Perhaps it is time to ban opinion polls after all. Every poll till now has predicted the UPA being upended by a tsunami. Yes, some pollsters have been shown in dim light, and not solely because of the low-res cameras used in the sting operations or the shady rendezvouses; though there is no proof that agencies are angling numbers as apt for one alliance. But, even the seemingly scrupulous and sincere surveys have issued alerts of a wave, at the least. And it is perhaps these numbers that led the BJP to believe in an urban legend that its PM candidate has been steadfastly sowing across the length and breadth of the country over the past few months. Could it be that the fields, tilled and fertilized by unforeseen hands, had caused the seeds to swiftly sprout? The power of positive thinking, after all, lies in its ability to delude one out of the dread of defeat. Positive thinking and electoral calculations must have vaulted Modi to vie from Varanasi, till he set foot on the banks of the Ganges, glimpsed fear again, and prostrated before prudence. A wave that encroaches the bank, you see, does always recede, while many, in their approach to the bank, don't even succeed; and so Modi could not but opt to wisely win Vadodara than worry about a wish he had addressed to Vishwavanath.
Yet, you must not read too much into Modi contesting from two places, unless you are an environmentalist exercised by the replica of affidavits and nominations filed with two different returning officers. If only the Election Commission of India had the forethought of allowing candidates to list all the constituencies they intend to contest from in a single form, we certainly would have saved a lot of paper! Also, the system of elections in India needs an urgent overhaul. This country, having endured the policy paralysis and the baffling benevolence of the UPA, needs a decisive leader. It needs Modi alone. Every Indian wants Modi to represent them. You must, however, thanks to an ill-begotten system of representation, elect representatives for your constituencies, men and women who are no more than unsatisfactory surrogates of the spiritual son of Sardar. If you actually want to vote for Modi, why should you have to vote for an Ananth Kumar instead in Bangalore South, or a Pratap Simha in Mysore? Can the Right to Vote be a Hobson's Choice?
Meanwhile, at a time when anything having the Gandhi name in it is looked at warily and scrutinized before being welcomed, can you blame Advani for his fit following Gandhinagar's being foisted on him? Shouldn't the BJP have let him contest from Bhopal as he reportedly desired, out of deference to his senility if not his seniority? When Modi doesn't need anyone's aid to accede to the PM's office, why not let Advani select the stage for his swansong, an arena where the posters and hoardings hail him? Anyway, Advani has had to meld into a mythological matrix he himself authored, one that posited him as the BJP's Bhishma. Bhishma, the Mahabharata tells us, could never have the throne, and, out of loyalty, had to fight on behalf of those he might have wished to disown.
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