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Much of India’s Covid anger is directed at Modi, but it’s unlikely to cost him at ballot box

Although there's palpable anger against the leader, commentators attribute the support for Modi as akin to that of a messianic figure whose appeal goes beyond mere politics.

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New Delhi: As India recorded more than 234,000 new Covid-19 infections last Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an election rally in the West Bengal town of Asansol and tweeted: “I’ve never seen such huge crowds.”

The second wave of the coronavirus has since grown into a tsunami. India is now the global coronavirus hotspot, setting records for the world’s highest number of daily cases. Images of hospitals overflowing with the sick and dying are flooding social media, as medical staff and the public alike make desperate appeals for oxygen supplies.

The political and financial capitals of New Delhi and Mumbai are in lockdown, with only the sound of ambulance sirens punctuating the quiet, but there’s a growing chorus of blame directed at Modi over his government’s handling of the pandemic.

Modi canceled another planned appearance in West Bengal on Friday to hold meetings on the pandemic response. Whether it’s enough to prevent the political fallout may become clear on May 2, when election results are due to be announced for the five states voting over the last month: West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

“At this crucial time he is fighting for votes and not against Covid,” said Panchanan Maharana, a community activist from the state of Odisha, who previously supported Modi’s policies but will now look for alternative parties to back. “He is failing to deliver — he should stop talking and focus on saving people’s lives and livelihoods.”

Modi is seen by many as a polarizing leader whose brand of nationalism that promotes the dominance of Hindus has appalled and enraptured the nation. Despite policy stumbles in his first term, voters re-elected him in a landslide in 2019 in the absence of any viable opposition. In the last poll taken in January, during a lull in the epidemic, his popularity was 74%, down a touch from 78% last August but still impressively high. Whether the pandemic will dent his appeal remains unclear.

“There is no doubt an outpouring of anger at the mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis in India,” said Nikita Sud, who teaches international development at the University of Oxford and has published a book on Hindu nationalism. “The question is, will this anger trump the hate that has been systematically sown in our society for years? And will public memory last long enough for the pandemic-related anger to be manifested at election time?”

Those are not easy questions to answer.

Judged by the outpouring of criticism on Twitter, the anger and disappointment in India’s leader is manifest. When Modi addressed the nation on Tuesday, it seemed that he had failed to grasp the growing sense of panic among citizens. As he spoke, without providing any details on how his government would turn the situation around, the Hindi hashtag that translates as “Stop the speech, not the oxygen” was tweeted more than 108,000 times. Other hashtags, including #ModiMadeDisaster and #ModiResign were also popular.


Also read: As Modi govt faces up to Covid disaster, BJP learns a tough truth — the virus doesn’t vote


Footage of Modi, unmasked, addressing huge crowds who were also mostly without masks or social distancing, stood in stark contrast to images of exhausted doctors and nurses desperately trying to create more capacity in the country’s decrepit, underfunded health system.

Noting that at least six high courts are hearing disputes about Covid-19 management including oxygen shortages, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the federal government to come up with a national plan for the distribution of essential supplies and services.

Yet it is far from guaranteed that the current crisis will cost Modi at the ballot box. For his followers, the government’s support for building a Hindu temple in Uttar Pradesh on the contested site of a former mosque and its move to abolish the special status of Jammu and Kashmir — the only Muslim majority region in India — are far more pressing priorities. Hindus make up 80% of the population.

“The construction of the temple is important for us, why can’t Hindus build a temple in our own land,” said Govind Kumar, a factory worker, as he sat with his meager belongings at a Delhi bus station on Tuesday, waiting to return to his village in Uttar Pradesh after the capital went into lockdown. Of the pandemic, he said: “Nobody can control the situation, why only blame Modi?”

It’s a sentiment expressed widely in India. Some commentators attribute the support for Modi as akin to that of a messianic figure whose appeal goes beyond mere politics. Asim Ali of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, writing in The Diplomat on April 1, said that “Brand Modi seems to have escaped into the political stratosphere, untouched by the conventional laws of political competition.”

There are signs elsewhere that the pandemic may be too much for even the most populist of leaders to remain unaffected. President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil confounded his skeptics by maintaining his base despite dismissing the pandemic, only to be forced into concessions when cases soared this year. Donald Trump could arguably have won a second term in November if it wasn’t for the U.S. Covid-19 death toll, still the world’s highest.

Modi’s decision to hold election rallies and green-light large religious gatherings in the face of a growing second wave “will not inspire confidence about India’s leadership and governance record in any objective observer or investor,” said Sud of Oxford.

