Herald View: Modi’s charisma may not just be enough in 2019

Electioneering seems to have started right away. Almost all political parties are in campaign mode. Full-fledged electioneering may not have started yet. But parties have begun to roll out their campaign outlines. The ruling BJP held its national executive last week to tell the party and the country that its leader, Narendra Modi, would be its election mascot. It was evident for long with the kind of Modi cult being built up over the last four years within the BJP. The BJP national executive at least overtly displayed confidence about winning 2019 election in the glory of Modi’s “charisma”.

The BJP has devised two ways to solve its problems. First, it is heavily relying on Chanakyaniti to pin down its political rivals. It’s using dirty tricks to tighten screws around its rivals. The Congress being its principal rival, the BJP has already started pushing its top leadership to the wall in court cases like National Herald. Other opposition parties, too, are on its radar. Despite its dirty tricks department being hyper active in its bid to scare the opposition, BJP’s rivals, with a combined 69 per cent votes in their kitty, are coming together. The Bharat Bandh on October 10 brought 21 Opposition parties on one platform, which unnerved the BJP. The nervous BJP has decided to go back to its basic divide and rule game. No less than the party president Amit Shah raked up the Bangladeshi issue in Rajasthan the other day hinting that the BJP would heavily rely on hate politics in the 2019 elections. Narendra Modi is a past master in this game. He won three Assembly elections playing the Hindutva card in Gujarat. As the Prime Minister, he may be subtle in this game now. But the party, led by Amit Shah, will unabashedly use the divide and rule tactic. It’s a dangerous game that India needs to guard itself. Opposition parties should firmly stand up against the politics of polarisation. It is the duty of all those who have faith in the Indian Constitution to protect the national social fabric. Guarding it will be the greatest challenge in 2019, which no one within the liberal camp must shirk.