Modi waves his word wand again

NEW DELHI: It isn't easy being PM and chief party campaigner. But Narendra Modi walked the tightrope profitably during the Maharashtra and Haryana polls. As BJP's premier campaigner, he addressed 36 rallies - 25 in Maharashtra and 11 in Haryana - in the run-up to the polls. No other national politician came close.
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Modi's intense campaigning was crucial to his party's fortunes in both states.And political commentators feel oratory was integral to the Modi juggernaut. Columnist Aakar Patel rates him as one of the three best speakers of our time with Bal Thackeray and Lalu Prasad Yadav. He says Modi is superb in "the art of persuasive speaking" and "his primary method of communication is speech, not the written word, and it is effective".
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"His delivery is strong, use of idiom is first-rate, he has an excellent sense of humour," says Patel. "Above all, he can compress and simplify complex issues into basic formulae and slogans, which he personally coins with delight. Everything Plato, who was suspicious of democracy's susceptibility to demagoguery, warned against - Modi puts on display," he says.
Modi's self-belief, boosted by his LS polls success, was on show when he urged the crowd in Sharad Pawar's bastion, Baramati, to get rid of "the uncle-nephew slavery" for development.
The PM was on the ball when he quickly rebutted Shiv Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray's charge that BJP wanted to "break the state into pieces". Speaking at Dhule, he retorted, "They say Maharashtra will be split. Has anyone been born in this country who can divide the land of Shivaji?"
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Political scientist Balveer Arora believes Modi's oratory is predictable, but the novelty of his approach after a decade of reclusive and elusive leaders struck a chord. "His technique of 'different folks, different strokes' works well. He dresses the part, plays as the role requires. His speeches are well choreographed, designed to massage local egos and heroes," says Arora, chairman, Centre for Multilevel Federalism.
Political scientist Imtiaz Ahmed feels there's nothing significant about Modi's oratory, unlike that of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Rather, he says, Modi's appeal lies more in holding out promise of a more active, transparent and pro-development government. "In the backdrop of what previous governments in Haryana and Maharashtra had achieved, people are oriented towards giving someone else a chance."