Terror's political trap

By the time Narendra Modi had touched down at the Patna airport, a lot of people knew that terror had laid a siege to the Bihar capital. 

Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Shahnawaz Hussain, both former civilian aviation ministers holding permanent entry passes for airports, along with young BJP MLA Navin Nitin received Modi. The Gujrat police head and Rudy reasoned with Modi that he should fly back, as the rally venue itself has been the target of the serial terror blasts.    

Modi excused himself and went into a toilet. Emerging out after a while he asked for a glass of water. Then he patted at the back of Rudy and sought to know where was the vehicle. "Let's go to Gandhi Maidan," Modi told Rudi. And then he slipped onto the front side seat of a while ambassador. 

The little archaic vehicle, instilling awe in people for its associations with the power, was not bullet proof. It was just another car. By the time Modi reached Gandhi Maidan, about seven blasts had taken place and most of them around the big ground. 

From Income tax round-about to Gandhi Maidan, Modi's car found ways through a sea of people. Even inside the ground, his white amby went past close to the people gathered there. Any fidayeen attack would have caught its prey with ease.

Clearly, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had done his best to throw Modi to the beasts. However, the beasts chose not to devour Modi. Instead, they contented themselves setting off low intensity blasts. 

The motive of the Patna serial blasts need to be bared but that could be done by the NIA alone, which is investigating it. Still, certain takeaways are clear. First, it was an attempt to sabotage a political rally. Second, terrorists and their handlers wanted stampede to escalate casualty. Thirdly, they hoped (could have) that the organizers would cancel the rally and Modi would fly back. This would have sent the message that Modi panicked. None of them actually happened.

What Modi did in the toilet other than attending to nature'e call is not known. But emerging out and

after gulping a glass of water, he told his hosts that he was in a hurry to go to Gandhi Maidan.

But another Modi -- Sushil Modi -- did not speak for more than five minutes at the venue. He should have spoken longer, because he had toiled quite hard for over two months to cris-cross Bihar to make the Hunkar rally successful.

And he spoke just a little. At the end of his speech, he sought a glass of water. While he was gulping, his face was coal-black and that showed what he had been going through. He knew the full details of the bombs being set off. Still, he held the nerves and steeled himself. Those who were too close to him could only figure out the pain inside him. But few hours later he was to emerge a very mature politician and crowd manager.

Any normal human being would like to drink some water in such situations. But by taking potshots at them for drinking water and sweating, Nitish Kumar diminished his reputation by many notches. He should have known that Modi is right on the top of the target of any terrorist organisations, which abound in our neighbourhood apart from a good number inside the country itself. By throwing all cautions to the wind and exposing Modi to beasts, Nitish Kumar committed a dereliction of duty for which he is sworn.

Contrast the above mentioned security (if any) arrangement with any rally of Rahul Gandhi. His cavalcade comes behind the stage, which is barricaded in a manner that people are almost 80 feet away. 

  

But coming back to Patna, it should be known that the Darbhanga module of Indian Mujahiddin had long been exposed. That is despite the denials in plenty by the likes of Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan in their anxiety to not disturb their Muslim constituencies. So, to say that nothing of the sort happened earlier, as stated by Nitish Kumar, was akin to turning a blind eye to the grim realities on the ground.

Now that nine live bombs have been recovered from a Ranchi lodge, it's evident that Jharkhand and Bihar have been callous to the ever expanding sweep of the terror infrastructure. The Patna serial blasts continue to send aftershocks to the people having long believed that terror blasts were matters of concerns for Delhi, Mumbai and others. There is a strong possibility that the anti-incumbency against Nitish Kumar would gather more steam on the back of the terror fears in the hearts of the people.