And India’s economy, which was showing nascent signs of recovery after falling into recession last year for the first time in decades, is now struggling again. As more cities and states have issued stay-at-home order or other movement restrictions, job losses have begun to tick up. Urban unemployment jumped to 10.72% for the week ending April 18 from 7.21% two weeks ago, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.


Also read: ‘Indians for Indians’ is how Indian-Americans are fighting Biden ban on vaccine raw materials


The prime minister is also under fire for over-promising on India’s vaccination rollout, both domestically and globally, after he dubbed the South Asian nation the “pharmacy to the world” last October. As case numbers soared, India suddenly halted its exports, which were a critical part of Covax, the World Health Organization program to provide inoculations to low income countries. Only last month his administration declared that the pandemic was in its end game.

After administering more than three million doses a day earlier this month, vaccine centers are now running out of doses and have shut down across many states, including the mega-city of Mumbai. On April 19, Modi announced changes to his government’s immunization strategy — opening the program up to everyone over 18 and allowing state governments to tailor their own strategy and procure directly from manufacturers. His critics fear it is intended to leave the states with the blame.

“In the first phase, Modi touted that they were in control and took credit,” said Sanjay Kumar, an election expert and co-director at Lokniti-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi. “Now people won’t buy their argument, they will blame Modi and his government.”

Still, Modi changed gear on Wednesday, tweeting about monitoring India’s depleted oxygen supplies and sending condolences and get well messages to public figures falling sick or dying. On Friday, he planned to “review the prevailing Covid-19 situation.”

He has a track record of successfully deflecting blame for policy failures. That includes demonetization in 2016 where he banned 86% of the country’s currency overnight and left the economy and India’s citizens reeling, according to Katharine Adeney, director of the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute.

“It will be easy for him to blame other political actors such as state governments and chief ministers if that suits his purpose,” Adeney said.


Also read: Covid-19 pandemic: Israel could share surplus vaccine, Canadian province leader under fire


 

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54 COMMENTS

  1. Please do not blame Modiji, he is just a PM elected by the people of this country. Blame the party. Tomorrow any person may come up as PM. Think wisely. Vote for the right party. Don’t be carried away. Do not be a fanatic. You only live once. If you choose the right person , then once is enough. Be wise and don’t be a fool

  2. Besides the anti-Modi rhetoric, one thing is for sure, that this article is not meant for us Indians but meant more for the modern day sahibs at NYT or WaPo or CNN – “federal” govt., temple in “Uttar Pradesh”, “only Muslim majority state”, “80% Hindus”. I wonder if they feel the same way about a fellow columnist also for the Print who back in January quoted that “Indians have natural immunity”. And I wonder if they and unfortunately, even our so called “intellectuals” are aware of the fact that India severely lacks investment in health and this is not something which can be changed overnight. Just blaming everything on “Modi” when shit hits the fan will not get us out of this mess – a concerted effort towards societal discipline and respect for the law in general will.

  3. The sane voices would be drowned by the cacophony created by the Modi Bhakt toli who are blind to everything. This toli is created only for the purpose of drowning the sane voices and show them in poor light.

    Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher are some of the leading bhakts from this TOLI. Wish some close ones from the families of this TOLI die for want of oxygen & want of remdisivir, hopefully they will realise then what this so called PM is doing.

  4. Of course there was no kumbha or elections in NCR n Maharashtra. But the sheer anguish to win over bengal, the only opposition leaders fighting tooth n nail with midi, has similar killer instincts with these states. Both CM’s have on record stayed that modiji has no time to speak. CM’s were interested in serious stuff m not casual or some wishes.
    So, the situation in NCR n Maharashtra were because of stempmotherly n retaliation to being not in power

  5. Never I trust the content , it spreads evil
    When the nation is facing crisis, did any of these guys who’s hi wrote article speak about shortage of oxygen however they predict downfall based on conjecture

