As the campaigning closes down for the 24th April round of polling, the campaign would be over for almost more than 2/3rd constituencies in this general elections. 24th April will witness the largest number of constituencies going on to poll. The BJP campaign could not have been better organized. The momentum is with us. There is clarity in the campaign. The acceptability of the leader is extremely high. The groundswell seems to be building up not only in our traditional support areas but also in those regions where our strength is relatively marginal.
As against this, the Congress campaign is more abstract and confused. The leadership is non-inspirational, anti incumbency is hurting them significantly. Barring the BJP and its allies, some regional parties appear to be doing well within the confines of their region. Most of these regional parties are conventionally anti Congress. The third front or the federal front has a sporadic presence through certain regional groups but there is no structured alliance.
Most opinion polls are predicting a comfortable BJP/NDA victory. No other alliance, expect the NDA has any rational possibility of forming the government. Narendra Modi has become symbol of hope. With the focus now on a BJP/NDA victory, the voters expect an extremely responsible response from us. We have fought this election on issues of governance. We must carry every section of society with us. People expect us to govern and deliver. Today, the flood lights are on us. We will now be increasingly put under public scrutiny. Even an isolated irresponsible statement will bring discredit to us. Every sensible well-wisher of the BJP is expected to exercise utmost restraint and concentrate on issue of governance, which is the theme of our campaign. Any statement to the contrary will only help our rivals.
The Emperor has no Clothes
The politics of Capt. Amarinder Singh only reflects his feudal instincts. He still lives in a world of sycophants where he is referred to as “Maharaja Sahib”. He is discourteous and rude. He believes that discourtesy has given him the image of being a ‘Dabbang’. He is not the best practitioner of ethical values. What is amazing is his ability to be extremely economical with the truth.
He was caught being untruthful on the issue of levy of property tax. The tax was levied on the basis of his undertaking dated 7th December, 2006 to the Central Government. I produced before the media the file carrying his signatures of approval. He ignored the truth and could bluntly lie that he did not approve it. The whole country saw him stand up and defend Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 riots case in an interview to the news channel NDTV. He today denies that he ever gave Tytler a clean chit. He, in a monarchical style, shouts down criticism and refuses to take questions. Having been caught lying with the straight face on the property tax and the Jagdish Tytler issue, any other candidate would have been put to shame before the people. But this emperor, even when caught without clothes, has ability to look at you in the eye. This feudalism must be defeated.
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**Arun Jaitley
Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha )
*Disclaimer: The writer is Leader of Opposition Rajya Sabha and the views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of INVC.
