Ahmedabad, 12 October 2013

It seems, the Congress-led UPA is very much confused about how to deal with BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Now look at this latest Hindustan Times interview of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in which he says, “I think it would be foolish for us (UPA constituents) to ignore the Modi factor. In fact, it would be a dangerous mistake.Six months ago if you had asked me I would have said the Modi factor would have no effect at all, but today it would be foolish on my part to do that. Modi has galvanised the cadre and there is an expectation even in Jammu that they (the BJP) would return to power under Modi. A galvanised cadre can be a make or break factor in an election.”

It has to be mentioned that recently the union Finance minister and senior Congress leader P.Chidambaram in an interview with Reuters said, “I concede that he has united the rank and file of the BJP. The rank and file of the BJP was divided, the leaders are still divided, the rank and file was equally divided. But he has been able to unite the rank and file. Perhaps he has gained some traction among urban youths.”

Reacting to Chidambaram’s statement, Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhwadia next day said, “I disagree that Modi has united BJP cadre. Some leaders in Delhi without verifying facts are giving certificate to Modi.”

A few days back, during his Ahmedabad visit, another senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh clearly said that the next Lok Sabha election is not easy for Congress.

However the other section of Congress never fails to rubbish any possible political threat from Modi. Like say for an example, Congress leader and union minister Rajiv Shukla time and again passes a remark, “either he is Modi or he is Ibrahim Lodi, it makes no difference to Congress.”