IS the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi riding a wave in the ongoing election campaign for the 16th Lok Sabha? Or is this entire hullabaloo just media hype, orchestrated or otherwise?

In the first few general elections beginning with 1952, there was not any worthwhile opposition and the Congress used to secure a comfortable majority. Jawaharlal Nehru then strode like a Colossus over the Indian political landscape with much charisma and unquestioned leadership. Thereafter, in 1971 Indira Gandhi won a resounding victory. However, she was on the receiving end of the popular wrath in the subsequent elections that were held in 1977 in the wake of the much dreaded Emergency. The Janata Party had secured 298 seats with 43 per cent votes.