See the writings on the wall

Recently, three opinion polls were conducted by different highly rated agencies, and they have come out with startling revelations (not very startling though) reflecting the mood of the voters in near future. The polls, conducted by AC Nielsen for ABP News, C-Voter for Headlines Today and GFK for CNN-IBN, plainly indicated that the Congress has lost ground badly, both in urban and rural areas in different parts of the country. The message is clear that Aam Aadmi is ready to punish the Congress for their scams and sins, witnessed as never before in the history.

The opinion polls’ outcome also hit at the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh showing that he is facing a credibility crisis and his ‘honest image’ has been badly bruised following the unprecedented record of scams and controversies. Singh is being perceived to be a person who is not bold and tough in taking decisions. His performance in second term has been rated ‘poor’ by over half of the respondents, and majority (61 per cent) of respondents feel that he should be replaced. More than half respondents (56 per cent) are fully dissatisfied with the UPA performance, while two-third (67 per cent) feels the government has lost all credibility. Price rise closely followed by corruption has been perceived as the biggest failures of the Congress-led government.

The second most important message of these opinion polls is that if the NDA remains united and works as a formidable force, it can easily get back power at the Centre. Another significant outcome is that Narendra Modi is a winner for the NDA. All the polls show the urban voters are clearly in favour of Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate, with 38 per cent preferring him over 13 per cent and 14 per cent for Dr Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi respectively.

Till early 2012, the opinion polls conducted by a leading news magazine of the country also included the public opinion on former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who always topped among the most popular Prime Ministers of India. Naturally, it benefited the NDA. Now the focus is on Narendra Modi because of his excellent performance in Gujarat and his popularity in the country. All segments of the society perceived Narendra Modi as the most suitable person who can lead the nation on the path of progress and prosperity.

Undisputedly, the question of declaring Prime Ministerial candidate does not arise at this moment, as the polls have not yet been declared. But the surveys and opinion polls are clearly indicative of the popular public sentiments. The BJP so far has only declared Modi as chairman of a forum and surely not a Prime Ministerial candidate. In this situation, the arm-twisting by JD(U) is not good for the country. The Bihar government has been doing a good job and there is good coordination between both the parties since 17 years. If this alliance is broken on flimsy grounds, the country and Bihar in particular will never excuse the defaulters. This has been seen during the Janata Party Government also. In the last phase of Janata Party rule, when people realised that some people in power sabotaged public aspirations, they took no time to show them the door. Finally, the power was transferred to Indira Gandhi once again whom they had removed unceremoniously only a couple of years back.

What needs to be understood at this moment is that there should be no cheating the people. There is sufficient time to declare a Prime Ministerial candidate and the decision will naturally be taken at an appropriate time after consultation with all parties concerned. The basic aspiration of the country at this moment is that they don’t want the UPA at all. But for ousting the UPA, the NDA will have to remain and act united. Anybody who weakens the alliance on insubstantial grounds will have to answer the public. After all the parties are accountable to the people only.