The Iron Shield

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, recently unveiled his plans for creation of 'Statue of Unity' the tallest statue of Sardar Patel somewhere along Narmada River in Gujarat. He has asked farmers across 7,00,000 villages to make contributions in the project by providing used and obsolete metallic agricultural equipment for the Iron statue of the Iron Man of India. The project cost is estimated somewhere around 2500 crores and is expected to be built in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The noble idea cited behind building of 182 Meters tall statue is to send a signal of national unification and integration. 

But the ideas and intentions are not as clear as may look like. There is a very strong message and a a very long term plan behind the project. Modi has outsmarted all of his political rivals this time and has incorporated gist of effective and proven political strategies. Lets have a look over the project highlights : 

1.     The statue is of Sardar Patel 

2.    The name of the statute is 'Statue of Unity' and has a hight of 182 mtrs. (higher than Staute of Liberty,USA)

3.     The location of statue is Gujarat

4.   Statue to use Iron/Steel for which Iron would be collected from farmers of 7,00,000 villages across the nation

1. The statue is of Sardar Patel : Why Narendra Modi choose Sardar Patel for the statue ? Sardar Patel was a Congress Leader and a unifying figure but there is very less or almost no similarity between Narendra Modi's personality and that of Sardar Patel. He is a follower of Vivekananda and can be seen promoting his ideas quiet frequently so the obvious choice for the statue, if any, should have been Vivekananda. But the same is not true but why ?      

    

                                                                                                                            Vivekananda

• Vivekananda is perceived to be a Hindu Spiritual Guru in general opinion so his appeal to the masses is rather limited up to Hindus only. 
• Personality of Vivekananda was very sober and soft spoken so he can't symbolize projection of power and personality of a tough leader. 

• Vivekananda's approach was more social than political, Modi's aspirations are more political than social. 

       Sardar Patel 

• Sardar Patel is called Iron Man of India, a unifying figure, has a mass appeal across all caste/religious groups. 

• A tough and aggressive personality, known for his strong will power and tough actions, all traits of an excellent leader and an administrator. 

• His approach and actions were very much political, strategic and diplomatic in nature. He always knew how to get things done.

• A political rival of Jawahar Lal Nehru (Though both belonged to the same party but throughout Patel's lifetime he had strong differences with Nehru and acted as a strong counterbalance to Nehru inside Congress). 

• Patel was Gujarati and Modi thinks everything related to Gujarat is his inherited property except probably M.K. Gandhi .

The plan has special setbacks for Congress party which will be in a state of dilemma whether to support or oppose the project. Congress will be the victim of the its own strategy "Support we win, Oppose You loose" as what we have seen in Food Security Bill case.

If congress supports or keep a mum over the statue project it will let Sardar Patel emerge as tallest leader in India and an open challenge to the status of Nehru. Project is such enormous in magnitude that after its completion would attract tourists from world over and the over projection and active campaigning by Modi and co may take the status of Patel equivalent to Nehru if not above. In long term Modi will try to intensify the stories of small rifts between the Nehru and Patel by multiple folds. Any alternative to Nehru in Indian political space is very dangerous and life threatening situation for the Congress Party and specially for the first family.

But Congress can't oppose as the leader belonged to the party itself and is a symbol of integration of the county. Any attempt to oppose the project would be at great disadvantage for the party as the Modi's PR war machine would create huge negative sentiments for the party. So the Congress is option less in this case and can't do much but to watch like a mere spectator. 

        

Congress has been projecting itself as a party of Gandhi, Nehru, Indira, Rajiv and so. Whole literature from school textbook to the Post Graduation level is filled with the praise for the Family. More than 90% government schemes have been named after the dynasty. Everything from Road to Ports and Airports are named after them. 

Nehru is like a trademark for the Congress party which adds a substantial brand value to the party which any other party in the country lacks. Congress is still cashing the works done by these great leaders decades ago.  BJP doesn't have any distinguishing figure to be Pitted against these leaders. Only Public Faces are Atal and Advani while Advani has communal image due to Babri Demolition case, Atal is no match even for Indira or Rajiv, Nehru is a distant dream. 

But the excellent design of Congress and Nehru-Gandhi clan is not foolproof and have good number of loopholes. The greatest mistake for the Congress has been ignorance of other great leaders of the country. Neither Nehru fought for independence alone nor did the Nehru-clan transformed India alone. All other leaders (even within Congress) having remarkable successes were forgotten. Sardar Patel in one among them to count.     

Narendra Modi, undoubtably one of the finest Political Strategist in the country, understands the deeply rooted pro congress sentiment in Indian Psyche and Society. BJP or any other political alternative in India is very short lived; these parties may win battles but can't win war ever. It was not for nothing that NDA was uprooted in 2004 despite excellent track record of work and developmental activities. Congress acts like some base along which the Power oscillates, whichever way power may go, it'll finally settle down at base and the Gandhi Family is the pivot or base along which this congress party moves, whichever may take the party command it will finally settle at the hands of the family. 

The NAMO mantra is loud and clear i.e., to uproot the Congress and the Family from Indian Political landscape. He understand the importance of the family for the party and the party for the family. If someone examines his speeches minutely one shouldn't be surprised to find a consistent attack over the family. But this time the scale is too large, he plans to attack the nucleus of the party, the pivot of the family i.e., "Jawahar Lal Nehru" and how he'll do that ? 

