Bull's Eye

Modi resurfaced larger than life. He re-emerged as an "authentic Sardar Patel" who had prevailed over his party's national leaders. It would be safe to infer that Modi drew his strength from a powerful section of the Sangh parivar. That is why next week's Gujarat election might be a watershed for the BJP. Whatever the poll outcome, its consequences could be far-reaching. If the BJP wins handsomely, with around 120 out of 180 seats, it would signal the end of the Vajpayee era. Modi would become the new icon. Modi would dwarf Vajpayee. vhp would dwarf rss.

If the BJP loses, it would cripple its extremist forces. The long rope given to Modi would have succeeded in hanging the VHP. If the BJP has a narrow victory, Modi would be sufficiently mauled to encourage a struggle for the chief minister's post. That could split the party between moderates and extremists. That in turn could lead to new alignments in national politics cutting across party lines.

If the BJP has a narrow victory, but the status quo is allowed to continue, it would herald the end of a tired RSS leadership. The orthodox RSS approach, with its communal bias, would gradually retreat before the criminal VHP approach, with its chauvinist and violent overtones. The RSS is dominated by a narrow-minded section of Brahmins. The VHP is led by a fundamentalist section of Baniyas with financial clout. The VHP mobs are lumpen mercenaries, mostly OBCs.

The VHP's triumph would ensure that Pakistan's fundamentalists will succeed in keeping Indo-Pak hostility alive. The prospect of recreating the reality of Hindustan, in whatever form, by whatever nomenclature, would gradually disappear.

You may go up, you may go down,
You may smile, you may frown,
You may be dumb, you may be clever,
Prepare now to change forever!