  6. The comments by many here shows the internal inimical dangerous elements we have within our country: the islamists, fascists, communists, anglo-christians for whom sonia-mata is mother sonia. So much hate against one man will ensure that Modi will remain a stalwart political leader ever in this country. The more the muck you throw at him, the stronger he becomes, because the educated, hard-working, tax-paying middle class Indians, the oppressed majority-Hindus know that this country has seen a real gem in many decades since independence. Coming to the issue: (1) yes, Modi canvassed, but is it his fault? every political party canvassed for elections. Moreover the states where the election rallies happened are in west bengal, tamil nadu, kerals have had the lowest covid cases. Rather it is the opposition run states like delhi and maharashtra that were the hot-spots triggering this tsunami. (2) Modi insisted that we undertake electoral reforms (elections across India only once in 5 years and 2.5 years). How many states did approve of his ideas? (3) Bharat Biotech’s vaccine which is much better than Astra-Zeneca one was dubbed as “bjp vaccine” by pappu and his ghulams? what happened now? most muslims who fell for this trap have succumbed. Is Modi responsible for them? 90% of deaths seen right now are of people who were eligible for vaccination but refused the “bjp vaccine”. (4) PM approved 7 oxygen plants for delhi, and how many did the CM install? ONE. the bugger was busy advertising his mohalla clinics where dogs squat now. Shame on people who keep pointing fingers at Modi here. India has never seen such an earnest leaders, and Hindus their messiah. Long live Modi. We are a blessed country in many ways but for enemies within and outside. These enemies of the nation have been uncovered in the last 10 years, and most sensible Indian’s will know how to deal with them. Until you descend to oblivion, keep barking!

    • YOU PEOPLE MAY DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, CURSE HIM, GIVE HIM BAD WORDS, COME WHAT MAY BE MODI WILL BECOME PM WITH HIGHER MAJORITY IN 2024…MAJORITY INDIANS KNOWS THAT WHAT HE DOES IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR NATION & ITS OVER 135 CRORES PEOPLE………JAI HIND JAI MODI…..

  7. Everytime a tragedy hits the country the left come up with another attack on Modi and just him alone. Nothing but trying to draw an edge to somehow win back power in the next election.

  8. What the bakths say or don’t say, are we not seeing desperation and devastation among our circles? Forget the article too. It’s there for all to see.

  9. I agree with last comment #Deshbakht that @Shekhar Gupta is very considerate and mild towards #Namo than his anger against @Rahul Gandhi of Congress. He endorses India Today highly skewed Survey tha Namo is most popular still many BLUNDERS in Modi Gov. First Term and Second Term. After all yours surname will name you from Bania COMMUNITY a traditional old Jansangh Enmass voting community. This article indirectly suggests tha Namo will form gov.in West BENGAL and will continue second term in Assam. Sorry then I regret my decision to follow his journalism online Print Media.

  10. Pr¡nt may try to spread prop@ganda @gainst Modi but everybody is very much aware of the people who write these bi@sed articles .
    SH@ME ON PR¡NT.

    WE support modi for development which some liber@ls don’t like .
    SUPPORT FOR MODI .

  11. Death is laying its icy hands on many bodies. Yes, you become a body and your stature, name, money, political preference becomes zero. Family and friends will miss you… Others will come, express their condolences and forget about you. You would be thinking why I’m glorifying death.. Death, more than life is the greatest leveller of everything and it doesn’t differentiate among anyone.

    A leader is a leader because he has followers or a legion of followers. Mr. Modi may be messianic to the writer, but ask anyone who has lost their valuable family member or friend before the death time-line, they will definitely term him as nothing but the Yamraj akin to Imotep in Egyptian – bringing death and gore to India.

    I wouldn’t agree or disagree with anyone because I don’t support any political party. What I do is state the facts, whatever is happening and many of you are only concerned about some political leader and whether or not, he’ll retain power in the future.

    All the’ malnourished’ educated (just because your parents told you to) need to wake up and feel the tragedy on the ground. You’ll come to know what the Supreme Leader has done to India

  12. Opposition and Media play a major role in blaming Modi for everything wrong and most Indians find it easiest ignoring their own responsibilities.

  13. Ek baat samajh lo…. more the muck you throw at him more he will flower. Modi is always on Top. The more negative propaganda you do against him more people will vote for him. If you have to defeat him do a positive campaign which is better than his. Can you match?

  14. Modi will rule again….the intelligentsia,the liberals including you will try to make a inefficient p.m.out of him…. however,like every time,you will have to eat ur words.had there been no social media may be you would have succeeded to set the narrative…but these days Indians have started being smart,started to claim their space….
    Someone in the comment said only half of Hindus support modi…..can you imagine 40 crore bhakts!!!!! Which leader in india had ever 40 crores die hard supporters…and they aren’t fools

  15. Islamo-Fascists and Communists are only one step short of declaring Modi responsible for creating Covid altogether. People of India must realise these vultures are only wanting to feed up corpses of dead to further their own vested interests. They know it is easier to manipulate people when they’re psychologically shaken, as in present situation

  16. He is the most useless, shameless PM we have ever elected. When people are dying every day he is behind increasing his power by conducting Elections, mass campaigning, kumbh not taking any responsibility for this disastrous state of the people just by exploiting the people in the name of Religion. It will be proved that election commission and EVM were used to win all the elections if BJP wins any of the state elections.

