Surendra Patra has been a thorn in the side of the Modi government to some extent. He started the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch from 1998 to 2005 but backed away when the Patrasar (Celts) agitation emerged. Even after he got the nod from the Madras High Court, there were still protests. He now chairs the BJP’s national council from Kolkata. As the national leader, he has the responsibility of deciding which way the party will go. His biggest threat to the Modi government is that the Lok Sabha elections are around the corner. Will he go against Modi? His loyalty to Lalu has already been tested. He’s the son-in-law of BK Laxman of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. (Sriram Krishnan can be contacted at [email protected].) In August 2000, Patra announced that he would stand in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. It wasn’t easy. First he wanted to announce that he was an independent and not a Rajya Sabha MP like his father, then he backed out on the promise of the national council seat.

That seems to have been enough to give Modi some sleepless nights. But it doesn’t mean that in a few months, he won’t come up with a new policy that will be his Achilles Heel.