Why Modi sarkar needs to stoop to conquer

This is political war by other means which the Congress-led Opposition is waging against the Modi government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi must understand the Congress' very own "Art of War".

The core and kernel of the Congress strategy is to keep the Modi government bogged down with political stand-offs on one count or another inside and outside Parliament, exploit the government's minority in Rajya Sabha to the hilt and deny, or prolong to the maximum possible extent, the passage of two vital legislations like the GST Bill and the Land Bill in Parliament.

If the juggernaut of development has to go full throttle, these two Bills have to be passed without any further ado. During all his foreign trips, PM Modi has been trying his best to hard-sell India.

His most important promise to the world leaders is that India is changing and changing fast and key reforms will be in place by early next year. The two above-mentioned Bills are the cornerstones of the reforms process.

But it has to be done in double quick time. Time is at a premium.

The Modi government has just completed 30 per cent of its tenure and by January end it would have completed one-third of its term. The acute political message behind this simple arithmetic is that the government has to put the reforms process in fifth gear as time is fast running out.

The fruits of development and improvement in economy must be visible and felt by the man on the street and not trumpeted through statistics.

PM Modi has to change his ways and be more malleable and accommodative with the opposition. After all, this is the most ideal time as the crucial winter session of Parliament gets underway from November 26 and the Modi government has not many days to turn around things as the session ends on December 23.

After all, if Modi smokes the peace pipe with the Opposition, it is only for a brief time and he does it for his own political survival. After all, there are no elections for the next several months.

Who would be more acutely aware than Modi himself of the fact that if the GST Bill and the Land Bill are not passed by Parliament within a month, it is the government, not the Opposition, that stands to lose?

Moreover, the Congress is aware that its tactics of stalling Parliament would no longer go down well with the people. This is the best time to bring the Congress around and make Parliament function and bring forth concrete results. But this has to be done through tact and diplomacy, not by hammer and stick.

PM Modi is known for his out-of-the-box ideas. His move of dropping by at the all-party meet convened by his parliamentary affairs minister is a welcome move, but it is a tad little and a tad late. He needs to conjure up bigger ideas. Breaking bread with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Manmohan Singh may be one such idea.

Often one has to stoop to conquer. But will he do so? Is one going to see a new Modi. Next few days will tell.