For BJP, Vikas has already taken the back seat

Having failed to put the economy back on the rails and having wasted the last three and a half years in event and headline management, the Bharatiya Janata Party appears to be falling back on its old agenda of Congress bashing and polarisation of people.

• Modi with soldiers: While past Defence Ministers and Prime Ministers have also spent time with jawans, Narendra Modi is possibly the first PM to ensure that his very public meetings with soldiers are televised, preferably live. On Diwali this year he went a step further and donned battle fatigues while meeting soldiers. He cut a dashing figure with his fancy sun shades and declared that soldiers were his only family members. The only discordant note was struck by a NSG commando who stood behind him, triggering tweets that he is the only PM who needs NSG protection even while mingling with soldiers. Attempts to appropriate nationalism and patriotism are clear.
• Kedarnath and religion: Possibly the only Prime Minister to deliver a political speech from a place of worship, PM Modi anointed himself as ‘Baba ka Beta’ at Kedarnath, destroyed by a flash flood in 2013. He was obviously referring to lord Shiva. The PM blamed the then UPA Government for not allowing him as the Gujarat CM to restore Kedarnath ( as if he as CM had allowed other CMs to undertake development work in Gujarat). Congress reminded him that the UPA Government had announced a ₹8000 Crore rehabilitation package and released ₹2,200 Crore before May, 2014. It also accused Modi of not releasing the rest of the amount.
• Ram Temple and Ayodhya back on the agenda: While Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath claims that ₹125 Crore allegedly spent in showering rose petals on the ancient town from helicopters, flying actors dressed as Rama, Sita and Lakshman in a helicopter ( Pushpak Viman), lighting the river front etc. came from the ‘Sant Samaj’ ( the priests) , the party’s clear and renewed emphasis on building the Rama Temple , putting up a Ramayan museum and a statue at Ayodhya showed that ‘development’ had taken a back seat.
• CBI seeks to re-open the Bofors case: Several Union ministers went on social media and on Television to demand the re-opening of the three decades old case, which was closed in 2005. The timing, just before the election in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, is indication that a nervous BJP is trying to muddy the water and create a storm in a teacup to divert attention from its failures on Demonetisation, GST, Jobs, NPAs and crony capitalism. 42 months after the Modi Government was swept to power, Robert Vadra, Congress President’s son-in-law, is also back under the scanner.
• Arm twisting the Election Commission: While the Election Commission has vehemently denied insinuations that it was browbeaten by the Government into not announcing the dates of Gujarat polls, the fact remains that its failure has led to a major dent into its credibility as an independent body. Its alibi that its decision to defer the announcement was dictated by a desire to ensure that the Model Code of Conduct does not come in the way of flood relief work, failed to wash. For one thing, the code does not come in the way of relief work and for another , similar floods in Kashmir had not deterred the Commission from announcing polls.
• Will take credit but not the blame: By claiming that the Centre had played only ‘one-thirtieth’ role in the implementation of the GST and by blaming the Congress for it, Prime Minister Modi cut a sorry figure. BJP had opposed GST when it was in the opposition but at the midnight session of Parliament on the eve of rolling out the ‘historic tax’, he took the credit but when it became clear that the Government was not really prepared to handle the complications and the backlash, a defensive PM passed the buck.