With the ‘Modi for PM’ slogans gaining pitch all around India, the time has come for the common Indian to sit up and take note of the future of the country. While many believe Narendra Modi is the messiah of India’s future, others believe otherwise. And here are 10 reasons why these people believe Modi would find it very hard to become the next Indian PM.
Inexperience in Parliamentary Politics
Modi may be skilled at addressing rallies. But handling the pressures of parliamentary sessions and debates is something totally different. Unlike his party members like Advani, SushmaSwaraj, Vajpayee and Jaitley, Modi has minimal parliamentary experience (mostly restricted to the visitor’s gallery). And this can work against him at the time of the elections when the nation would opt to choose someone with at least a few years of parliamentary experience to run the country.
The need to bag 272 seats in the LokSabha
Let’s move back to 1998 and 1999 when the B JP government was leading the center. On both occasions, the party managed to secure only 182 seats despite contesting 388 and 339 seats respectively. Fast forward to 2009 when the party again managed to secure only 116 seats despite contesting 433 seats. So trying to achieve at least double the amount of seats in the next elections would be nothing close to possible, even if Modi gives it his best shot!
Lack of seats in UP
After the reign of Kalyan Singh in 1998, the number of seats for the BJP in the state dwindled to just 10. And with party members being content to just retain their seats rather than trying to give way for a movement that could increase the number of Assembly seats in the state. And it is a known fact that the party with the most number of LokSabha seats in the country’s capital will be the one to govern the country. Now you do the math!
Lack of Partnerships
By the end of the Vajpayee led government, the BJP had severed its ties with several allies. If Modi wants to become PM, he would need to revive those partnerships, which is not an easy task. While the party can be assured of the support of the Shiv Sena, JDU and Akali Dal parties, it still needs to get in touch with other potential allies, including the AIADMK led by Jayalalitha (who has not confirmed the partnership yet), the All India Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee who is concerned about the minority support (Muslims) for her party and BijuJanataDal led by Naveen Patnaik who firmly believes in traveling alone. New allies in the form of NCP and the National Conference is also not possible as while the former is mired in controversies related to corruptions, the latter is closely associated with the Congress.
Disgruntled Party Members
Forget winning over the nation! Modi has to first win over the support of his party members, most of whom have clearly shown signs of not supporting his stand for PM. These include the party’s oldest member Advani who still has strong supporters in Sanjay Joshi and Gadkari, SanghParivar which strictly does not support one man leadership, SushmaSwaraj who might feel that a central minister is more suited for the role of PM rather than a state minister, and ArunJaitley who wants to uproot Modi silently. The only supporter Modi has as of now is Rajnath whose rise in the party rankings was solely influenced by the former.
Disgruntled Coalitions
Modi strongly believes in one man leadership, something that is strongly criticized by his party members as well the coalitions. Modi is known for his non-flexible stance and as such, would not be able to manage his allies. And that can become quite troublesome when dealing handling regional politics that keep changing every now and then? Case in point: the Vajpayee led government which stumbled twice in 1996 and 1998 when the allies backed down due to the same issue: one man show!
Lack of Muslim Voters
Let’s face it! The taint of the Gujarat riots will forever remain on Modi’sresume. And time and again, the leader has made his stand clear in respect to the Muslim population of the country. So while party leaders like Nitish believe in embracing the Muslim voters, Modi believes in running a strict administration and maintaining his anti-muslim image.
So imagine what a country with 16% Muslim population (steadily increasing) will do when a person like Modi steps up to become PM? What any individual opting for self-defense would do! Try anything and everything is his power to stop Modi from becoming PM, lest the entire country becomes another Gujarat (not in the good sense).
Lack of Support down south
You need to win over the entire country if you want to rule it. Sadly, that doesn’t work in favor of Modi who hardly has any solid supporters down south. Most of the party’s presence down south is only via partnerships that could be overturned within minutes. So without a solid plan to back him down south, Modi would never be able to become India’s PM by just winning over the North.
Negligible Popularity Streak outside Gujarat
Modi is the Gujarat and no one denies that! But come out of the state, and you will notice several other chief ministers who are heroes in their respective states. Case in point: Vasundhara who plays a vital role for BJP in Rajasthan. Vasundhara has been given complete freedom to run the state and would definitely not like someone equal of stature like Modi to interfere in her affairs. The same can be said for both Raman Singh and Shivaraj who are equally experienced and powerful in their respective states. Modiis relatively unknown in these states and would definitely have his job cut out for him trying to make these leaders believe his principles.
The taint of the Gujarat riots
We kept this point for last because over the years, many people have come to say ‘Forget that one incident. It happened eons ago.’ It will be easy for a complete stranger to forget the massacre that happened in Gujarat back in 2002. But for the person who was there at that moment, the haunting would continue forever. And the fact that Modi had directly or indirectly instigated the riots that led to the butchering of countless Muslims would forever remain fresh in the minds of the minority population as well as those who wish India to be a truly secular country as portrayed by our Netas.
