Strategies spun by Modi failed 17 May 2009, 0405 hrs IST, TNN Mediocre show in the West Besides 26 seats in Gujarat, he was made election in-charge of 52 seats of Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra Nagar & Haveli and Diu-Daman. BJP and allies’ tally of 40 in 2004 slid marginally to 37 this time under Modi. But, more worrying for Modi supporters is the fact that he could not convert crowds into votes at places he addressed public meetings.
Hand-picked men Ignoring protests, Modi changed 17 candidates. He even went to the extent of fielding three Congressmen. While Modi’s gamble had paid off on previous occasions, eight of his hand-picked men lost. These were Somji Damor (Dahod), Lalji Mer (Surendranagar), Bhavsinh Rathod (Patan), Kiran Patel (Rajkot), Mansukh Kachariya (Porbandar), Ramesh Mungra (Jamnagar), Ritesh Vasava (Bardoli) and Dhiru Patel (Valsad). Tainted candidates Name of at least four candidates Modi picked up had figured in different scams. Dipak Sathi (Anand), CR Patil (Navsari) and Prabhatsinh Chauhan (Panchmahal) were allegedly involved in co-op bank scams; Bhavsinh Rathod (Patan) was an accused in a drug trafficking case. While Patil and Chauhan won, Rathod and Sathi lost. Sound bytes failed to bite He called Rahul Gandhi a fish in an aquarium. He named 125-year-old Congress as ‘budhiya’. Priyanka Gandhi became ‘gudiya’ for him. Anti-Modi clamour Detractors have started gunning for Modi. If BJP president Rajnath Singh said the party was disappointed with Maharashtra (the state Modi was in-charge of), another senior leader Chandan Mitra said projecting Modi as PM candidate midway through the campaign was a mistake. Home alone A rattled Modi preferred to remain ensconsed at his official residence in Gandhinagar. Even in 2007, he had monitored results of Assembly polls all alone. He had visited the BJP headquarters only after the final results were announced. On Saturday, however, Modi did not venture out.
