Gujarat State Chief Minister Narendra Modi flashes the victory sign to supporters at the airport as he arrives in Ahmadabad, India, on June 9, 2013
Over the past year, India has watched with mixed emotions as one of its most controversial public figures became one of its most influential. And after intense speculation, India’s main opposition party has appointed that man, Narendra Modi, to a key party post ahead of 2014 elections, putting the divisive Gujarati politician in pole position for the nation’s top job should his party win.
Modi’s ascension on Sunday to election campaign chief of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) immediately threw the party into turmoil. The next day, 85-year-old party co-founder L.K. Advani quit all of his key party posts in a huff, writing in a widely circulated resignation letter to the party president that he was unable to “reconcile either with the current functioning of the party, or the direction in which it is going,” and complaining that “most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas.” The jab at Modi did not come as a surprise: Advani is said to harbor his own political ambitions as a senior party leader, and had declined to attend the BJP powwow in Goa where Modi was anointed. The party says it has rejected Advani’s resignation.
(MORE: India’s Ruling Coalition Grants Itself a Good Report Card)
The momentum behind Modi’s rise has felt almost unstoppable. In December, the 62-year-old won a fourth consecutive term as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat and has become increasingly powerful within his own party. The relative economic success of the state under his watch, and his reputation for running a clean government, have proved an attractive foil to the current Congress-led government, beleaguered by scams and slowing economic growth. The BJP is no doubt banking on the fact that urban, middle-class voters weary of Congress’s seeming inability to get the ruling coalition’s second term back on track will be wooed by Modi’s proven record as a reformer and his charismatic stump speeches. The fact that he is running one of the most modern (and probably expensive) p.r. campaigns in India’s political history — with a constant social-media presence and hologram appearances before his last state election — does not hurt either.
Whether Modi’s urbanity will translate to rural India, where the vast majority of people live and vote, is more of a gamble — as is the BJP’s bet that key Muslim-majority states will overlook what critics call his failure to stop the bloody 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. Though Modi, who was chief minister at the time, has never been charged in connection with the riots, his detractors blame him for not doing enough to stop the wave of anti-Muslim violence that swept the state and left more than 1,000 people dead.
(MORE: Why Wharton Canceled Narendra Modi’s Speech)
Modi’s appointment to his party’s top campaign post may, in any case, light a fire under the feet of Congress leaders, who have yet to offer a front man or clear campaign strategy as election season heats up. Political analysts warn against comparing India’s system of fractious coalition politics with the two-party system of the U.S.; the kind of strong personalities that win debates and elections in the U.S. may be the opposite of what’s needed to manage a wonky and fragile coalition once a government is formed. Nevertheless, after nearly nine years under the leadership of Manmohan Singh, the ruling party is struggling to counter Modi’s increasing ubiquity.
Having ramped up his public appearances lately, Rahul Gandhi, the political scion recently appointed Congress vice president, is the most obvious candidate to go head to head with the opposition on the campaign trail. Whether he will or not is unclear, but now that the suspense over what the BJP will do about Modi is over, the pressure will be on for Congress to make its next move. If that’s not nominating a rival to take Modi on, they’ll at least need a strategy to prevent him from taking this race over.
MORE: Is Narendra Modi a Step Closer to Being India’s Next Prime Minister?