It is amusing to see how Congress leaders are digging into Indian mythology and finding analogies to paint Narendra Modi in the most terrible light. This has coincided with the arrival of the Gujarat Chief Minister on the national stage and in direct confrontation with the Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre. In their eagerness to demean him, they have not only overstepped the boundaries of decency in public utterances but have also got the comparisons wrong.
Most recently, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh likened Modi to Bhasmasur and added that like the mythological character, Modi too had devoured his mentor lK Advani. In the first place, Bhasmasur did not claim his mentor but himself. He was a devotee of lord Shiva and had secured a boon from the latter after great penance. And the boon was that any person whose head he touched with his hands would turn into ashes. But Bhasmasur tried to use it against the god himself, and was later tricked into putting his hands over his own head by lord Vishnu who appeared before the wayward devotee as an enchanting damsel. Bhasmasur turned into ashes and the episode came to an end. Much as Jairam Ramesh may want to believe otherwise, Advani is no Shiva; nor is Modi the demonic figure that Bhasmasur was. And, both Advani and Modi are key players of the same party which is readying to oust the Congress from power. The Union Minister should also know that lord Shiva and Bhasmasur were not on the same side, ever. If there are differences between the two tall leaders of the BJP — and it would be foolish to deny that there aren't — they most certainly don't lend themselves to the tale of Bhasmasur.
But an even more outrageous comparison had come weeks before Ramesh discovered a Bhasmasur in Modi. Then Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi delved into his distorted and shallow knowledge of Indian mythology (and yes, it's Hindu mythology too) to liken the Gujarat Chief Minister and now the BJP's Election Campaign Committee chairman to Yamraj, the lord of Hell (or Narak) and Death, who rides a bull (buffalo). It never occurred to Alvi that he was in some ways paying tribute to Modi. Yama is a highly respected deity to whom the Rig Veda has devoted several hymns. Although he is the lord of Death, he also has the power to direct a soul to heaven or a return to Earth. More importantly, Yama is considered the God of Justice who gives away award and punishment according to an individual's conduct during his or her lifetime. The mythological figure whose imagery Alvi used so insultingly has often been referred to in ancient texts as Dharma — and the hero of Mahabharat, Yudhishtir, the Dharmaputra. Unintentionally, therefore, Alvi has acknowledged that Modi has the wisdom to sift the right from the wrong, and to do justice to the people of India. If the Congress is so determined to see a death-like Yama in Modi, it is probably because the Gujarat Chief Minister heralds the demise of the UPA regime.
It appears that not only have the Congress leaders gone overboard but that they have also not learnt any lesson from the past. Barely six years ago, their Supreme leader, Sonia Gandhi, had called Modi “maut ke saudagar”. The party continues to pay the price for that intemperate remark. It has been soundly thrashed in every election in Gujarat thereafter, the latest being the washout in the by-election to six constituencies. The fact is that the ‘maut ka saudagar' has since grown into a ‘sapno ka saudagar' — a peddler of dreams. He represents the dreams of millions of people who see in him a firm and decisive leader that can give the nation a new direction. He also represents the dreams and aspirations of the vast majority of the BJP cadre which believes that he can lead the party to victory over the inept Congress-led UPA.
Does the Congress really believe that it can dent Modi's popularity by calling him names and consigning him among what it believes are the most horrendous villains in Indian mythologyIJ Or would the party not be better off by countering him on fact and perceptionIJ By going after the Bhasmasurs and the Yamas, Congress leaders are literally clinging to myths and denying facts. They have no counter to the fact that the Gujarat model of development has attracted praise from across the country and outside; that Modi is a far more popular leader than their hero, Rahul Gandhi; that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, despite having every opportunity in nine years to do good, has turned governance into a sham, while in the same period Modi has taken his State from strength to strength. Finally, the Congress cannot deny that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the creation of the First Family whereas Chief Minister Narendra Modi is the creation of the people who have voted him and his regime to power on three successive occasions.
The Congress is obsessed with Modi the person as much as it is with Modi the politician. Had that not been the case, the party would not have plunged to the abysmal level of personal attacks that it has launched on the Gujarat Chief Minister. True to their tradition of doublespeak, Congress leaders have been on the one hand claiming that they do not give much ‘significance' to Modi, and on the other they have been going around heaping scorn on him. They must admit that the Gujarat Chief Minister poses a real challenge to them — the first such one in the nine years since they have been in power. In all these years, while the BJP continued to win in many States largely due to the strong leadership which exists in those States, somehow its central leadership was seen to have taken a sabbatical from being the aggressive face it was known for. True, it made the right noises over the many scams which have tainted the UPA to irretrievable extents, but the fizz had evaporated. Modi has brought that fizz back, and that is what has rattled the Congress — not to speak of a section of the BJP's senior leadership which stands exposed for having failed to provide direction and an assertive sense of purpose in the nine years that it has guided the party as an Opposition.
Nobody is suggesting that Modi is a sure-shot winner and that the BJP will most certainly come to power with a thumping win. It may or it may not. Still, it’s not fair to write-off a leader just because you do not like his face. Instead of passing snide remarks against Modi and giving too-smart-by-half bytes to television channels, the Congress must face him in the electoral battlefield. There, and not in the realm of Indian mythology, will the contest take place.