The 2014 election was a showdown between the so-called “Butcher of Gujarat” and the “young and visionary” leader of Congress. The “Butcher” label, of course, was meticulously crafted by the Lutyens media, Bollywood celebrities, and politicians ever since Modi took office as Chief Minister of Gujarat. It didn’t matter one bit that the Supreme Court-appointed SIT gave Modi a clean chit in 2012 for his alleged mishandling of law and order during the Gujarat riots of 2002.
Meanwhile, our “visionary” prince, in his infinite wisdom, ignored the army of friendly journalists and agreed to an interview with Arnab Goswami. In no time, his carefully crafted “visionary” status vanished, overshadowed by his incessant parroting of the “woman empowerment” phrase throughout the interview. And as for being “young,” it’s quite an achievement to maintain that label well into one’s 50s. In the end, people voted for “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.”
Modi 1.0
As a first step to repair relations with immediate neighbors, Modi invited SAARC nations to his swearing-in ceremony. He also bent over backward to improve ties with Pakistan, hoping to dissuade them from exporting terrorism to India. On his part, Senior Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar practically begged Pakistan to remove Modi and install them for better relations.
Quickly, the Modi government came under fire from a cabal hell-bent on creating a narrative of growing intolerance. Modi was branded as an autocratic, dictatorial leader. Suddenly, the “award wapsi” gang sprang up, supported by Bollywood and so-called intellectuals. Stories of attacks on minority religious sites were planted and used as pretexts.
Immediately after assuming office, Modi focused on improving infrastructure, national security, economy, reforms, and good governance. During his campaign, he promised a white paper on India’s financial health, which he didn’t release in his first term, although released during his second term that showed that India’s economy was in doldrums under previous regime. It was a good decision taken at that time not to upset the apple cart and further kill the economy by hurting the investors’ confidence. The opposition then concocted stories to criticize him on Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), which were actually the result of mismanagement by the previous Manmohan Singh regime. But who cares about logic when faking a narrative?
Undeterred, Modi stayed on course and declared demonetization, giving the opposition new fodder for criticism, though most of it was emotional and lacked substance. Arguably, demonetization was the last straw for Pakistan, as evidenced by the suicide of Javed Khanani, a major hawala operator linked to India’s demonetization.
Security was Modi’s top priority, with decisive actions against terrorism spanning from Myanmar to Uri and Pulwama. His bold statements like “ghar me ghus ke maarenge” were criticized as un-PM-like. How dare he make such statements in a nation built on Gandhi’s principles of non-violence and his truncated shloka ‘Ahimsa paramo dharma’? Never mind that our dharma also teaches that violence is justified in service of protecting dharma, complete shloka being ‘Ahimsa paramo dharma, Dharma himsa tathaiva cha’.
Even China tasted Modi’s resolve during the Doklam standoff, which lasted 75 days in 2017. It was unusual for China to back off, and for India to stand up to China after so long. At the height of the crisis, Rahul Gandhi was caught meeting Chinese embassy staff secretly, blaming the Indian government instead of supporting it. Congress still hasn’t explained the contents and intentions of their secret MOU with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Modi was labeled a fascist and accused of misusing agencies that unearthed Congress scams, leading to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi being summoned by the courts. They’ve been out on bail ever since. In the war of narratives, where Lutyens media has the upper hand, the merit of the case is often lost as people form opinions based on their favorite storytellers. Cozy relationships among government and opposition politicians would surely be detrimental to the country? This fight between Congress and BJP should be celebrated and supported by the well wishing citizens. At the time when Congress was calling the shots, Congress tried everything to implicate Modi for the Gujarat riots, even getting Amit Shah arrested. The whole idea of segregated duties among government branches should prevent vindictive actions, yet the accusations flew.
Other criticisms Modi and BJP faced during his first term included forming a government with PDP in Kashmir, seen as compromising their ideology for power, appointing Yogi as CM, and Yogi’s strict actions against criminals. Although forming the government with PDP proved to be beneficial in removal of article 370 as Modi government gained valuable insights into the internal functioning of the state of J&K.
As Modi’s first term ended and elections approached, the opposition needed something to pin on Modi. They seized on the Rafale deal between India and France. Congress, known for its corruption in defense deals like Bofors, Augusta Westland, Devas-ISRO scam, etc., couldn’t imagine a clean deal, hence the “Chowkidar Chor Hai” slogan. The friendly Lutyens media played along, publishing half-truths in leading newspapers like The Hindu. Conveniently, Supreme Court judgments on key cases like Rafale and Ram Mandir were delayed until after the election. One might wonder why such important decisions were postponed, having the potential to affect BJP’s fortunes and, by extension, the nation’s direction.
Election result? The public embraced “Main Bhi Chowkidar,” and Modi returned to power with an even larger majority.
