Kejriwal taking on Modi: Why the BJP should be happy

If one goes solely by what is happening on Twitter, the 2014 General Elections are being fought only between AAP and BJP. Every anti-AAP tweet is suspected to be from a BJP supporter and every anti-Modi tweet is automatically assumed to be coming from an AAP supporter. Not so long ago, prior to the Delhi assembly elections, BJP and AAP supporters were pretty friendly, but what is happening right now is nothing like a friendly fight. It’s vicious warfare. The reason obviously is Arvind Kejriwal making BJP, or rather Narendra Modi, his primary target of attack after his resignation as the Chief Minister of Delhi. Why Kejriwal changed his focus is another issue, but the BJP can’t possibly find fault with Kejriwal for doing that. He was never under any obligation to attack only Congress and bail out the BJP. [caption id=“attachment_1441247” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  There are enough reasons for the BJP to welcome Kejriwal’s attacks on Modi[/caption] In fact, the BJP should be happy that Kejriwal has changed his line of attack. Let me explain: BJP can’t assess the ’losses’ due to Kejriwal while discounting the ‘profits’ due to him. They will have to compare the situation where the party would have been, had there been no Kejriwal, with the current situation. First, no Kejriwal means that there would have been no Anna agitation in 2011. It’s increasingly clear that Anna was just a mascot, and the whole ‘movement’ was really the brainchild of Kejriwal. It was Kejriwal who made sure those TV cameras and journalists were there and the movement was happening in everyone’s living room. The movement was sustained thanks to good planning and thanks to some stupid decisions by the government like arresting Anna. Very soon the movement made Congress almost synonymous with corruption. Would BJP have been able to achieve the same result without Kejriwal? No way. BJP would have had two options: * Start an agitation (or as they love to call it, yatra) under the BJP banner or * Start an Anna like movement with BJP leaning activists. The first option had already been tried by Advani who went on a 40-day Jan Chetna Yatra the same year as Anna’s agitation. But this was seen more as Advani asserting his leadership rather than any yatra against corruption. The latter option would never have got the support of the mainstream media. After all, if we are to believe Kejriwal, the media was surely not ‘sold’ in those days. Or else why would Kejriwal have been featured in every talk show, and all his speeches at Ramlila Maidan and Jantar Mantar broadcast live? For every 2G or CWG scam that BJP would have talked about, a Yeddyurappa would have been pointed out by the media. In other words, the BJP would not have been able to make corruption the central electoral issue, let alone painting the Congress as being synonymous with corruption. And the BJP has already proved its inability to nail Congress on its failings. They failed to make internal security an issue in 2009 elections, even though it was held right on the heels of the Mumbai terror attacks and several other bomb blasts across India. Yes, the BJP would have tried to ride on Modi’s pro-development and honest image and target Congress/UPA on corruption. And what would have Congress done? Attack Modi and his claims. Let’s not forget that it was Congress that ‘successfully’ made the term ‘Feku’ mainstream. They didn’t need to go on a study tour to announce that Narendra Modi’s claims and data were fake. Remember the Gujarat assembly elections; the slew of ads and sermons by ‘Tulika’ claiming that development in Gujarat was all PR hype? Tulika called it “prasiddhi ghotala”. Under attack for corruption and issues like inflation and with not much to showcase as achievements, Congress would definitely have made the 2014 elections all about Modi. Which is precisely what Kejriwal is doing now. Obviously Kejriwal appears more ‘believable’ when doing the same, but does it mean that those impressed with Kejriwal’s attacks on Modi are going to vote for Congress? Or will they vote for AAP? Hasn’t AAP made sure that the votes that BJP is losing are not going to Congress? And on the ground, unlike on Twitter, the fight is between BJP and Congress. Hasn’t Kejriwal essentially brought the 2014 elections theme to what it would have been, had he not been there? And this, after making sure that Congress is seen as a party that shouldn’t return to power, which is advantage BJP! Isn’t it better for the BJP that Modicentric elections are taking place with the additional advantage of Congress being seen as the choice that must be avoided? So maybe BJP should show a large heart like Shahid Afridi and thank Arvind Kejriwal for doing something they would have definitely failed at. Or in the words of Aamir Khan in Delhi Belly, when attacking AAP, they should say, “I hate you, like I love you.”