Decoding Modi

Bylavkush
Narender Damodardas Modi – is not a mere placeholder, but a name that has earned itself a place in the history of Indian politics forever. The story of a child who comes from a humble Gujarati family, leaves home at an early age, returns not so much to his family but to the Ideology of Shakha, deeply in love with RSS – is fascinating. The little boy likes Theatre & is charmed by the idea of being impeccably dressed. Son of a tea seller, 63 yrs later, uses “चाई पे चर्चा” as a prop to enter India households.


No body rises in politics without having a luck that is nothing less than grand! What else would ever explain that Dr. Singh who had never won an election in his life, went on to become the Prime Minister of the Republic of India for two consecutive terms? We can attribute a whole lot of things to this tenure from good to bad to utterly ugly but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he not only rose to power by favouring circumstances but also remained at the helm despite what one would regard as the most hostile and powerful opposition of all times. His government was a result of about a dozen parties coming together with an agenda of their own and yet –  He did complete both his terms, he was no Charan Singh, and then following electoral decimation of the Congress party, handed the baton to what I call – a child of destiny – Mr. Modi!


What N. Modi has achieved for this personal career is by every stretch of imagination nothing short of brilliant. For a man born at a place, largely unknown to rest of the world, in a family that only had a tea stall to pass on to their heirs – not only rose through the ranks to be the CM of a state, got elected to office twice but also left a legacy of praises and accomplishment. His Gujrat became a model for rest of the country – he emerged as an icon! Goes on to become the PM of India, a dream of every politician.


He left the ghost of 2002 behind ; courts absolved him of all the charges and in the people’s court too the man came out unscathed, beating one and all, sweeping state after state. Did Gujrat have no flaw? No one and I mean no one ever did reporting of consequence to being to the fore the deficiencies of Gujrat, local and national Media rallied behind him like no bodies business. Whatever he spoke was printed in bold, made for 24*7 loop play at TV stations, his attire become a fad. People started loving him despite knowing very little about him – हर हर मोदी घर घर मोदी filled the air and he seized an electoral victory that was unprecedented for a non-congress party. Nation-wide, Saffron, become the mood and Lotus blossomed in every backyard. 2013 – 14 was truly a year full of Modi and every year after since then has been so too.


What is about this man that no one can match? Why has Modi today become irreplaceable? Why is opposition out of breath? Why people only talk about what he got right? Why do people reject even a hint directed towards his shortcomings? How did a proclaimed Hindu nationalist make it to that magic number despite visible opposition? 


It all looks like a superb story fabricated in a fertile mind for reader to have an immersive experience!


Modi is about a few things that his contemporaries are not. Here are a few.


1) He is a कर्मयोगि – relentless worker, who doesn’t even care about breaks let alone vacations. He works 24*7 without looking bored or frustrated. People working for him on numerous occasions have said how working with him means ‘only working’ and doing nothing else. No one can forget the continuous campaign he run for his term from 2012 to 2014. He made most public speeches ever made by any Prime Ministerial candidate. He was all over the place – on social media, on television sets & on every poster on every corner of every city and village of India.  


2)He is ruthless – He believes in total dissemination of his opponents. The story of once a state ruled by Congress going to BJP and forever is known to all. He is known for ensuring that people above him in the chain of command seize to exist. Look at Gujrat BJP or even state’s RSS wing leadership decline stories will take you that. The man knows how to be in total control of the situation. He displays zero reluctance in stripping people off their designation and sometimes even existence. The tale of Smirit Irani going from being the lead actress to a sidekick is known to all. The cabinet reshuffle that happened on 3rd Sep 2017, is another evidence to that effect. He believes in destroying opposition – Rahul Gandhi has become a joke and will remain so forever. Anti corruption crusader, Arvind Kejrwal has also lost the little credibility he had built for himself when he choose to stand up to the man.


