From state to centre?

There is no secret about this: Narendra Modi is the single largest dominating factor in 2009 Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat. But is the 2009 election also going to mark his transition from a state-level to a national leader?

The evidence that Modi is ready to make the transition is there on the ground. Corridors of power in Ahmedabad are agog with the word that if Modi moves to the Centre, Gujarat education minister Anandi Patel could be projected as the chief minister in waiting.

Modi himself has been elevated in party circles. Apart from the praise lavished on him by BJP’s Prime Minister designate, LK Advani, for his qualities of governance, the BJP has made him in charge of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa which collectively send 78 MPs to the Lok Sabha. And if, as party insiders say, of these, the BJP can win at least 50, Modi’s stature will be equal to that of Mayawati’s, who is also expected to get around 50 seats on her own steam.
 

Total seats: 26

Congress: 12

BJP: 14

The Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit 2009 that saw investment commitments to tune of Rs 12 lakh crore amid a slowdown and saw Modi’s endorsement as a national figure by top industry leaders is closely linked to his elevation plans. He had to clarify that he was not in the race for the PM’s post. But he did not say he would never take part in this race.

An important part of Modi image-building is his success in bringing the ‘troubled’ Nano project to Gujarat in Sanand, fall in Advani’s constituency. The appointment of S S Khandwawala, a Muslim, as the new police chief of Gujarat is also seen as way to widen his acceptability. “While BJP may be trying to project itself as a secular party and the arrest of Maya Kodnani may also help the party in some way in this direction, Hindutva is very much there in the Gujarati subconscious. In fact, the arrest has revoked the images of 2002 riots in the minds of people,” said a political observer wishing anonymity.

If anything, thre 2009 election in Gujarat is about Modi moving to the national scene. It is as if both Modi’s supporters and adversaries are holding their breath and waiting for that to happen.