Modi 2.0
Modi got a clean chit from the Supreme Court in the alleged Rafale scam, and the Ram Temple verdict paved the way for a new temple. Never mind that the so-called intolerant majority fought peacefully for years to secure their rights to worship in a place as significant as Mecca-Madina or the Vatican. Yet, of course, there is “prevalent majoritarianism” and “intolerance” in Indian society, and Modi is accused of presiding over and propelling it.
To combat this image, Modi added “sabka vishwas” to his slogan, expanding it to “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas.” This was seen as Modi’s extra tilt towards Gandhian philosophy, with an overwhelming urge to gain trust unconditionally. Nationalists, however, saw this slogan missing the critical aspect of evaluating whose trust was being sought. Events that followed soon proved the pitfalls of seeking trust unconditionally.
After the removal of Article 370 and the passing of the CAA, the opposition’s response was predictable. Elderly women and individuals with particular political leanings were propped up to sit in protest at Shaheen Bagh, blocking major arteries of the nation’s capital. This so-called peaceful protest culminated in the Delhi riots.
Having tasted blood during Shaheen Bagh, the opposition then propped up the farmers’ protest against agricultural reforms. A new breed of “farmers” like Rihanna, Mia Khalifa, and Greta Thunberg offered their intellectual support, and major roads in the capital were blocked again. Greta Thunberg, in her Blah, Blah variety high IQ wisdom, inadvertently shared the protest’s modus operandi, revealing an internationally supported toolkit, that was a rude awakening for common Indians. In a tactical retreat, Modi rolled back the proposed reforms.
Realizing the need for a shift, Modi added “sabka prayas” to his slogan, emphasizing citizens’ duties as well: “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas.”
On the internal security and foreign policy front, Modi’s achievements were even more remarkable in his second term, but it never stopped the detractors from laying new landmines for him. Despite managing COVID-19 effectively and proving critics wrong, the naysayers found new angles of attack. They claimed India could never develop its own vaccine, lobbied vigorously to compel India to buy foreign vaccines, and criticized India for helping weaker nations with supplying free vaccine. This humanitarian move, however, bolstered India’s global standing, leading to its recognition as a leader of the Global South, representing them while chairing the G-20 summit in 2023.
As if COVID wasn’t enough, China started its advances across the LAC in the Indo-Tibetan region and got a befitting reply in Galwan. Yet, descendants of Nehru, who gave up Aksai Chin, and signatories of a secret MOU with China, criticized Modi’s China policy, alleging land loss.
Even at the height of the Ukraine war, Modi maintained a delicate balance with Russia and the Western world. India continued importing crude oil from Russia, resulting in India becoming one of the top refined petroleum exporters, and imported S-400 missile systems despite US sanctions threats.
Modi faced criticism from both ideological sides, with the right-wing calling him weak for not taking action against the West Bengal government’s violent repression of voters during the WB assembly election, or being very lenient towards the criminals during COVID, Shaheen Bagh, Farmers protests, etc.
As Modi’s second term ends and elections are underway, the opposition is desperately looking for an agenda to discredit him. Pakistan comes to their rescue, accuses India of clandestinely eliminating terrorists on its soil, with The Guardian alleging RAW’s involvement in such operations. Western nations and terrorist-exporting countries come together to blame India for violating international laws by eliminating terrorists on foreign land, as if the same powerful western nations have never stooped so low, the likes of Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Al-Baghdadi died just of natural causes like heart attack. But here’s Modi breaking all international norms, with no proof of RAW’s involvement. Critics fail to realize that such allegations might actually bolster Modi’s support among nationalist Indians.
New theories are being concocted about why Modi will lose in 2024 or may get a lower number of seats. Lower voter turnout is cited as a sign of his impending defeat, never mind the opposition’s disarray, lack of a coherent agenda, and track record of corruption. The cabal thinks they can build any narrative, little do they realize that social media has changed the game since Modi’s first win in 2014. Critics can’t convincingly answer why voters would choose this coalition of opportunists over Modi.
As senior journalist Bhau Torsekar puts it, Modi will have to lose every day until the election results on June 4th. But come June 4th, detractors beware: you will see a more confident, bolder Bharat. Modi has already hinted at focusing on citizens’ duties, not just their rights, and taking stricter measures against foreign interventions in India’s internal matters.
No matter how much progress Modi brings to India, how inclusive he strives to be, or how strong Bharat becomes under his leadership, he will always be labeled an intolerant dictator by the cabal that dislikes him. However, this cabal becomes more irrelevant with each new term of Modi.
To make Bharat even stronger and to keep the cabal employed, expect much bolder and sweeping reforms in Modi’s third term in 2024, particularly in the following areas: Educational reforms, Judicial reforms, Uniform Civil Code, Waqf Act, addressing Bharat’s civilizational issues, Amongst others.