We tell you, the two biggest reasons behind the Modi-Shah duo's several Election victories, despite Congress being the oldest party in the country

1) Cunning  

In the first few scenes of the movie Singham, a inspector shoots himself. He leaves a suicide note where he blames a goon. Another inspector - Bajirao Singham, takes over the reins of the police station. The people who drove the previous inspector to suicide believe that Bajirao Singham too will commit suicide, but they are in for a rude shock. Bajirao Singham manages to beat them at their own game.

PM AB Vajpayee lost the 2004 elections, despite doing stellar work in terms of reforms, infrastructure development & a buoyant economy. One of the reasons for the loss has been attributed to the "India Shining" campaign spearheaded by late parliamentarian Pramod Mahajan. The other reason is the anti-incumbency which had crept in after 6 years of Vajpayee government at the centre. While urban India was growing at a fast clip, rural India was reeling under farmer distress due to poor rainfall.

But the biggest reason why Vajpayee lost was because Sonia Gandhi - the then INC president was more cunning than PM Vajpayee. AB Vajpayee was a man of principles. He did not stop himself from praising Indira Gandhi over the victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war. This is much unlike the current Congress party which demands "proof" of surgical strikes conducted on Pakistani soil. Sonia Gandhi accused PM AB Vajpayee of the Coffin Scam. Not surprisingly after BJP lost the election, the case was withdrawn. Truth is that there was no case against PM Vajpayee. Sonia Sandhi & her cronies cooked up a case to tarnish PM AB Vajpayee's squeaky clean credentials & were successful in their mission.

But PM Modi & Amit Shah know how to beat The Gandhis at their own game. They waited 4 years before tightening the screws around land scam accused Robert Vadra - who is Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law. They know that people have a short memory, had Robert Vadra been charged in the 1st year, the voters would have forgotten about it by now ie when elections are around the corner. Christian Michel too has been brought in at the opportune time to remind people of the Gandhi family's many crimes. PM Modi's flagship welfare schemes - Ayushmann Bharat & universal basic income which have a far reaching impact on making the lives of poor were launched in the 4th year. While tax slabs were lowered for the middle class in the interim budget just a few months before elections. The Pulwama terror attack & the subsequent Balakot bombings only added to PM Modi's aura.

People often complain that Modi-Shah are not as principled as Vajpayee. They compare Sonia Gandhi to Modi & often crib that Modi too is no saint. While this is true, one must not forget that PM Modi has a squeaky clean image when it comes to corruption, governance & dynasty politics. He has worked very hard for the development, betterment of the nation. if he won;t be as cunning & shrewd as the Gandhis, he would be defeated just like Vajpayee was. Sadly for the Gandhis PM Modi is no Vajpayee.

Meritrocracy

Since the time PM Modi & Amit Shah have taken over the reins of BJP, they have turned BJP into a performance oriented meritrocratic party. it doesn't matter how senior you are in the party or whether your parent is a high ranking member of the party. If you are popular & a performing member of the party, you will be promoted, given opportunities to showcase your talent.

The BJP is not averse to poaching performing MP's/MLA's from the opposition either. Over the years BJP has poached some key members from the opposition, which has led to huge victories in subsequent polls.

On the other hand Amit Shah - BJP president, hasn't shied away from dropping sitting legislators if their performance has not been up to their expectations. PM Modi too didn't waste time in dropping his non-performing ministers from his cabinet & reward the ministers who have performed well. That explains Piyush Goyal's meteoric rise in the BJP.

The Congress on the other hand has slow to react. Rahul Gandhi has given non-performing legislators the long rope, which in turn has led to bad performances in the elections. His choice of CM's post victories in the state elections of MP, Rajasthan & Chattisgarh too might come to haunt him later.

One of the biggest strengths of any party/ organisation is it talent. How long the Congress party or the other parties continue to stay relevant with most of their key members being poached by the BJP remains to be seen.