Narendra Modi ban gaya statesman!

I thought I would take a day off the news channels having had more than my fill of the political stuff in the last week

I thought I would take a day off the news channels having had more than my fill of the political stuff in the last week.

A friend alerted me about Narendra Modi’s speech in Central Hall and said it was a must-watch. He said he was moved when Modi broke down, and that his entire family was in tears.

Modi’s speech was super. The same man whose utterances worried me when he mocked Rahul Gandhi by calling him a shehzaada and who would resort to drama in his speech to win over the public was statesman-like in his oratory.

I don’t think the breaking down was rehearsed. The Prime Minister-elect was reacting to the word kripa in L K Advani’s speech and said there was no way he could be doing kripa to the country which is like his mother, and to the BJP, which is also like his mother.

This is what success does to you. Modi has turned a statesman and I am surprised with myself that I am regarding him as that. Amit Shah, the man who very few wouldn’t like, is being admired as the ace strategist who won Uttar Pradesh and the polls for the BJP.

I read with interest a news report which quoted the Maharasthra unit of the BJP wanting Shah to plot the strategy for the infighting-stricken party in the state. I am sure the BJP, and Narenda Modi in particular, will see an extended honeymoon period. Not just from the media, but also from the stockmarket, businessmen and the public at large.

News channels and the social media will, of course, put him on trial every single day. And the same media that helped transmit the ‘achche din aane waale hain’ message to the masses could be taking the party to the cleaners if there’s one wrong move. So it’s all saaru chhe for now, but it’ll be danda leke maaru chhe if and when he errs even that wee bit.

Pradyuman Maheshwari is a senior journalist and editor. When he’s not chasing news, he’s watching it.
Twitter: @pmahesh
E: noose@pman.in

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