Narendra Modi plays both victim and hero in Karnataka, casts himself as 'kaamdaar' to Rahul Gandhi's 'naamdaar'

In his first public rally to campaign for the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s tweet “EKAurJhoot” — which ridiculed the Centre’s claim that all Indian villages had been electrified — to swing public discourse by unleashing a new naamdaar versus kaamdaar (someone identified by lineage versus someone identified for work done) debate. [caption id=“attachment_4452519” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] Modi, at his sarcastic best, accepted Rahul’s challenge of a 15-minute debate in Parliament but also threw the Congress president a counter-challenge: For him to speak at his election rallies for 15 minutes about the Congress government’s achievements in Karnataka (in any language he desires: Hindi, English, or even Sonia’s mother tongue Italian) without referring to a piece of paper and pronounce the name of M Visvesvaraya five times. In April, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekar posted a clip purportedly showing Rahul mispronouncing Visvesvaraya’s name after which the BJP’s state unit posted a comic mocking the Gandhi scion. Modi knows if he can ignite passions of ordinary people against political royalty — for example Rahul and rest of Congress leadership in Karnataka and elsewhere — he would change electoral outcome. There was no better way for the prime minister to use his own government’s claim of providing the most basic of civic amenities: Electricity to all villages in India, which had been living in darkness even after 70 years of independence. It’s possible that not all villages in hinterland have been electrified: Electricity poles might have been put up, but wires may be missing, poles and wires may not have been put up at all, or both have been put up. However, now the government claim is open to public scrutiny, something which will ultimately force the government to back up its claim. It’s a new beginning and Modi surely intends for his party to bask in its glory and secure electoral gains. In upcoming 12 May Karnataka polls, the BJP is attempting to oust the Congress. It was thus only natural that for Modi to directly aim at Rahul and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. “Congress and its new president, in their over enthusiasm to criticise us, break boundaries of decency. It would have been better if he had said two encouraging words for my labour class, who, in most difficult circumstances, carrying transformers and poles on their shoulders completed rural electrification task… lekin woh naamdaar hain kaamdaar ki parvah nahi kar sakte”. Modi added that people should thus not have any such expectations from Rahul. Modi then played both the victim and hero card. “I want to ask to those people who abuse us day in and day out, keep on talking nonsense as to why even after 70 years of independence why poor people in rural areas were forced to live an 18th Century life, in darkness without an electric bulb”. A video purportedly showing Rahul "disrespecting" the national song Vande Mataram at a public rally in Bantwal, which went viral, also came handy for Modi. The video purportedly showed Rahul pointing to his watch and instructing local leaders to ask the singer to perform just one line of the song. Rahul also purportedly stood only at the prompting of one of the party leaders. “These days, Congress leadership is in hands of a person who has no sense of history. He doesn’t even have an idea of his own party’s history and what his own leaders said and did", Modi added. He then used the 2005 statements of then prime minister Manohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who said that every household would be electrified by 2009, to blast Rahul and Congress. Modi yet again pointed to the dignity and hard work of the working class: “Aap majdoor ka majak, makhaul aur beijatti karte ho”. Modi line was clear: Arouse sentiments of lower middle class and lower class by telling them political royalty like Rahul had no respect for them. Modi intends to cut through caste and community lines to create a mass voter base in favour of the BJP. Modi also seemed to enjoy Rahul’s challenge. “Let him first speak for 15 minutes”, Modi said. To Rahul asserting that Modi wouldn’t be able to sit at the end of his speech, the prime minister said the Congress president was right. Modi asked: How could a kaamdaar sit in front of naamdaar?  The thrust of Modi’s argument was the kaamdaars have been facing repression from the naamdaars for ages and since Modi was a kaamdaar, he wouldn’t mind facing charges from a naamdaar like Rahul. It was also time for Modi to encash the BJP’s decision not to give a ticket to the son of their chief ministerial nominee BS Yeddyurappa. The Congress’ decision to field sons and daughters of various senior leaders, including Siddaramaiah, drew sharp criticism from Modi. According to Modi, the Congress devised 2+1 formula (Siddaramaiah fighting from two seats and son Yathindra fighting from one seat) and 1+1 formula for other ministers. Modi wants to turn these elections into “family politics versus people’s politics.” The BJP is heavily banking on Modi to swing fortunes in their favour and Modi is in turn banking on popular appeal, with a certain naamdaar versus kaamdaar twist. Follow live updates on Narendra Modi's rallies in Karnataka here