Voters know what Modi stands for, says Sibal

As it gets ready for the Lok Sabha elections, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personality-based politics would not succeed as the voters know now what he stands for.

Sibal, a former Union minister, also said the BJP could register a string of electoral victories after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections only because the Opposition was deeply divided and the countdown for Modi has begun after the Opposition parties came together on a common platform.

“I don't think you should credit Modi when he wins state elections because he is popular. It is because the Opposition is not united,” Sibal told DH here on Friday.

Sibal said Modi no longer has the advantage of making the 2019 Lok Sabha elections a personality battle between him and his opponent.

“I think those days are gone … the personality model of the election. This is not going to succeed anymore because the personality has got us only pain,” he said adding that Modi had an advantage ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections because he was new to national politics.

“When he (Modi) came to Delhi first, he did not have any baggage as he was not in national politics. But, today people know who he is and what he stands for. I don't think people will be fooled again,” Sibal said.

In his latest book Shades of Truth: A Journey Derailed, released by former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, Sibal has laid bare how the Modi government reveled in the past without seeking to grapple with the problems of the present and prepare for future challenges.

According to Sibal, the only way to defeat Modi was through strategic, state-wise alliances and the Congress.

“All Opposition parties feel that it is time to get together and defeat the BJP. Therefore, I think they will come to terms and put up a united front,” he said.

Sibal said the Lok Sabha elections were not about defeating Modi, but about providing alternative visions of governance.

“Unfortunately we are making it a personality battle. Personalities don't run countries. Institutions run countries. And he (Modi) is responsible for belittling those institutions,” Sibal said.