Survival, Coronation & Superstition: Why Modi Wants to Win in Goa

For PM Modi, Goa is where he fought for survival in 2002 and was ‘crowned’ India’s prime ministerial candidate.

For PM Modi, Goa is where he fought for survival in 2002 and was crowned as India’s prime ministerial candidate. (Photo: Liju Joseph/The Quint)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares a deep bond with Goa. No wonder top leaders of the party are leaving no stone unturned to ensure a win in the state.

Goa, with just a million voters, is one of the smallest states in India. Yet, all of BJP’s star campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have descended in Goa. Senior party leaders including president Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Devendra Fadnavis and B S Yeddyurappa are holding 36 rallies!

These rallies are over and above the dozens of rallies being held by the BJP’s face in Goa – Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has been stationed in his home state for almost three months.

BJP is facing a stiff challenge from its former allies on one hand and an aggressive opposition on the other. The party has gone into blitzkrieg mode as it knows that PM Modi is deeply attached to the state for three reasons.

1. A Question of Survival

The then-chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, addresses a press conference in Bombay in March 2002. Members belonging to several human rights organisations protested against Modi for his inefficient handling of Gujarat riots. (Photo: Reuters

Following the 2002 riots, there was immense pressure on Modi to step down as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. PM Vajpayee reportedly wanted Modi out. Advani wanted to save his protégé, but couldn’t argue with the PM, following pressure from Opposition and allies. The then Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie later revealed that the decision to sack Modi was taken when Vajpayee and Advani arrived in Goa in 2002 for the BJP’s national executive meeting.

When the national executive meeting began in Panaji, Modi announced that he would quit, but he was shouted down by voices from all parts of the hall.

Shourie said he did not know if the commotion was orchestrated or spontaneous, but the overwhelming support Modi received in the Goa meeting forced Vajpayee to backtrack and allowed Modi to survive.

2. Coronation in Goa

Narendra Modi is congratulated by Rajnath Singh, the then-president of India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after Modi was crowned as the prime ministerial candidate for the BJP. (Photo: Reuters) 

11 years later, BJP had another national conclave in Goa and again the focus was on Narendra Modi, who by then, had become strong enough to challenge his mentor, LK Advani.

Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Modi wanted to be elevated to the national level. Advani made every effort to ensure that the promotion did not happen, including staying away from the national executive meet.

Despite pressure from Advani, Sushma and allies in the 2013 Goa conclave, Narendra Modi was appointed as the chairman of the BJP's election strategy committee. His supporters call this his ‘coronation’, as the announcement of his name as the party’s PM candidate was then merely a formality.

3. Superstition Says A Win in Goa, A Win in 2019?

BJP as well as Congress leaders believe in a superstition that the party that wins Goa wins the next Lok Sabha elections. (Photo: The Quint)

That politicians across parties are superstitious is an open secret. Some BJP as well as Congress leaders believe that the party that wins Goa wins the next Lok Sabha elections. BJP won Goa in 2012 and then emerged victorious in the 2014 General elections. Before that, Congress won Goa in 2007 and then repeated its success in 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

The history in the decade before that is a bit complicated as Goa was going through a phase of defections and instability. Still, Goa largely managed to reflect the national mood, alternatively choosing between governments led or supported by the Congress or BJP.

So, a section of local BJP leaders believe that if BJP manages to retain Goa now, Modi will be re-elected in 2019.