Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
“There are no permanent allies or enemies in politics,” former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had told reporters onboard the mammoth Air India One, in May 2013. Almost five years after Singh’s statement, his successor Narendra Modi seems to be faced with a similar situation.
Although Modi, all by himself, remains one of the most charismatic actors in Indian politics, his oratory skills aren’t completely unmatched. In fact, they are being robustly challenged by the spontaneity of one his former friends and now an opponent, Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Sidhu is a three-time BJP lawmaker from Punjab and was once comrade-in-arms with the BJP. Today, as he forms a part of the Congress government in the state, he vows to “uproot the BJP” as long as he draws breath.
Sidhu’s scathing attack on the BJP came on the sidelines of the Congress’ Plenary meet, where the cricket commentator, angry politician and comedian compared the BJP to a blood-sucking leech.
If Siddhu wasn’t enough, MNS Chief Raj Thackeray lobbed another grenade at the Prime Minister, after he recently called for a Modi-mukt bharat. This, after he had publicly praised the PM on a number of occasions in the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Narendra Modi had called for a Congress-free India and back then, I had supported it. But the way he’s been behaving, today I feel the need for a Modi-free India.Raj Thackeray, Chief, MNS
Speaking at a function marking the harvest festival of Gudi Pava, Thackeray alleged that Indian media had focussed so much on Sri Devi’s demise, but remained largely silent on suspicions around the death of judge Loya.
Sidhu and Thackeray may be erstwhile friends who’ve recently turned away from Narendra Modi, but even recent entrants to India’s growing political scene can mount a challenge to Modi, helped along by their powerful oratory skills.
The list includes Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani and Kanhaiya Kumar. While Hardik rode to prominence on the coat-tails of Gujarat’s Patidar agitation, Mevani’s sustained activism around the assertion of Dalit identity, coupled with his attacks on Modi helped him win the Vadgram assembly seat in 2017 Gujarat elections.
While Hardik and Jignesh are two powerful voices from Gujarat, JNU scholar Kanhaiya Kumar could prove another worry for the BJP. Accused of chanting ‘anti-national’ slogans in the past, Kumar has had his share of run-ins with members of the ruling dispensation.
A young asset for the left movement in India, Kumar has never shied away from taking on PM Modi and his many grand promises.
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