    • Shameless people of India will believe Manta importing voters from Bangladesh, and still want Vaccine to be free for all, why non ration card holders can’t buy/ pay for vaccine,, why CM of many states failed to upgrade medical infra to handle pandemic, already expose during 9 months in 2020, builders want construction activity for delivering apartments in time, but don’t want to take care of there migrant labour…Uddhav wants to divert failures to be in power, left in kerala poohpoohed as best last year why failed this time, Modi as PM is doing his job, but states are not Co operating like in farmers issue many more, 2nd May Bengal will be his catch…

  17. The problem with this country is its too much of people. 130 crore most of them are dumb & stupid. People who participated in Holi, Kombu mela and election rallies, do you have to be educated to know the current situation. You people vote for few penny, crockeries and later start cribbing. That’s not fair. Your pre election voting gift is directly proportional to the service what you get and now you see that. Also you have a bad memory, you forget the past get your gifts again, vote and then the newton law comes in.

  18. The writers are pening this article with total baised view without understanding INDIA’S fedaral structure. Where are most cases of pandemic spread. Let us name them, 1 Maharashtra 2 Delhi 3 kerala 4 west bangal 5 Rajasthan 6 chattisgarh now name the CMs for these states Didn’t as head of nation Modi along with pandamic experts warned nation about 2nd wave. Now check statements of CMs along with health ministers of these states. ” they have enough beds, oxygen to fight 2nd wave when vaccines provided these were not stored to prescribed temperature precious vaccines losts ,and blamed ineffective
    These writers didn’t tell stories of Kejriwal even for 1sr wave he could not control Mr. Shah had to intervain and control this pandamic in Delhi
    Opposition parties trying to help by arranging vaccines from other states were harrassed In Maharashtra.
    Open your eyes and see what is happening, who is working on field &who are sittung in cosy chairs like you and writting venomous lecture to the world.

  19. Why silent Mr Shekhar Gupta on Kumbh mela and made such hue and cry on Tablighi Jamaat. I had lots o respect for you because you were associated with Prannoy Roy on NDTV but I have lost that respect for you.

  20. Twitter is not “bharat or india”. So it won’t matter at the final count .Those who tweet anger are also part of the problem as citizens who were complacent , reckless and insensitive to fellow citizens safety. We as a nation have failed ourselves and will do so again in future in any crisis until it is do or die situation when v pull up our socks and get it fixed..The ruling class is no exception

  21. All the civilised world adjusted accordingly to the pandemic with their vaccine programs apart from india which is no more than third world status with a retard third rate impotent incompetent leader.

    • Fool people like you always shows negativity for country. You are comparing EU rich nations where total EU population is same as total India Population. Hiroshima and Nagasaki both cities now developed ones even after bombing. Did you or your anchestor ask this question to Previous Government. Why still many people dont have basic things like electricity or water, food. You also expect facilities like US but want everything free and don’t wana work. Pathetic!@!

  22. Modi’s messiah status is only with half the Hindus. The minorities know he is an uneducated, murderer type. One section of Hindus always knew that as well. Of course, the power of Hindu mobs has been sufficient to get CM and PM post and appear as a Fuhrer to many Hindus. There is one section of Hindus who were willing to excuse his communalism and criminal background, to believe the promise of development and eradication of corruption. This section of Hindus have had a shock, and might be willing to change. Of course, there is another section of Hindus who have become embedded in the hate politics and criminality of Hindutva fascism, and even the funeral pyre of Hindus will not cause any remorse. Once embedded in wickedness, you cannot come out of it.

    Well, Modi was immune over demonetisation because Indians were fed up of corruption and were willing to give the benefit of the doubt when Modi said he was doing it to fight corruption, not realising that demonetisation itself was a scam. On other matters, he could play the Hindu-Muslim communal card and Hindus were willing to go along.

    However, in the current fiasco, there is nothing as dramatic as mass funeral pyres on pavements, and this time Modi cannot pin the blame even obliquely on Muslims as his followers did in Covid wave 1. Arnob Goswami has a new school boy hair cut and was asking doctors very earnestly what we can do to bring the curve down – gone was his Hindutva swagger and bluster. No angry Poochta Hai Bharat questions to Muslims; of course, the coward dare not demand Poochta Hai Bharat to Modi.

