In the bad old days of Stalinism, you were not allowed to have a thought. Thinking was done by the Party for you. Stalinism is alive and well in the Samajwadi Party. It expelled Shahid Siddiqui (while claiming he had never been admitted) for printing an interview with Narendra Modi. He has been made a non-person.

What is the logic, if any? Is it that no Muslim should speak to Modi? Or that no Urdu newspaper should give Modi space even to discuss his thoughts about the 2002 riots? Is Urdu just a Muslim language or a language of Indians regardless of religion? Is the 'secularist' wing of Indian political culture going to refuse to acknowledge the existence of Modi?

If that is the resolve, then Narendra Modi has been handed a powerful propaganda weapon. Indeed, in the time since his name has been discussed as the BJP's candidate for leadership in 2014, he has been helped by his detractors again and again. His visit to Japan followed predictable lines of a chief minister boasting about his State's achievements. The Japanese would have taken it with a pinch of salt since they are not stupid. But all over our TV channels, Party spokespersons poured not a pinch but a gallon of salt on Modi, thus giving him lots of free publicity.

Because of the Gujarat riots, many people cannot speak of Modi without frothing at the mouth. No one remembers the Mumbai riots of 1993 in which Congress stood by and let Shiv Sena murder Muslims. (Muslims were tried with alacrity for the bombing incident with poor Sanjay Dutt counting for once as a Muslim). The Sri Krishna Report has been lying neglected and the then Chief Minister Sharad Pawar is an honoured member of the UPA Cabinet. Indeed, the judicial process such as it is has gone farther in Gujarat than in Mumbai. But some people have decided that Modi is the sole guilty party and until he is convicted, there is no end to the tragedy of Gujarat riots.

Modi's answer to this charge is interesting but no one discussed it in the fury directed against Siddiqui. He said if found guilty, he should be hanged. What else would people like him to say? That he is willing to go to the gallows without trial? There have been court proceedings going on since 2002 and SIT has reported. The Gujarat High Court is busy with the issue and no doubt there would be appeals to the Supreme Court. There have been convictions in the Ode killings in the post-Godhra riots and the Naroda Patiya judgment is awaited. Compared to the convictions for the 1984 Sikh riots, this is a record. No one held Narasimha Rao responsible for the 1984 riots despite him being Home Minister then, nor was Rao cited for spending his day in puja while the Babri Masjid was being destroyed under his watch as PM.

If Modi is not taken seriously as a potential Prime Ministerial candidate by the secularists, they will pay a price. They are sparing no effort to make him look like a victim. Just because they think Modi is evil, they should not also believe he is stupid. He is a very intelligent operator and he is setting elephant traps in which the secularists keep falling. The battle in 2014 will not be on the secularist/communalist lines. That was tried in the Gujarat elections of 2007 with 'maut ka saudagar' and failed to make any impact. It will be about delivery and growth performance. Urban India gave Congress 60 extra seats in 2009 because it approved of Manmohan Singh's performance in terms of growth and the US agreement. Those sixty seats are as good as lost unless Chidambaram can turn things around. The Indian voter is not gullible. The 24x7 supply of electricity in Gujarat may yet prove to be more decisive than secularism if there are any more India wide power failures.

Congress needs to do something. If Rahul is to be their 2014 leader, he has to be given a proper job. How about foreign minister? India can then match Pakistan in with a glamorous foreign minister.

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