediately on Modi's anointment, the NDA was ridiculed as a three party alliance. However, proving them all wrong, the BJP was able to create pre-poll political alliance comprising 25 parties. Because of this, BJP was able to expand its footprint across all social groups and political territories.

This election is different from previous ones in all respects. The BJP led NDA had come to power earlier in 1998 and 1999. But at that time the Ram-janmabhoomi movement had propelled BJP to the centre stage of Indian politics. The persona of Atal Behari Vajepayee helped capitalise on this and won a decisive mandate for NDA. The 1977 elections were won by the Janata Party on the back of the JP movement and even the 1989 elections were centred on the single issue of Bofors and the failure of Rajiv Gandhi to live up to people's expectations. It can therefore be said that for the first time since Independence, the Indian electorate is voting solely on the issue of good governance.

Knowing fully well that it could not face the electorate on the governance issue, the Congress tried every trick in the book to derail the BJP campaign. But it failed here as well, despite a compliant media and full support from the pseudo-secularists. BJP must be credited with building the tempo and sustaining it for over a year despite these hurdles. Of course, full credit goes to the party's leader, Narendra Modi, who had successfully maintained the pitch and intensity of the campaign against the UPA government.

Narendra Modi is perhaps the first political leader to have endured all manner of challenges including CBI inquiries, investigations by various agencies, vilification campaigns, diplomatic barriers, media bias and relentless allegations. He must be the most scanned, scrutinized and vilified leader of India – his courage in putting up with all of this has been endorsed by the people of the nation. It may not be an exaggeration to say that providence, responding to the heartfelt need of the nation, guided his steps. He travelled more than 3 lakh kilometres and put a huge amount of physical and mental effort into the campaign – a carefully planned exercise based on ground realities. Campaign concepts like 'Congress mukt Bharat' and 'India 272+' were derived from that understanding of the public mood.

For aspirational India, Modi represents the hope factor. For the poor, for the dalits, for the youth, it is hope that their dreams of a better life will be realised. The nation stands at the cusp of a new surge of growth and prosperity. This is a victory not only for the party, but also for India and the world's largest democracy.