Inside Isaac Asimov 'Franchise', the US has transformed into an "electronic democracy" where a computer selects one person to represent the entire electorate and thereby makes a big, expensive actual election totally unnecessary. The man chosen for the job was Norman Muller.
The 'Norman Muller' of the 2014 general election is Varanasi. It alone seems to decide who will rule India for the next five years, going by the jostling and shouting that the three players in the contest are indulging in. Be it BJP, Congress or even the Aam Aadmi Party, the objective is not to win this constituency, but to defeat the rivals and drag the bodies down the length of the country.
The Election Commission's refusal to allow Modi address a rally at Benia Bagh came as a boon-in-disguise -- which the BJP tacticians instantly recognised and is (as this column is being written) bent on milking till the last drop. And why is this apparently difficult situation a boon for Messrs Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah?
First, 'I-am-the-victim' strategy has always been a vote-magnet in the bleeding-heart nation of hours. Everyone has exploited it: Indira Gandhi had gone to the extent of coaxing the police to put handcuffs on her before getting arrested for misuse of office during the Janata regime. Vishwanath Pratap Singh used his removal as finance minister by Rajiv Gandhi so well that he ended up becoming the prime minister himself. Whenever the Parivar acted difficult, Atal Behari Vajpayee would throw his hands up and threaten to walk away from it all -- only to see a spike in his popularity.
When Modi alleges that the Election Commission is being "influenced", he is painting the Congress as a desperate dictator trying to muffle his voice using a constitutional body. By seeking forgiveness from Mother Ganges for not being able to perform an aarti on the holy ghats of Kashi, he is recharging the Hindutva brigade which in recent days had to yield space to the ‘nichli jaati’.
Second, instead of a rally Modi now gets a full-fledged road show, with a protest at Lanka Gate outside Banaras Hindu University thrown in. In the garb of a press conference, Jaitley and Shah on Wednesday evening had issued a clarion call to the people of Varanasi to join Modi on his trek from city outskirts to the local BJP office (they even gave out directions and route plans).
Third, all TV cameras are today on ‘Norman Muller, blacking out the Sonia and Rahul Gandhi rallies in West Bengal, Bihar and UP.
Yet again Modi is riding the news cycle and air waves ensuring that what happens in Varanasi doesn’t stay in Varanasi.
Fourth, ‘eternal victim’ Kejriwal now has the air taken out of his sail. “This should have happened to me” might be his lament considering his election pitch has been -- only AAP is thinking about Varanasi. An electoral unfairness would have been a killer combo indeed.
Asimov should have been an observer in Varanasi on May 12.
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