As I get on with Part #2 (after #0 and #1) of my analysis, one apparent "contradiction" stands out. The RSS , which, like it or not is what has shaped Modi to a good extend of what he is, is quite against a personality cult. The Nation of Bhaarat indeed is raison d'être for the 'Sanghi' and what is "worshipped" (if at all) in the shakhas is the bhagawa dwaja and not any person . One might occasionally hear from a Sanghi that "Doctorji said so and so" or "Guruji did so and so" or "Thengadiji started so many organizations" etc, but it is indeed far from personality worship
So then how come the RSS "allowed" ( keep aside for now the RSS stand that we do not interfere in BJP decisions) brand Modi to flourish ? How about the kaaryakarta ? Well, the way I look it is using the Buddhist chant. For the BJP, the Sangha (organisational setup - the RSS and its sister groups) has traditionally been the strength.. as you keep hearing, it is a "cadre" based party. Oh yes, who else can pull off such half or one million strong rallies with such apparent "ease" in various parts of the country ? As for Dhamma, it has been ups and down.. It remains Nationalistic, but the core issues that the party stood for once - J & K, Ayodhya and UCC - aren't the driving factors. I would like to see those as along the Shruti/Smruthi separation in Hinduism.. Shruti remains eternal, and that would the BJP's commitment to "Nation First" and to a good extent "Political face of those who are not anti-Hindu or p-sec", and the Smruthi part - the issues of the day, keep changing.
But then, in a complex Nation like India, with such a multi-party system, and more so with the BJP failing to make a major impact in the South, it is quite evident that only the "Buddha" factor can get them closer to a critical mass. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had the personality impact (Note: A hard core hindutva person may have been not satisfied with Vajpayee's 6 years, but hopefully UPA's 9-10 years have brought him back to the realization that something is better than nothing.. and indeed Modi's tenure must be giving a much better hope than Vajpayee's).
And thats the same "gap" that Modi is filling in now, but in quite a non-Vajpayee fashion. I do not want to go into an indepth analysis of Modi's abilities, but with time, he has been proving how much of a genius he is - at least in the current complex political environment, and given BJP's natural limitations, he is perhaps doing the best he can and exceeding many people's expectations already. In fact his strength also seems to be his unpredictability at least for his critics (which mostly comes from a false image of Modi, which they themselves built for convenience) . Almost every day, or at least every big rally that he attends, he gives some new thought out. From firmly saying I am a born Hindu and Nationalist, to "Sauchalaya before Devaalaya" (Note: he did not say "No devaalaya", simply set the "priority right" so to say) to effectively bringing forth Sardar Patel to the discussion ..... the list is growing
Diversion1: Interestingly "greatbong" has been running a series on Modi as well.. and his third post is out too ! http://greatbong.net/2013/10/27/deconstructing-modi-part-3/
Diversion2: An interesting article, from last year, but happened to see now.. interestingly I share the same birth-day as Sardar Patel :) http://www.niticentral.com/2012/10/31/there-is-a-sardar-patel-in-modi-16706.html
And the way Modi is at it, by the time his critics ( media/Congress/p-secs/....) try to counter it, Modi would have moved on to the next .. And this is what is probably most irritating them and pushing them more towards "dirty tricks" - the latest trend seems to be to attribute to Modi (by way of twisting or sometimes completely fabricating) a statement that he did not make, and then calling him names !
Anyways , to sort of some it up, the need of the hour, even for RSS (as far its ambitions to see BJP as part of the next government) was a man who can withstand and move forward in such challenging circumstances. And the fact of the matter is that in how much the Sangh would have wanted the ideology to drive its cadres, the personality is very much needed and these factors are more often than not complementary to each other - as long as the personality is not selfish etc etc. In one of my future posts, I will perhaps dwell upon what long-term plan or atleast hope Modi may have in his mind - to put it in short, he is most likely using this also as a chance to re-energize BJP
