<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an utterly political person, and therefore it is natural that he uses each of his birthdays to spread the footprint of the BJP led by him. Even though he has made it the world's largest party, Modi is still unrelenting in the task. There is no full stop for him.<br /><br />Ironically, in this regard, Modi, who will celebrate his 72nd birthday on September 17, is the follower of India's first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who had famously declared "aaram haram hai".<br /><br />In present-day India, there is no hardworking leader like the PM when it comes to connecting with people in every which way. The faithful believe that he works 18 hours a day without a break and that there has not been a greater leader that India has produced. One went to the extent of saying that India got freedom in 2014 when Modi became the PM.<br /><br />So it goes without saying that his birthday would be exploited to the hilt by the ruling party. The BJP has already announced it will celebrate the birthday on September 17 for a period of 16 days as Seva Pakhwara (service fortnight). It will be on till October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation.<br /> <br />The party will also run a year-long programme to make the country free of tuberculosis (TB), under which everyone will adopt a TB patient and take care of him for one year. As part of 'Seva Pakhwara', the BJP will also run a campaign to promote the Covid-19 booster dose. Under the 'Seva Pakwara', the party will organise exhibitions on the PM at the district level. Along with this, the party is also making a strategy for promoting the book 'Modi @20 Sapne Hue Sakaar' to project how the leader has helped develop the nation.<br /> <br />But, the celebrations this time could be a bit subdued as the activity in the opposition camp to reach out to people has suddenly intensified, much to the chagrin of the ruling party. Opposition parties were not known to be so active in the past eight years since Modi became PM in May 2014 on the back of resurgent Hindutva. Modi's calls for a "Congress mukt Bharat" had raised fears that the BJP juggernaut would decimate non-BJP forces so as to make them non-existent.<br /><br />What has got the BJP's goat is that with just 20 months for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the sense in the opposition camp is that they can cause an upset if they remain united. 'Opposition parties in India, be united; you have nothing to lose but your chains,' goes the unwritten slogan among anti-BJP parties in the backdrop of the unprecedented use of investigative agencies like the ED, CBI and Income Tax against the detractors of the BJP.<br /><br />Telangana Chief Minister and TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, one of the leading lights of the opposition unity move, has recently hinted at a grand alliance of the opposition parties, insisting that "you will receive sensational news after two, three months."<br /><br />Even as several opposition leaders are on the scanner of central probe agencies, veteran Sharad Pawar too is striking a defiant note asserting that "we will never surrender before the rulers in Delhi". Interestingly, the PM had said a few years back that Pawar handheld him during his early days in politics.<br /><br />At the same time, it is equally true that not everyone who is non-BJP is on the same page. Arvind Kejriwal's AAP is a prime example of a party and a leader who wants to promote only themselves and so far is not bothered by the larger opposition cause. The less said the better about Mayawati, YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy and Naveen Patnaik.<br /><br />Notwithstanding all the bravado, the mood is a bit sombre in the BJP camp. What has made a big difference is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's sudden deserting of the NDA camp, stunning both the Prime Minister and his Man Friday Home Minister Amit Shah. This is because it has made BJP's strategy for the North and the East infructuous, and the party would be forced to go back to the drawing board in the key regions.<br /><br />Parting of ways by Kumar is a huge loss for the BJP as the stature of the Bihar CM is such that the Modi-Shah duo feel he could make a major dent in the BJP's strategy for 2024. They have proved right as Kumar has embarked on a 'mission Delhi' to bring the disparate opposition groups together. <br /><br />Knowing that Kumar is no Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP had good-humoured the JD-U leader ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, promising him a huge number of seats despite the fact that the JD-U had fared poorly in 2014. This has gone in vain.<br /><br />The mood in the opposition camp in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is upbeat from the evidence of a poster outside the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow. "UP + Bihar, Gayi Modi sarkar", the poster depicting Akhilesh Yadav with Nitish Kumar proclaims. It means that if the two opposition leaders from UP and Bihar come together, it will be the end of the Modi government.<br /><br />In poll-bound Gujarat, the home turf of Modi-Shah, the BJP is not on the best pitch in its Hindutva laboratory. In Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, where polls are due next year, the Congress is giving sleepless nights to the ruling BJP.<br /><br />Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir has started with a bang. Despite all the propaganda against it, the Yatra appears to have started a silent churn as the response is evident. The Congress leader is going to walk some 3500 km spread over 150 days. At least one thing is clear, Gandhi is no longer Pappu.<br /><br />That may be the case, but all bulletins of All India Radio continue to project that Modi is the most active leader the country has ever seen. Each bulletin starts with the name of the PM. The BJP might be thinking that it will be the third time lucky with its hardline Hindutva. The Lok Sabha polls, the mother of all electoral battles, are set in 19 months which would put to the test whether 'Modi hai to mumkin hai" is true again.<br /><br /><em><strong>(The authors are senior journalists)</strong></em></p>.