<b>Shekhar Gupta:</b> Risk it like Rajiv

That's what Narendra Modi has to do and launch defence modernisation like Rajiv Gandhi in 1985-89, but with lessons learnt. There are political risks, but isn't that holding public office is all about

Bofors is the only gun in history to have won an election all by itself. Since we also like to say it is the man behind the machine that matters, V P Singh was also no mean performer at the gunsights.

He launched his challenge to destroy Rajiv Gandhi with the Allahabad by-election in 1988. Singh campaigned on a motorcycle across the burnt-out plains of rural Allahabad, stopping at villages, making a short point, and carrying on. It was true shoot-and-scoot campaigning.

His message was simple: Your homes have been burgled. How? When you buy a packet of bidis or