Blinking first

Buoyed by the Gujarat panchayat polls,Narendra Modi is in no mood to take casual put-downs from his colleagues. So when Sushma Swaraj,with a touch of glee,explained that Modi would be kept away from the Bihar campaign because his magic might not work everywhere,he retaliated. BJP president Nitin Gadkari conveyed his displeasure to Swaraj,who immediately backtracked and said she had been wildly misquoted. Meanwhile,Modis loyal supporters in Karnataka splashed out on endorsements of Modis magic,urging him to come to Delhi. So for now,Narendra Modi may have successfully swatted down an attempt to contain him in Gujarat,but the underlying competition is far from settled. There is ambition waiting to explode,in the post-Advani generation of the BJP,and this kind of elbowing and tension is only bound to escalate in future. So far,Indias leading opposition party has no idea whos going to helm its next campaign. While not every party has the Congresss dubious distinction of being dominated by a single bloodline,its still expected that the BJP clarify its immediate pecking order. Of course,this is easier said than done. So this flap is not entirely Swarajs doing it stems from the cognitive dissonance within the party over how far Narendra Modi can rise. On one hand,his undeniable appeal to the hardline base makes him the BJPs indispensable politician. On the other hand,for all his efforts at reinvention,memories of Gujarat 2002 are vivid enough to ensure that Modi will firmly remain out of bounds for many mainstream forces he represents the dark side of the BJP to both voters and potential coalition partners. Nitish Kumars recent objection to being yoked together with Modi in a pre-election advertisement revealed how this association is a political liability for the JDU. Either way,the BJP must realise how the Modi question is wielded,time and again,to drive a wedge within the party. If it wants to stop this invoking of Modi as a tool for internal jostling and by others to discomfit the party,it needs to clarify its own organisational map.