There could have been no better time for this win than now,for Narendra Modi who is facing chief ministers at the internal security meet at Delhi and will be at the critical BJP National conclave at Goa Thursday on. The BJP winning the two Lok Sabha and four assembly seats in the by-polls is likely to shut up all those who were even thinking of challenging Modi as a possible PM candidate in the party's war room. It might even tide over the Karnataka loss in terms of confidence building for the party. Psephologists will tell you that any by-election held so close to a general election which was overpowered by a single party,would usually go in favour of that party. And in this case,between the two elections,the chorus for Modi as India's most suitable PM candidate has only got louder. The credit for this goes to Modi's own war machine combining a few trusted bureaucrats,few lieutenants from the BJP,a publicity department,a government dwarfed by his presence and a few interesting events. The Modi endorsements have been unstoppable since the Vibrant Gujarat that followed the December 2012 elections from India Inc and foreign delegations,especially Britain's re-engagement. Besides Modi has made his India presence stronger by attending selective events at Delhi's Shriram College of Commerce,FICCI Ladies Organisation annual session, the Dharma Meemamsa parishad at Sivagiri Mutt and so on. Within Gujarat also,there were events whose guest list need not have included a chief minister like inauguration of a students' hostel,birth anniversary of a reformer saint Bhojalram Bapa at Amreli,installation of a deity of an OBC community in north Gujarat,a mega agriculture fair at Limkheda,to name a few. But they were held around the constituencies going to polls and had Modi as chief guest,therefore they turned into huge public gatherings and got wide publicity. Also by the time of the by-elections,Keshubhai Patel's lone MLA colleague from his Gujarat Parivartan Party,was already with the BJP,so were some Congress local government leaders. Compared to these,the Congress's old school blame-game strategy against Modi and the BJP failed the umpteenth time over. This election,in a small way endorsed dynasty politics in BJP where the Radadiya father-son duo won contrary to the Congress which had put up the widow,and son of the candidates who died,in Banaskantha and Morva Hadaf and son of MP Soma Patel in Limdi,all of who lost. In that much,this outcome is a game changer.
