Going gets tough for Narendra Modi

It appears now, in the wake of the heat generated over the Sohrabuddin case, that political ground rules could be redefined in perhaps the most significant way since the Mandal-Mandir confrontation altered the political landscape. A cornered Modi, and a Modi-fied BJP, could decisively eclipse the saffron outfit that rode to national prominence on a hardline Hindutva line but found sustenance in the moderate pill administered by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The events that have unfolded since CBI sleuths allegedly found evidence incriminating Amit shah in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter are potent pointers as to what may lie ahead for the BJP. First, and most importantly, it may expose the Modi regime's brazenly devised encounters-fornational security policy as something that was actually driven by nothing more than greed and corruption. It may show that the brave gunmen killing in the name of fighting Islamic terror are perhaps just a band of thugs. Modi has all along argued that Sohrabuddin was no angel but the central probe agency is building a case to prove that the saffron regime is no saviour either.