Point Of View: VVS Manian
You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time; but you cannot fool all the people all the time. Abraham Lincoln
Our party, the BJP, and Modi’s target of a 400+ win in the Lok Sabha is not possible without a few seats from the South. The complexion of the election is now undergoing some changes, whatever the reason. It is a good indication that a greater amount of time and energy is spent by the BJP in Tamil Nadu. Modi’s aim is to make inroads in Tamil Nadu. He had a colourful road show in the busy area of T. Nagar with a huge cheering crowd of BJP loyalists and admirers. Modi’s continuous trips to Tami Nadu may produce some positive results, but they may not be phenomenal for many reasons. It is also true that the BJP committed some pillage in Tamil Nadu, which will come to light when counting takes place.
I wrote in this column that the BJP must create strong grass-roots workers and focus on identifying and creating good leaders in every district to be ready for the general election. This was not done. All we did was criticize the DMK and AIADMK, day in and day out, for corruption that even the roadside rickshaw wallah is aware of.
An uneducated woman from a fisheries colony saw me while I was walking on the beach on Tuesday. She asked me why I had not gone to the BJP rally in T. Nagar. I told her I was having health issues and could not venture into crowds. The next question she asked me was: Who will win the election? I said BJP. In return, I asked her whom she was going to vote for. She said that DMK has given her money of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 6000, which is much better than the BJP. She said not one person from the BJP has visited her in the last ten years.
Surprisingly, she added a rider, saying that “I don’t understand why DMK is supporting the Congress with a madcap like Rahul, who has no family, is a bachelor, and talks nonsense.” I asked her about Modiji. She retorted, saying that her status has not improved in the last ten years. She said that Modi talks too much, and he stabbed the Tamils by hobnobbing with criminals as allies. She added to my shock,” How did Modiji, a friend of Amma, join hands with a family who is alleged to have seen the end of Jayalalithaa?” I just walked ahead with admiration for her native intelligence.
Truth hits hard, but truth is truth. It is true that Annamalai, the champion of truth, honesty, and integrity, should have proved his worth through a good and clean alliance. He is now branded as a “joker” by DMK after the alliance pact. This kind of real feedback is more necessary from roadside random samples than all the projections of pre-poll surveys based on hypotheses and intentional hype.
Let us come to brass tacks on other issues. The arrest of Kejriwal has been questioned by both intellectuals and common men. All agree that whether it is the Prime Minister of the country, ministers, or any other politician who is proved to be corrupt, they should go to jail. Kejriwal is no exception. The timing of the arrest is what blew up to Himalayan heights. If the ED had a foolproof case, what would have prevented them from taking action long ago? Why wait a few days before the election? This is where the ED and government slipped.
Modi came to power saying, “Neither we will eat nor we will let others eat.” Now the joke going around is that the BJP will accommodate politicians who have been sumptuously corrupt and criminals on their bandwagon. There is no malnourished politician in the BJP or among those who have joined the bandwagon. The biggest challenge for Modiji is how he can refuse to give ministerial portfolios to tainted politicians and criminals who have backed them with muscle and money power across India and won. This is not my question, but from many loyalists and members of the BJP.
The reality is that the BJP’s compromising formula will backlash when the ministry is formed. It is a question of how clean the new BJP government, which will definitely come to power with a rejuvenated spirit, will be. The lady on the beach is laughing at the hypocrisy in politics.