The only person who had challenged the might of Nehru was Sardar Patel. Nehru was more vocal, accepted and had closer associations with Gandhi which helped him to have an edge and securing Prime Minister-ship but despite being just home and deputy Prime Minister, this Iron man of India out-powered Nehru on large number of occasions. He always acted as a strong counterbalance to Nehru and second power pole within the congress. The rift between the duo is also well known in public and Nehru had gained total control over Congress only after Sardar Patel's death in 1950. 

RSS has been trying to malign image of both Gandhi and Nehru for more than half a century or so, fabricated and floated thousands of conspiracy theories, most of which failed to cater masses. Modi learnt from these mistakes and made an understanding that its really difficult or almost impossible to wash away Nehru and Gandhian foot prints from Indian social fabric.

Congress - BJP = Nehru + Gandhi

So, he has decided to manufacture his own version of Gandhi and Nehru. Therefore choose Vivekananda as an ideological challenge to Gandhi and now is trying to acquire rights over Sardar Patel (alternative of Nehru) in the same fashion as Mayawati claims rights over B.R. Ambedkar (Remember her Ambedkar Park, Ambedkar Nagar, Ambedkar Murti etc.)

2. The name of the statute is 'Statue of Unity' and has a hight of 182 mtrs. (higher than Staute of Liberty,USA) : If there is anything which Modi desperately needs, is a secular image, an image of a person who can hold all section of society together and move forward. Then what better could be than the "Statue of Unity" as a symbolic representation of his new intentions. He hopes that this great symbol of unity would pacify his present image and increase his acceptability among various social groups and communities. 

USA the symbol of power strength sophistication and advancement, everything MODI wants. In Past he seriously intended to project his Gujarat development at par with US but was humiliated several times with his VISA rejections and continuous boycott. Out of compulsion and lack of any other viable alternative, had to bend towards China Model. He recently told that we'll do such work here that the US would come here. 

The Statues are always symbolic and the hight and size interpret the power and the strength. So, The Statue of Unity is perceived to be Modi's answer to US and the world to look at Gujarat and the height of MODI's aspirations and therefore has been planned double the size of its US counterpart. 

3. The location of statue is Gujarat: Experts use to term Gujarat as a laboratory of Hindutva a state where all experimentation on Hindutva agenda is tried and tested before implementation on national scale. It is the safest fortress for him and his party. The opposition in state is highly ineffective or even non-existent. Modi has successfully tested and applied anti dote towards congress rule in the state and congress has no special advantage of its rich history in the state against Modi or BJP. Modi’s Gujarat model is not only about the rapid industrialization, infrastructural development, Urbanization and technological advancement but also about an ideological change in public psyche and Social order.

What he wants to do is to replicate this model on the national scale and “Statue of Unity” is seriously going to help him out. Earlier during Adavani’s Rath Yatra time in1990s, started from Somnath, Gujarat to Ayodhya in Utter-Pradesh. This Rath Yatra helped Advani to mark his national presence, rise as a Hindu Hriday Samrat and increase his seat count for the party from 85 in 1989 to 120 in 1991 LS elections.

Modi doesn’t need similar yatras in order to elevate as a Hindu leader, his Hindu Fundamentalist stature is probably even higher than that of Advani, what he needs to do is to emerge as a national leader. There is no Ram-Mandir this time as Ram-Mandir is a lost story and can’t yield votes anymore; also Ram-Mandir had the drawbacks of appeal to a limited section of society. But ‘The Statue of Unity’ is volume 2.0 of Ram-Mandir Agitation with similar political objectives. In this case the Yatra begins from Gujarat and ends at Gujarat; even the Ayodhya has been shifted in Gujarat itself. The statue is of a national leader so probably no opposition or resistance can be expected from anyone, anywhere in the country.

4. Statue to use Iron/Steel for which Iron would be collected from farmers of 7,00,000 villages across the nation: Statue of Iron for the Iron man looks impressive but there are other objectives as well to be served. During Ram-Mandir agitation of Advani, he had started collecting bricks for the Rama temple from all over the country. Every family was asked to contribute one brick which will be used somewhere in the temple. This was an attempt of unifying Hindu vote bank across all caste lines on the name of lord Rama. The attempt was successful within years of these efforts BJP came into power.

There were several drawbacks in the brick collection programme which faced resistance and ire of Muslims and some other communities on several locations in the country for example Bombs were thrown over the Yatra in Bhagalpure,1989 which resulted in communal riots killing around 1000s of people. Modi’s political career can’t afford any more riots or even a large scale violent conflict anymore this is the reason why Modi can’t carry forward Advani’s agenda.

For the statue of Sardar Patel he has demanded agricultural equipment of iron from more than 7,00,000 villages in the country which would be melted to be used in the statue. No protest can be expected from anywhere in the county, and if someone opposes the move, blame comes upon the opposing party itself. All opposing parties can be easily termed as antinational if they try to oppose the Yatra 2.0, scheduled October 31, 2013 and would last January 2014.  

This collection of iron from farmers across all villages in the country (before 2014 elections, might have the same kind of impact over public psyche as has happened in 1989 brick collection for the Ram Mandir but with a wider and broader participation of people.

Narendra Modi is already riding over the Hindutva Vote bank with full backing of RSS, VHP and whole Baba Community. He is perceived to be a man of action, an icon a symbol of governance and development and the only thing he needs now is to have a unifying figure for which he is planning to use Sardar Patel. 

Though it is too early to claim that all these efforts are going to help him to win over mass support before 2014 elections but one thing is sure that he is seriously going to challenge the conventional Indian Politics.