'Modi can be mascot who will bring BJP to power'

In contrast to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Hindi mouthpiece Panchjanya that crticised Narendra Modi's style of working, its English magazine Organiser projected the Gujarat chief minister as "the most popular leader in the country today" who can be a mascot like former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and ride the party to power at the Centre.

"Projecting charismatic leadership is essential to bring the party to power at the Centre. Else, it may have to be content to jockey for some relevance in a post poll scenario to bring a motley third front coalition to power," said noted psephologist and BJP member GVL Narasimha Rao in a political analysis column in the magazine.

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"The Congress is certain to suffer a humiliating defeat in 2014, but merely banking on the Congress party's sliding popularity may take the BJP only half the distance in its run for power," Rao wrote in the Organiser while discussing whether the National Democratic Alliance would be able to channelise the anti-Congress mood in their favour.
 
He argued that party can benefit from the anti-Congress vote "only if the BJP projects a popular leader whose appeal transcends state boundaries" and affirms that Modi is that leader. "As the BJP's mascot he has the ability to expand the BJP's appeal and vote base all over the country, much like Vajpayee did in the 1990s," he wrote.

Rao claimed that Modi will deliver huge gains to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and help it cross a threshold level of vote share to start winning seats in states like Orissa and Haryana and improve the vote share substantially in states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal to make it an attractive pre-poll alliance partner.

"The number of BJP allies grew between 1996 and 1999 principally because regional parties saw an accretion in their strength owing to the incremental vote that Vajpayee had delivered to them. The same would work for the BJP with Narendra Modi at the helm," he added.

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