ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that leadership did play a vital role in ensuring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP's) victory. It assesses the impact and importance of leadership in determining the decisive victory of the BJP and the decimating rout of the Congress Party. A decisive turning point was the Gujarat assembly election in December 2012, when the BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi returned to power for a fourth term. Many would believe that Modi's speech after the electoral victory was the first campaign speech for the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The impact of the leadership factor can also be assessed by looking at the support for Modi as prime minister in different types of electoral/party contests. If Modi were not to be the BJP prime ministerial candidate, would the voting preference have varied? This question was posed as part of the National Election Survey 2014.