3)He is a Powerful Perceptions creator – 2002 happened for real, he never apologised for it is also real, he never even paid a curtsy visit to the area of Ahmedabad where those dislocated in the riots stayed and yet successfully swigged growth story to get VOTES. He talked about every number that was heading north and enough for people to believe that those which are not being spoken about must also be headed in the right direction- in people’s mind he become the mascot of GROWTH. 

Sub nationalism was made a thing (Nitish tried this hit formula for his 2nd term election as well), मेरा गुजरात – meant more than words to voters who spilled all their love for their beloved leader.


4) He is unafraid & courageous – Winning is everything for him and he can pull a rabbit out of his hat at a drop of a hat. He makes decisions that suit his political ambitions without caring even a dime about what it does to people or country. Demonetization may have killed 100+, made millions suffer, GDP also got robbed of its charm by a good 2% but the man won UP – that’s what he wanted. 

Link to my blog on Demonetisation. (http://lkstates.blogspot.in/2016/12/demonetisation-it-not-only-about.html )

Intelligence agencies, precedents & acumen of opposition suggested that ‘Surgical Strike’ not be made public, but not our man – he flexed him muscle on national TV, got nations around the world back him up and Indian people thought as though it was the end of Pakistan – result, the man got UP – that’s all he ever wanted. In real terms the number of infiltrations haven’t come down, Kashmir is burning since terrorist Burhan Wani got under the soil. But people believe that it is all ok.


5) He is a Propagandist par excellence – Two years of weak monsoon is enough hint for anyone to know that not all will be well. Onions & Tomatoes have got elevated to the ranks of ornaments for ordinary Indians but we are happy because pulses are no longer in short supply. Fuel per gallon aren’t as expensive as it used to be in 2012-14 yet we pay more than we used to. Some are willing to pimp for the dynamic pricing too. We’re paying highest rate of taxes ever and yet happy that new India will soon come out of the closet , GST & VAT and CESS and Income tax – all of it put together takes away a little less than half of what you and I make slogging and yet – we’re happy. Manufacturing industry is sulking, IT and ITES have been crying foul too – news everyday has stories of layoff- no industry has been spared – and yet we’re happy for MAKE IN INDIA.


He has made us believe that debating nationalism is more important than having a career. Vast majority of Indians are willing to take their kids out of decent schools and send them to cheaper places of education if that would mean complete destruction of Pakistan. We’re too happy standing in respect of the national anthem before every movie that we’ve forgotten to stand for real issues of joblessness and poor state of state run health centre – thousand die every year. We are too caught up finding beef that we’ve no time to understand that our saving accounts are shrinking at a rate faster than we would have liked. 


And finally, our man is very creative and a wonderful orator (Third best PM after Chacha Nehru & Mr. Vajpayee) ; he’ll sway you off you feat before you know it. He knows how to posture himself, shunning bullet proof glass when he addresses nation from the Ramparts of Red fort adds additional meaning to every word that he sends towards the nation. For every jobless Indian, he has a SKILL INDIA. For those who want to do something of their own there is “STARTUP INDIA”. JAN DHANfor those who hadn’t known what it is like to own a bank account. For the earning educated he has CASHLESS INDIA and for those who are just not impressed there is “CLEAN INDIA” – now you can’t disagree with that.


And that ladies and gentlemen is our Prime Minister. He will give you enough to think about how hard he is trying to make things better, engage you so well that you wouldn’t care about actual results.


We must regard him for all the goods that he has done but currently the bad outweighs the good -; but he has another 2 yrs left and if we manage to go to war with Pakistan or pull off something as drastically dramatic, he will have 2019 as well and let’s not forget his biggest supporter- every time he opens his mouth, Modi earns a couple of more voters and admirers (only a couple as that is as much as he gets for an audience) – Shri Rahul Gandh! So everything – from opposition to people – is working for him.


Because no one stands in comparison with him at the moment, he is the best man to lead this country. But we must, by holding his Govt. accountable, for all that is not right, should make him deliver what he promises – a new India – सबका साथ सबका विकाश 


On that note you have a good week  ahead! 

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