According to Prof. Laski – a political scientist – "Public Opinion need not necessarily be the opinion of the entire public, it can even be the opinion of one person provided it serves the cause of entire public".
Since Narendra Modi is declared as prime ministerial candidate by the BJP in the forthcoming general election in India, public opinion is flung against him because of his past misdeeds against minorities in India.Knowing him as a pure communal, people in India especially the minorities started building up pressure against him in particular and against BJP in general.
Sensing the mood of the public in India swinging against him, Modi is keeping his silence on Ram Temple building at Ayodya and instead raising the issue of Development and eradication of corruption in India. Though both the issues are important yet according to the principle of BJP, Ram Mandir and other communal issues will take precedence over all other issues otherwise BJP will not remain as BJP.
One of the least developed and the most corrupt States in India is Gujarat where Narendra Modi is the Chief Minister during the last two terms. If he cannot improve the health of his own State Gujarat then how he will improve the health of India? By spreading Dr. Goebellian lies saying Gujarat is the best developed State in India, Modi is trying to fool the people on the eve of general election.
First of all it is the victory for the public opinion that forced Modi to change his tune to the development of India issue. Public opinion in India is taking a very dramatic turn against communal politics and major credit for this change should go to the media for highlighting correctly the public mood thereby forcing Modi to change his stand from communal to development.
Now the public must force the BJP if it wants to get majority to rule India, to amend its election manifesto and declare secularism as its goal and nothing will be done to hurt the sentiments of the minorities.The election manifesto of BJP must give a clear picture of secularism and protection of minorities mainly the Muslims at all over India.
In the coming election Indian voters must give topmost priority for secularism and protection for minorities otherwise if BJP comes to power it will liquidate Muslims and other minorities who according to BJP are not full-fledged Indian citizens. Voters in every constituency must force their candidates to swear upon secularism. If BJP comes to power at the Centre, the survival of the minorities is at risk. Since life is more important, voters must vote only to those who declare their allegiance to secularism.
To implement this manifesto, people all over India must make their voice audible especially when BJP members come for electioneering at every spot of India. This voice need not necessarily be the voice of all the people gathered there for election meeting, this voice can even be the voice of ONE particular person which will be considered as the voice of entire electorate.
It is time now for the minorities to come under one banner and force BJP to toe their line otherwise all the votes of the minorities should go against BJP. It is time now for the minorities to assert their rights. Jointly now minorities can either purify BJP of its sin of communalism or defeat BJP in the coming election.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.