Can Narendra Modi turn the tide in Uttar Pradesh?

Talking of making India “Congress-free”, he has not only been stressing the misdeeds and misfortunes of the present Congress government, in particular the scandals and the impression that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is paralysed by indecision, but also sniping at the party chief Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi.

But this is where Mr Modi finds himself walking a tightrope.

He knows very well that the leadership of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS [the Hindu organisation from which the BJP draws its ideological roots], whose support proved so vital in his winning the chairmanship of the election campaign committee – the first stage of his battle to become prime minister – are not entirely happy with him.

They have felt for some time that the Gujarat BJP had become a one-man band, and that he did not listen to them, although it was the RSS that brought him into politics.

A senior RSS member recently told me that it was the support Mr Modi enjoyed among their rank and file which had persuaded the leadership to overcome their reservations and openly back him.

At the same time, events at Goa clearly showed that the BJP leadership had been bulldozed by their party workers to appoint Mr Modi.

But RSS rank and file and hardcore BJP supporters don’t just see him as development man.

They believe that at last they have a leader who, with their support, could take over the BJP and revive the Hindu issues the party had stood for in the past.

If Mr Modi disappoints them on those issues, then the ground on which he at present stands could open up and swallow him.

So, back to the tightrope.

On one side, if he does not pay sufficient attention to Hindu issues, he could lose his political base. On the other side, he will not be considered a national leader if he is too closely identified with issues that have been shown to have only a comparatively narrow appeal.

The Congress party will also be looking for opportunities to remind voters of the allegations about his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Maintaining his balance on this tightrope is going to be so difficult that Mr Modi could well fall off it before he reaches the final test – the general election.