BJP: Gear up for 2019

The verdict is out – it is a mandate for the Congress led UPA government. PM Dr. Singh becomes the second PM after Pandit Nehru to return to office with a clear mandate. With the Left not shackling it and now DMK out too, the Congress cannot blame anyone but itself if it fails to deliver what the alliance promises to – progress. Mind you, I’m no Congressman, but when it comes to a stable dynastic government versus an unstable democratic government, I’d rather prefer a dynastic government. I do agree Advaniji would be a strong PM but with allies like Mayawati and Jayalalitha to keep the alliance under a continuous threat of collapse over trivial issues like the Left did to the UPA, I'd rather have Sonia-Rahul dictate terms to a "weak" Manmohan Singh.

And in what may seem quite contrary to my views earlier, I kinda liked the “non-congress’ised Rahul Gandhi. While Sonia may have become the AICC and the UPA chief due to the dynasty, Rahul wants to establish himself through the route an “aam aadmi” would take – the route of toil and hard work. That, even the staunchest of opponents will observe, he does. His "Discover of India" tour was well publicised though did not really yield instant results for the Congress. When Rahul Gandhi came to the scene initially, he was being looked upon as the bearer of bad luck. Whichever state he went to, the Congress lost it. And not all was because of the opposition’s good performance. Few statements made by Rahul Gandhi were rebuked by the BJP and few of them simply showed Congress in bad light. But at least he was true to himself and the country - he was a "naive" politician!!! One thing that he did well for the congress was to recruit the youth to the congress. Byre Gowda contested against the might of Ananth Kumar in Bangalore. That in itself shows the strength the youth Congress has accumulated. And clearly, a lot of credit should go to Rahul. But now that he has been "Congress"ised, will he remain that focussed on actually achieving improvement and development – both for the Congress and the country – is a question that time will answer. For now, looks like, I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

In a situation where the DMK even quit the government because the low performing ministers were not acceptable to the PM, Rahul declined to take up any portfolio – not that he would surely do a good job – that does speak volumes about the PM-in-Waiting. As the infighting in the BJP ranks erupts, even threatening to burn up the party’s loyal base of the RSS and the VHP ranks, here’s just a suggestion for them – look for an heir who will lead you in 2019. 2014 will surely be the congress sweep in the Parliament – Rahul surely will not lose his first election as the PM-to-be and I sure believe he'll be ready for the top job by then (Though few experts do feel Rahul wouldn't do good by being so and I agree that very well can be the case)

PP