This refers to the editorial "Mr Modi's bumpy road" (April 4). Compared to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Narendra Modi, thanks to the 2002 anti-Muslim riots though, appears to be an anathema to potential allies, such as the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh. At present, he is seen as one of the most divisive figures in Indian politics. Influential sections of the media and the civil society are arraigned against him. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lacks a base in southern and eastern India to even come close to forming a government on its own, which means it has to build a coalition. Modi's major problem in Bihar is that the solid alliance between the BJP and the Janata Dal (United) will fall apart mainly owing to Nitish Kumar's animosity towards Modi. The National Democratic Alliance leadership may ultimately choose Kumar over hardliner Modi as its consensus candidate for the top post. The former has an unblemished record as a politician so far.
M M Gurbaxani Bangalore
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