<p><strong><em>(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)</em></strong></p>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an utterly political person, and therefore it is natural that he uses each of his birthdays to spread the footprint of the BJP led by him. Even though he has made it the world's largest party, Modi is still unrelenting in the task. There is no full stop for him.<br /><br />Ironically, in this regard, Modi, who will celebrate his 72nd birthday on September 17, is the follower of India's first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who had famously declared "aaram haram hai".<br /><br />In present-day India, there is no hardworking leader like the PM when it comes to connecting with people in every which way. The faithful believe that he works 18 hours a day without a break and that there has not been a greater leader that India has produced. One went to the extent of saying that India got freedom in 2014 when Modi became the PM.<br /><br />So it goes without saying that his birthday would be exploited to the hilt by the ruling party. The BJP has already announced it will celebrate the birthday on September 17 for a period of 16 days as Seva Pakhwara (service fortnight). It will be on till October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation.<br /> <br />The party will also run a year-long programme to make the country free of tuberculosis (TB), under which everyone will adopt a TB patient and take care of him for one year. As part of 'Seva Pakhwara', the BJP will also run a campaign to promote the Covid-19 booster dose. Under the 'Seva Pakwara', the party will organise exhibitions on the PM at the district level. Along with this, the party is also making a strategy for promoting the book 'Modi @20 Sapne Hue Sakaar' to project how the leader has helped develop the nation.<br /> <br />But, the celebrations this time could be a bit subdued as the activity in the opposition camp to reach out to people has suddenly intensified, much to the chagrin of the ruling party. Opposition parties were not known to be so active in the past eight years since Modi became PM in May 2014 on the back of resurgent Hindutva. Modi's calls for a "Congress mukt Bharat" had raised fears that the BJP juggernaut would decimate non-BJP forces so as to make them non-existent.<br /><br />What has got the BJP's goat is that with just 20 months for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the sense in the opposition camp is that they can cause an upset if they remain united. 'Opposition parties in India, be united; you have nothing to lose but your chains,' goes the unwritten slogan among anti-BJP parties in the backdrop of the unprecedented use of investigative agencies like the ED, CBI and Income Tax against the detractors of the BJP.<br /><br />Telangana Chief Minister and TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, one of the leading lights of the opposition unity move, has recently hinted at a grand alliance of the opposition parties, insisting that "you will receive sensational news after two, three months."<br /><br />Even as several opposition leaders are on the scanner of central probe agencies, veteran Sharad Pawar too is striking a defiant note asserting that "we will never surrender before the rulers in Delhi". Interestingly, the PM had said a few years back that Pawar handheld him during his early days in politics.<br /><br />At the same time, it is equally true that not everyone who is non-BJP is on the same page. Arvind Kejriwal's AAP is a prime example of a party and a leader who wants to promote only themselves and so far is not bothered by the larger opposition cause. The less said the better about Mayawati, YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy and Naveen Patnaik.<br /><br />Notwithstanding all the bravado, the mood is a bit sombre in the BJP camp. What has made a big difference is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's sudden deserting of the NDA camp, stunning both the Prime Minister and his Man Friday Home Minister Amit Shah. This is because it has made BJP's strategy for the North and the East infructuous, and the party would be forced to go back to the drawing board in the key regions.<br /><br />Parting of ways by Kumar is a huge loss for the BJP as the stature of the Bihar CM is such that the Modi-Shah duo feel he could make a major dent in the BJP's strategy for 2024. They have proved right as Kumar has embarked on a 'mission Delhi' to bring the disparate opposition groups together. <br /><br />Knowing that Kumar is no Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP had good-humoured the JD-U leader ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, promising him a huge number of seats despite the fact that the JD-U had fared poorly in 2014. This has gone in vain.<br /><br />The mood in the opposition camp in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is upbeat from the evidence of a poster outside the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow. "UP + Bihar, Gayi Modi sarkar", the poster depicting Akhilesh Yadav with Nitish Kumar proclaims. It means that if the two opposition leaders from UP and Bihar come together, it will be the end of the Modi government.<br /><br />In poll-bound Gujarat, the home turf of Modi-Shah, the BJP is not on the best pitch in its Hindutva laboratory. In Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, where polls are due next year, the Congress is giving sleepless nights to the ruling BJP.<br /><br />Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir has started with a bang. Despite all the propaganda against it, the Yatra appears to have started a silent churn as the response is evident. The Congress leader is going to walk some 3500 km spread over 150 days. At least one thing is clear, Gandhi is no longer Pappu.<br /><br />That may be the case, but all bulletins of All India Radio continue to project that Modi is the most active leader the country has ever seen. Each bulletin starts with the name of the PM. The BJP might be thinking that it will be the third time lucky with its hardline Hindutva. The Lok Sabha polls, the mother of all electoral battles, are set in 19 months which would put to the test whether 'Modi hai to mumkin hai" is true again.<br /><br /><em><strong>(The authors are senior journalists)</strong></em></p>.<p><strong><em>(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)</em></strong></p>