It was clear since before election and during electioneering that, Narendra Modi will become Prime Minister for the second time. Because the opposition neither had any leader, nor any idea which could mobilize the voters. Congress’ minimum income guarantee scheme did have the potential, but it came too late, and the Congress was only on social media and not on the ground. Given this, I was hoping that National Democratic Alliance [NDA] will form the government with BJP emerging as a single largest party, but not crossing the 272 mark. I was hoping that the 2014 performance of the BJP [282 seats] was all time best performance and it can’t go higher than that. But Thursday’s result stunned all of us. The BJP on its own got a whopping 303 seats and the Congress came a distant second with 52 seats.
How is it that despite agrarian distress, economic slowdown, joblessness, poor implementation of GST, and demonetization BJP got 21 seats more than 2014? How is it that there was not even slightest anti incumbency? The answer is in just two words: Narendra Modi. Not only during election, but in the past 5 years India’s public debate revolved excessively around him. Narendra Modi was everywhere. He was in his campaign, he was in opposition’s campaign, he was on television screens, on mobile screens, in he newspapers, in people’s living rooms, in people’s minds! It includes both, his supporters and his critics. Just like his supporters gave him credit for anything and everything, his opponents criticized him for anything and everything. When his critics pointed finger at him for each and every problem, ignoring the bigger picture and sometimes even getting personal, people started sympathizing with him. It did not go down well with an average Indian voter that everybody is criticizing one person day in and day out, a person who “has come from humble background”, who works for “17-18 hours a day” for the country, who “has sacrificed his life for the country”. He also very cleverly played victim card, telling people that everybody is after him because they can’t see that a “tea vendor” has become prime minister. In all this, issues disappeared and everything was all about Narendra Modi. Of course, credit must be given to the media and his PR team.
When any leader emerges, he carries with him certain ideas. They may belong to him, or to the organisation which backs him. They may be the ideas of development, ideas about how we imagine ourselves as a community or a country, ideas about worldview. These ideas continue to exist even after the leader is gone. It is these ideas that shape our future course and not the leader who popularized these ideas. If we look at the history of modern India, we can see that different leaders had carried different sets of ideas which brought us where we are today. The ideas which emerged during our freedom movement continued to guide us after independence as well. While the leaders who had carried the idea are not with us. Modi also carries certain ideas. They are not entirely his but are of the organisation which backs him. He has risen to top powered by that organisation. Through Modi, the organisation is popularizing its ideas.
Now that the election is over and Narendra Modi is here to stay at least for the next five years, we must ask ourselves a question. Why do we support/oppose Narendra Modi so much? Is it just because he is Narendra Modi? Or is it because we agree/disagree with the ideas which he carries? If the first is our answer, then we need to rethink. India is a huge country. One person cannot run it alone. He needs a party or an organisation, which does not support him for free. Mahatma Gandhi could become a national figure partly because of a huge Congress organisation. Ignoring this and blindly supporting/opposing one person amounts to a great disservice not only to the country but to democracy as well. If the second is our answer, then we need to do a course correction. First, let’s talk about the supporters. Narendra Modi is not going to stay here for centuries. But the ideas can. Instead of highly banking on him, we should propagate the ideas and convince people to embrace them as these are the best for our country. For critics, instead of criticizing Modi every now and then, we should criticize the ideas. We should tell the people how dangerous these ideas are, and give an alternative set of ideas which people should embrace for the betterment of our country and humanity. It is only if we walk on one path, will we be able to reach our destination and not by changing paths again and again.
Well, we have time to answer the question and change our future course of action accordingly. For now, let’s congratulate Mr. Modi and BJP for a landslide victory, and hope that the next government will work for a prosperous, progressive and inclusive India. Let’s also hope that the government will work towards removing as much artificial hurdles from the way of individuals as it can, so that every individual gets an opportunity to do what he/she loves to do.
Calling Attention 