A PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST BETWEEN MODI AND RAHUL ON THE CARDS?

A presidential contest between Modi and Rahul on the cards?

The taking of center-stage by the Congress President is likely to turn the 2019 general election into a presidential-style contest between him and Narendra Modi

AMULYA GANGUL, NEW DELHI

process of undoing the pronounced pro-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tilt in Indian politics when the party secured a majority in the Lok Sabha and ruled at one time over 19 states, the voters of the three heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have sent out two unambiguous messages.

One is the old warning about pride preceding a fall. The hyperbole of the BJP president Amit Shah’s declaration that his party will rule for 50 years has been shown to be so much hot air as has been the observation of a loyal mandarin, national security adviser Ajit Doval, that the country needs a strong, stable government - obviously meaning Narendra Modi’s rule - for the next 10 years.

It was in keeping with these grandiose assertions that the BJP built the world’s tallest statue - of Congress stalwart Vallabhbhai Patel, whom the BJP can be said to have misappropriated from the Congress - and announced the plans for an almost equally large

But none of these achievements and claims have saved it from a 0- 3 drubbing at the hustings. The lesson from this electoral whitewash of the three BJP-ruled states is that no mercy can be expected from the electorate for the Modi government’s failure to keep the promise of vikas or development. It is obvious that economic stagnation