    Will Modi escape this time also ? Well, people who lost their beloved will not forget so easily. The Hindus are the largest victims and there was no Markaz, it is the Kumbh for which the govt. laid 25 trains. The Indian Express reports Muslim volunteers helped Hindu brethren even in Gujurat to cremate their bodies when their relatives could not attend or were scare to attend (wondered where the RSS was). Naturally, more Hindus are asking and accepting Modi is incompetent and cynical. My message to them is that what you have seen fail is not only Modi, but Hindutva. Hindutva is a dead end for Hindus also. An ideology based on hate which is driven by an inferiority complex, the mixture of mythology and anti-scientific precepts, and a desire to recreate a Vedic past, and the craving for world recognition, are the hall marks of Hindutva. It is incompatible with modern nations.

    And the reality is just as Modi could not correct the decline of the economy after demonetisation and it went out of his hand, this healthcare crisis has gone out of his hand. Just as Modi has been clueless on the economy, it is the same with healthcare. It will take time to get the oxygen and still longer to get the vaccines, but the cases and pyres will multiply. You ain’t seen nothing yet. The economy will be set back by 40 or 50 years.

    The outside world can see what is what even if some Hindus do not want to, and their verdict is unanimous. They have sympathy for Indians as victims, but they can see Modi is another Third World despot. There is no nation in the world today as Modi’s India, standing with its pants down and asking others to respect us as Vishwa Guru and Vaccine Guru.

  23. How myopic the views of the writer is … it is obtuse and bent in just making monster out of. Modi … when the tsunami is unprecedented and unforgiving , when all other structure is failing we just want to see and blame one man … wow what a narrow view of your writing …. you need to rise up and see that we still have a head to stand and rise and find a ground … looking at your visionary writing skills by now we would have imploded … thank god we don’t pay so much of attention to such opinions … good for your cause but it is too narrow

  24. This article makes one thing clear, the huge blame heaped on Modi is giving a big message again, that Modi is still the only hope India has.
    Shame that even after seven years of Modi rule, opposition is clueless on how to tackle Modi, politically and also on his popularity.
    We need a credible opposition to be a real democracy and there is no sight of it yet.

    • Not only massieh or hope but got 380 seats and all the government sectors under hid command (military judiciary rbi cbi.it.etc

      • dude, Indian constitutional institutions like RBI, Judiciary, etc are independent and have a freewill. Remember, the NJAC by Modi Gov (UPSC type exams for entry into judiciary was struck down by supreme court). And you call that these institutions are under Modi?? What a lier. No wonder, your name says it all.

    • Get lost !! The as a friend commented earlier, the ones who are supporting mr modi is the one who are not well educated ! A well educated human being can find out what the hell is he doing in india ! Just ask your frnds friends itself ! You simply blind all the shameful things for your modi unless it happens to your family or childrens . When your family member gets raped ,or any of your family members dies of corona without getting any proper treatment from govt you will know what all were the world crying and saying for against him ! Shame on you brother you still support him for all his doings without questioning a single mistake of him🙄🙄shame on !

      • You must be Pappu mutra licker. Your or anyone has an idea that only uneducated people praise is wrong. We all come from very well educated family and my neighborhood families too. And again, if really uneducated people likes him. Means Modi has done some good for them.

  25. • Agreed , most of parts of India are in grip of second wave of corona .Can any of even ,anti-Modi journalist like this authour , can say India under the leadership of the Prime Minister Modi fared badly in meeting the challenge of first wave of corona ? The challenges and problems in second wave are entirely different . Was so much Oxygen was in demand during first wave ? If Modi has led country to a respectable win over wave ONE , yes WIN , Be sure second wave will also be faced and won . Churning out anti-Modi venom will not put leftists or any ramnanets of dynasty on the high seat. The people are watching who is doing his/her duty and will vote according to their own judgement when time to do so comes. Till then don t obstruct and distract.

  26. “”The prime minister is also under fire for over-promising on India’s vaccination rollout, both domestically and globally””
    Yes , because a so called liberal leader who all of the left liberals cheered in November thought it was right to ban exports of raw materials for the production of vaccines.

  27. Is it an Opinion piece or News?
    Stop the Chatukarita The Print.. Be more critical. Raise questions to Power instead of balancing.
    S Gupta is very critical of Congress’s past governments but when it comes to BJP, he chooses words very mildly.
    Why is that?

    I was thinking to subscribe to “The Print” but you guys are failing to ask tough questions (unlike The Hindu, The Wire, Scroll or Ravish Kumar) to people who are in power

    • hindu? we know what a fraud news paper it is. remember the fudget rafale papers?
      wire, scross is chinese mouthpiece.
      and so must you be, a chamcha of pappu with secret treaties with the enemies of this great nation.

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