Modi’s
desperation
Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi seems like a worried man. State elections in his home
Gujarat do not appear to be going well for his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP). While verbal excess by rivals during election campaigns is nothing new,
this time Modi has outdone even his own conspiracy theory bent. Floundering
amidst the tide seemingly turning against the BJP in Gujarat, Modi has come up
with the fantastic claim that Pakistan is colluding with the opposition
Congress Party to defeat BJP in the state. And what proof or evidence does Modi
adduce in support of his outlandish claim? A meeting at Mani Shankar Aiyar’s
house attended by the Pakistan High Commissioner, a former Pakistani foreign
minister, former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, et al. In addition,
he quotes the Facebook post of a retired Pakistan army officer hoping for a
Congress victory to construct his elaborate but shaky structure of an argument.
As if all this were not enough, he accuses Aiyar of putting Modi on a hit list
to ensure peace between Pakistan and India. Naturally the Congress Party has
hit back to rubbish this conspiracy theory. And as often happens in such
matters, attempted to show Modi his own face in the mirror of holding a ‘soft’
corner for Pakistan. Quite appropriately, our foreign office, while rejecting
Modi’s airy fairy accusations, has requested that Pakistan not be dragged into India’s
domestic electoral battles.
When Modi was
elected in the 2014 general elections as prime minister, the expectation widely
held by the electorate was that he would replicate on a countrywide basis the
Gujarat ‘miracle’ while he was the state’s chief minister. Three years anon,
the ‘sheen’ on the Modi economic ‘miracle’ in Gujarat has faded. The main
factors in this regard are the imposition of GST and the controversial demonetisation
measures of his government. Even those could perhaps have been forgiven had
Modi performed up to expectations in boosting investment, development, and the
people’s welfare. The other factor in Modi’s seeming dwindling political
fortunes is the free play he has given to, if not colluded with, the growth of
Hindutva-driven developments. The beef eating row that has led to Muslims being
killed by mob vigilante action, the attempted rewriting of history with a Hindu
fundamentalist tinge, and even the quixotic campaign to rename iconic monuments
such as the Taj Mahal as a Hindu heritage site have all worked against Modi. In
Gujarat itself, Modi’s name is no longer an automatic guarantee of electoral
success, especially since the rise of activist Hardik Patel as the Gujarat
Congress leader. Modi’s entire political persona has been built on the
demonisation of Muslims. His turning a blind eye to, if not being complicit in,
Hindutva activists attempting to turn India’s diverse history and traditions
into the narrow confines of their distorted views has revived memories of his
role in the Gujarat communal riots in 2002 when he was chief minister. Modi
appears to be in trouble in Gujarat and has therefore fallen back on the age
old ‘foreign hand’ trick, with Pakistan centre-stage as the bogeyman, to
distract from the increasing unpopularity of his government. Modi may be
teetering on the brink of a defeat or at least a weakened showing in his home
state. Ironically, while his stint as Gujarat chief minister propelled him to
the highest elected office, it may well turn out that it is Gujarat that proves
the beginning of the decline in his political trajectory. Modi therefore seems
to have fallen victim to the weight of expectations of the electorate, the incumbency
factor (India being a huge country with equally huge problems), and reminding
people through his Hindutva policies of his role in the massacre of Muslims in
Gujarat in 2002 on his watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment