A hundred-plus days into the Chinese ‘dharna’ in Ladakh, six months into the coronavirus crisis and in the fourth year of economic growth decline, the many critics of Narendra Modi are exasperated.
Why are the people, hurting so badly, not turning against him? Aren’t they hurting? Has Modi subjected them to some kind of a spell, conjuring up a collective suspension of disbelief? Is it black magic? Although that is something you’ve been hearing in a very different context — a star’s death and his live-in girlfriend.
It is nothing of the sort. This is the way Indian politics is. Ask people if they are hurting, they will say yes. Do you blame Modi? Remember, many of the most miserable migrant workers walking back home hundreds of miles away were still saying, ‘what could Modi ji have done? He took the risk to save lives’.
Similarly on China and the economy. It takes time cleaning up the mess of “seventy years”. Congress left a weak military. Corruption had to be countered first. Coronavirus? He ordered a total lockdown in time at great risk and cost, he evangelised masks and social distancing and never trivialised the pandemic unlike Boris Johnson, Donald Trump or Jair Bolsonaro. What can he do if this wretched virus wouldn’t listen to him?
If you are a Modi critic, I know that I am getting you even more exasperated. Because that is the idea. To understand hard politics, you have to accept the reality, however rude. You can find a hundred flaws in the latest India Today Mood of The Nation poll. Yet, it has a good track record. Now it puts Modi’s popularity at its highest point, at arguably the most messed up point of our economy, national security, internal cohesion and a pandemic in his six years. So what’s going on?
Take a walk anywhere, and ask strangers who will admit they are hurting, if they regret voting for Modi. If there is an election again, who will they vote for? And do they see a choice emerging? I am sorry if the answers get you even more exasperated.
Are the people nuts then?
Let me put this differently to you. What do ordinary people do when hospitalised by a terrible sickness? They trust the doctors. They are the ones who wear white coats. They are trying their best. The choice of changing hospitals is rarely exercised. That’s how a lot of Indian voters, hurting severely for many reasons, look at their situation now.
Also read:Why Modi doesn’t feature in a list of India’s reformist prime ministers
There’s been a flurry of advice lately from the pundits on how to defeat Modi and what not to do. Get the opposition together, is the old trope. It never works against a truly entrenched leader. Check out Indira Gandhi in 1971 against the Grand Alliance.
Get all Left and secular forces together. Yawn. The Left here was always a red herring, the basic politics was using caste to keep divided what somebody was working to unite using the Fevicol of religion. That battle is over.
If Narendra Modi, accompanied by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Governor and the RSS chief leads the ceremonial bhoomi pujan at Ayodhya, and nobody in the opposition, with the exception of Asaduddin Owaisi, speaks out against it unqualifiedly, you know that that old, post-1989 Mandir-versus-Mandal story is over.
See the political map of India. State by state, where do you see leaders who could mount a credible challenge to Modi? Amarinder Singh, Mamata Banerjee, OK. Now name a third. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana stay out of this yet. But already, the families ruling the latter two are supplicants of the BJP on the big issues that really matter to it. Just like in Odisha.
Other possibilities? Change the leadership of Congress. Let Rahul Gandhi go. Who would replace him? Some would say his sister, some would want no Gandhi. There is also a suggestion that the Congress re-consolidate, bringing in all of the prodigals — Mamata, Sharad Pawar, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, even the Sangmas. But have you asked them if this is what they’d want? And even if they agree, who would lead them?
All of this is pure fantasy at this point. All of it involves too many assumptions, too much wishful thinking, too many moving parts to build a functioning machine. Which brings us to a concept, quite familiar to the smarter people I believe, but which I was told about just the other day. Collateral benefit of a visit to the India International Centre lounge after five months. It is called Occam’s Razor.
Also read:Vande Bharat vs Bharat ke bande: Can Narendra Modi be losing his political touch so soon?
Now, William of Occam (also spelt Ockham), born circa 1285 AD in England, grew to be an Anglican priest and was no rationalist. He developed a theory, instead, to justify and rationalise divine miracles.
His idea — when there were many competing theories to predict what might happen, or why something happened, then the simplest of these was going to be correct. To make it simpler still, the fewer assumptions you needed to make in arriving at a conclusion, the more plausible it would be.
Conversely, if you made too many assumptions, you were going to go wrong. He used it so often, and was so successful with his future-gazing, that this was immortalised as the principle of Occam’s Razor. Presumably because he used it as often as a man might use a razor.
My interlocutor applied this principle to future politics in India. And as we tossed many scenarios for 2024, he said, see which is the one with the fewest assumptions? It is Modi coming back to power with another full majority. Every other permutation fails the test of Occam’s Razor. Which sent me scurrying to Uncle Google to read up a bit.
If you keep it simple, therefore, toss all wishful thinking, and look back on your own political history, you might see some light. In India, a really popular and well-entrenched leader is not defeated by a rival. This is irrespective of which side of the fight a Gandhi is on. Such a leader has to defeat himself or herself, as with Indira Gandhi in 1977 and Rajiv in 1989. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost in 2004 not to a defined challenger but to his own party’s double-edged arrogance of advancing an election and then declaring ‘India Shining’ much too prematurely.
So, what do you do then if you can’t stand Modi and do not have a Green Card ready? Do you wait for him to defeat himself? Or, go beyond wishful thinking and do something different, harder? The conventional way to fight a popular, strong leader is to find another leader with charisma, ambition, endless patience and a new idea. If politics is a mega market place, you need product differentiation. Unless all of that comes together, Modi is impregnable. You can pray to your favourite god and hope he will defeat himself like those in the past we just named.
Also read:It’s Indira Gandhi’s 1974 in India again, but Modi faces a harsh new reality
A trend (in this case Modi) when it takes hold, becomes inexorable for as long as it last. This is true erywhere, not just in India. And to answer your question, “Are the people nuts then?”, yes people are nuts everywhere! The only thing is, they appear to be the nuttiest in India. The irony of democracy is that, as Lincoln had said, ‘it was of the people, for the people, and by the people’, THE SAME PEOPLE WHO ARE ALSO THE BEST ARGUMENT AGAINST IT! Who wants democracy? Dp the people even understand what it is? Why give something to someone who doesn’t understand it? Not everything is for everyone. Why entrust the future, the destiny, of country to such ignorant people?
Because the people are nuts, they elect nuts like them! They elected one such nut, Trump, in America, the world’s oldest democracy! He is hell bent on destroying American democracy. This man has a solid base of 40% voters who is equally hell bent of reelecting him, so that he may complete the destruction of democracy! He has even threatened civil war, if he is not reelected! According to him, his reelection is a given, unless the election is rigged against him! He has said that he may not accept the election result if he is defeated! There are those who are afraid that he may refuse to vacate the White House, if he doesn’t accept the election result. He is openly sabotaging the US postal service by refusing to approve funds for it so that it can take on the extra load of handling the mail-in votes. Respected New York Times columnist and Pulitzer prize winner Thomas L. Friedman recently wrote a column dated 19 Aug, and titled, ” Will 2020’s Election Be the End of Our Democracy?” End of American democracy at the hands of a democratically elected American president! Trump is expected to plat every trick written in the book, and even not written in the books, to sabotage the every election of his own country! He had even thought of postponing the November election under the excuse of coronavirus. American election commission refused to do so. His Russian friends may oblige him by interfering in the election, as they did in 2016 election.
Of course the American democracy would survive Trump. Its democratic institutions are strong. Trump would be gone and forgotten. Another respected columnist of the New York Times, David Brooks, has written this after Trump is defeated and gone: “Donald Trump himself may fume, but hated and alone. The opportunists who make up his administration will abandon him. Republicans will pretend they never heard his name. Republican politicians are not going to hang around a guy they privately hate and who publicly destroyed their majority.”
I don’t mean to compare Modi with his good friend Trump. As you have said, Modi would be there until he presses the “self-destruct” button, which may happen by 2014. Until then those who don’t like him would have to sweat him out.
But you do need informed and politically mature electorate. Johnnies may give India its Trump! They are electing MPs with criminal charges against them. And those sadhvis, the terror-charged Pragya Thakur Singh, who was singing paeans of Nathuram Godse. No, the country’s future can’t be entrusted, out of all to Johnnies. Democracy badly needs reforms. President Lincoln had said at the outset of civil war that the constitution was not Baptism with fire, and that he would sabotage it, if necessary, to preserve the (American) Union.
There are rabble-rousers. And there are ramble-rousers. You belong to the second category.
Democracy is off the people, buy the people and far from the people.
Excellent puns Mr Srijan !
Your biggest winning moment is not when you crossed the finishing line ahead of others or far ahead of others , it actually occurs ; when all your opponents and the spectators believe that you are invincible and impregnable , right when you are lowering your back at the starting spot.
The facade of impregnability is a very well crafted effort by a big and continuously oiled machine driven by propaganda , intimidation , institutional acquisitions and violence.Such is the power of this propaganda ( through various channels ) that political , administrative , military and diplomatic failure are not seen by populace and they are fed with the heady concoction of majoritarianism , toxic religious resurgence and a false sense of bravado.
When this happens ( Germany of 1930s , Italy of 1930s or India of late 1970s ) , the intelligentsia tends to fall into the false notion of invincibility and impregnability of the Power , but this evil machine every time , will go down with the combination of common populace realization of the reality and intelligentsia of the society throw away this notion (which is purposefully being seeded into the minds ) and made the general public aware of this evil design and machinery.
Mr. Gupta , People like you are extremely important in this fight…the effort has to be on , to fight with hope and energy as it is extremely important to save our nation , democracy and culture
Shekhar Gupta is part of the problem. Not solution. Part of the machinery creating this fake image. And for his info the mood of the nation Modi survey was manipulated. Read expose on People’s Post India.
Very well said Mr Rahul Shrivastava ! There are some very profound observations and ideas in your comment. Your comment is indeed one of the very best I have ever read.
The 6 years that this RSS pracharak has been in power coincides with failures on many fronts: economic, social and foreign policy. And many of these failures – such as demonetisation – are self-goals, reflecting an autocratic decision-making style with scant regard or respect for experts in say, economics.
Indeed, an objective economic analysis of the MMS era with the Modi era shows that on 11 out of 15 economic indicators (see ref: bit.ly/2YpWe8a) , MMS outperformed Modi. Please note that one is now comparing the worst period of MMS with the best period of Modi.
On the social front, one witnesses tension: with lynchings of Muslims; building of detention camps for Amit Shah’s “termites”; demonstrations against the blatantly discriminatory CAA; the stifling of TV and newspaper outlets critical of the BJP; the promotion of paid news and “journalists” like Arnab Goswami who incite the majority Hindu community and vilify Christians and Muslims; the relentless march to a Hindu Rashtra where everyone else but Hindus, read upper caste Hindus would be de facto second class citizens and many more attempts to polarise the already fractious polity.
On the foreign affairs front, things are equally bad. Both ex Foreign Minister Sushma Sharma (RIP) and current Foreign Minister Mr Jaishankar Subramaniam are figureheads with real power resting with the 2 Gujarathis at the helm of affairs. So much so that these 2 get snubbed in foreign capitals who know that they must deal with Modi & Shah. But this personalisation of foreign policy has another showmanship dimension. Modi has succeeded in trivialising foreign policy by resorting to silly stunts like Howdy Modi in foreign countries where enterprising Patels cash in on the desi desire to see the Gujarati genius!
And then we have seen the loss of territory to the Chinese who reacted to Amit Shah’s aggressive speech on Aug 5, 2019 in Parliament where he aggressively shouted that India would reclaim all of occupied Kashmir. Jaishankar Subramanian dashed off to Beijing to assuage them that India did not plan any military moves. Not really placated, the Chinese fired a warning shot and India has lost territory to China.
Sticking to foreign affairs, one of the worst things that has happened under the Modi watch is the squandering of India’s enormous reserves of “soft power”. Soft power or the attractiveness of a nation rests on its values, culture, political structures etc. India exported yoga, Indian cuisine, Ayurveda, Bollywood and was known for these artefacts. Today, news about India is dominated by one man.
Of course, the Indian public is in thrall to the Great Gujarathi and believe that he is infallible, invincible and above all is a Muslim basher par excellence. But little of the dismal news on the economy, foreign affairs and social turmoil filters down to the people. Modi manages through headlines, hype and hyperbole and even educated Indians have started to endorse this nonsense.
As the American astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-96) said:
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back”
Applies very much to India under the pracharak.
And I agree fully with you Mr Rahul Shrivastava. India needs men like Mr Shekar Gupta who call a spade a spade. To save the idea of India and to prevent India from becoming a Hindu Pakistan. Looking forward to reading more comments form you Sir.
I am surprised whey educated people fall victim to falsehood. You guys are the problem you do not want a cure you just like to promote one falsehood after that other. your only problem is Public who can see through your falsehoods. If you are so confident, engage in a public debate and come with facts not opinions. fact are where you fail, because all you got is propaganda. All you you suffer from national LOW SELF ESTEEM. Anything India must be bad. If I promote ancient Indian culture and traditions even medical system and exercise, I immediately become a Bhakta. You should learn from Chinese, after you get tired of praising them. China as a state policy always promoted Chinese medical system, martial arts and Chinese culture and history. While we Indian intellectuals and people like you never tire of deriding it. Fortunately ordinary people on street has a clearer vision that our educated folks.
Mr Ashok Bhagat: Don’t forget that only 37% of voters voted for the BJP. And most of them were from the Hindi belt.
Pray point out where have I denigrated ancient Indian culture and traditions? And please stop talking like your Godse worhsipping mentor and BJP MP from Indore Ms Pragya Thakur who says exactly what you say when she was informed that stroking a cow or drinking its urine does not cure cancer. She too retorted that such statements are anti-Hindu.
Pathetic Mr Ashok Bhagat.
Where in his comment the commentator has derided Indian culture etc ?
Here comes the “know-all” with some pompous quotes just like other similar cry babies. While its one thing that not all of Modi’s actions are praiseworthy (as with any leaders), making out an enormous scammer out of him and painting that whole country is dumb for choosing Modi over pathetic Gandhis’ is nothing short of a self-fulfilling prophecy that will never happen. Textbook definition of autocracy happened during previous UPA ruling and acts like “Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence” are nothing short of lunacy that would have made this country a muslim/communist haven. So cry all you want, we know what we are choosing and you have no option but to deal with it.
It’s ridiculous. If somebody is to be replaced, in this case Modi, one needs to place forth the misdeeds of the person; actions taken by him are antisocial etc. One thing has been said, which seems correct; there isn’t any leader who seems putting society, nation first. Unfortunately, we don’t have such a leader as of now. If, fortunately, we get one; Modi (or for that matter ruling party) will be certainly replaced. Most important of all things is ONLY ONE LEADER CAN’T BRING POSITIVE CHANGES. ALL SOCIETY WILL HAVE TO WORK TOWARDS THE GOAL. Any leader in the context of national development is just an instrument. SOCIETY MUST GET INVOLVED AND INSPIRED TO BRING POSITIVE CHANGES AND UPLIFT OF ALL IN THE SOCIETY.
one correction. William of Ockham lived between 1287 and 1347. He would have firmly been a Catholic. Anglicanism only came into existence in 1534 following Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy. you are off by over 200 years!
Papu lavo. Desh bajavo!
I don’t see anyone challenging Sangh’s rule over Hindustan for the next 50 years.
You wish or not. Modi Will be there for some more time. Means for population control bill , privatisation of all babu sectors , NRC etc. Then he will go.
People understand what makes economy weak. World wide economy is affected..
Why you are in so much of pain?
Just guess who will replace him.
Ganja master Rahul
Fight master Didi
Most corrupt politicians Lalu or Sharad pawar
Castiest Mayavati
Why people believe him?
He is clean
Not corrupt
He is not getting good support from his party leaders. They are corrupt
He can take tough stand
He is biased toward any community what Congress done for 70 years
His none of relative become extra rich like VADRA family.
He follows our sanscriti
Nothing on earth is parmanent .he will go. His place will be taken by someone more efficient.
Kejriwal is good bet
Pls read below and u will know why people like modi.
मैं मानता हूँ “कांग्रेस” सरकार में कुछ कमियां थी …
ये सच है कि कुछ घोटाले हुए
ये सच है कि हि’न्दुओ की नही सुनी जाती थी
ठीक है मानता हूं कि महँगाई 10% से ऊपर थी
मैं मानता हूं कि आतं’कवादी मजबूत थे
मैं मानता हूं कि पाकिस्तान और चीन हमारे उपर हावी थे
मैं मानता हूं कि अलगाववादियों की चलती थी
मैं ये भी मानता हूँ कि विकास दर मात्र 4% थी
भगवा आ’तंकवाद को झूठा प्रचार मिला था
मानता हूं कि विदेशों से परमाणु सौदों में दिक्कत थी
10 साल तक कोई बड़े हथियार नही खरीदे गए थे
मानता हूं कि कालाधन की एक पैरेलेल व्यवस्था थी
कोयला, 2G, कामनवेल्थ में देश का नुकसान हुआ होगा
माना की चीन ने 4-5 जगह पर कब्ज़ा कर लिया था
सैनिको की आधारभूत सुविधाएं उन्हें नहीं मिली थी
माना की सेना का मनोबल बहोत कम था
माना की A-SAT मिसाइल के परिक्षण की अनुमति नहीं मिली
माना की नक्सल आतंकवाद चरम पर था
माना की गाहे बगाहे बम ब्लास्ट हो जाया करते थे
मानता हूं सेना को OROP नही दे पाए थे
देश पर विदेशी कर्ज बहोत ही ज्यादा था
देश में विदेशी निवेश बहोत कम था
28 किमी की जगह प्रतिदिन 2 ही किमी हाइवे ही बनते थे
18,000 गावो में बिजली नही थी
माना की 41 करोड़ लोगों के बैंक अकाउंट नहीं थे
माना की घर की बिजली अक्सर चली जाया करती थी
महँगा गैस सिलिंडर लाइन लगाकर लेना पड़ता था
जनसाधारण लोग खुले में शौच जाते थे
लाखों करोड़ों के आयल बांड ले लिए गए थे
माना PM की सुनी ही नहीं जाती थी
देश का व्यापार घाटा बहोत ही ज्यादा था
फसल बीमा योजना जैसा कुछ नही था
माना की Border Road प्रोजेक्ट ठप्प हो गया था
मानता हूँ की Crude Oil रिज़र्व का काम अधूरा छोड दिया था
होमलोन 11%थे, मकान बनवाना बहोत महँगा था
हम मानते है गौ’हत्या करना आसान था
ये सही है कि जा’किर नाइक बदमाशी करता था
बुखारी के अनुसार काम होता रहा होगा
देशविरोधी नारे लगाने पर कार्यवाही नहीं होती थी
माना की Waterways प्रोजेक्ट ठप्प हो गया था
विरोधी कभी कभी ति’रंगा भी जला लेते थे
माना की 10 साल में राफेल नहीं खरीद पाए थे
माना कांग्रेस ‘राम मंदिर’ और हि’न्दू विरोधी थी
लेकिन … ये तो मानना पड़ेगा … कि
#कांग्रेस_के_समय_प्लेटफॉर्म_टिकट_मात्र_2_रु_में_था
क्या आप लोग कांग्रेस के देश पर किये अहसान भूल जाओगे ?
चीन से पिटे और उसने हमारी जमीन कब्जा की
कश्मीरी ब्राह्मणों को दिल्ली में सेटल किया
3 करोड़ बंगलादेशियो को देश मे जॉब दिया
कश्मीर में आतंकवादियों का शासन स्थापित किया
सरदारों की जनसंख्या नियंत्रित की
करोड़ों फर्जी मनरेगा जॉब कार्ड्स जारी किये
सिंधु नदी के पानी से पाकिस्तान की फसल लहलहाई
Triple T’alaq बदस्तूर ज़ारी रक्खा
अफजल गुरु, यासीन मलिक और कसाब को इज्जत बख्शी
उर्दू को द्वितीय राजभाषा बनाया
पंचशील सिद्धांत से चीन को काबू में रखा
शिमला समझौते से पाकिस्तान को पराजित किया
दामादों को उनका सम्मान दिया
सबसे बड़ा अहसान तो ये किया कि गाँधी वंश परम्परा को मरने नही दिया
अब तो होश में आओ …
अगर प्लेटफॉर्म टिकट 2 रु में चाहते हो तो
बोलो …
राहुल भैया की जय
Andhbhakt
Hindified andbhakth !
Andh chamchas
Can you dispute the facts he has said no ,You can only throw vile accusations,but its nice to see your lot stewing in frustration and helplessness
ha ha ha bahut badhiya
Compare this article with that of T.N.Ninan of Business Standard. Ninan argues, very much convincingly, that Modi sets tall goals and hardly achieves them. One simple example of setting unattainable goal is to bring down Covid -19 death rate from current less than 2 per cent to 1 per cent! Is it feasible? I doubt so. Simple arithmetic tells us this this target is not likely to be achieved, no matter how hard we may try. Let us do some math. Currently total infections are at 29.85 lakh and deaths around 56000, so the death rate is at 1.85%. Ok. Now average infection rate is at 2.5% per day. In 50 days the infection figure will reach 1 crore with compounding. To have 1 per cent death rate we require total deaths at 1 lakh. Thus for additional 70 lakh ( 1 crore less 29.85 lakh) infections, deaths should be around 44000 (1 lakh-56000). Thus the asking rate for the next 50 days would just 0.6%. Is it feasible? No is the common sense answer. Yet people are happy with the pronouncement. See how ambitious and caring he is, they think. But targets are meant to be announced and not to be achieved. Who will remember this statement after 50 days? This is how Modi rules our hearts. Well, this can go on and on. Modi May win 2024 too and to be fair to him, compared with some past PMs he is far better. However, I humbly feel that we Indians deserve something even better. Unfortunately , that is simply not available. Rahul is no match and there is a strong TINA factor. So, be happy and enjoy Modi’s tenure!
You ask common man , why Modi ? He will say “ TiNo” ( there’s no option .)
You asks journalists /so called intellectuals, they will write a big articles, which at end means “TiNo”.
Tell us something which we don’t know ..
What a grand waste of time /talent?
Fine article Shekharji as always. If we have a political party and leader(s) that breathes economic development; eats, lives, focuses and solely “exists” for economic development in the broad sense covering all key aspects (jobs, inclusive development, technocratic, visionary policies, infra) then that I believe the new gen voters will be best able to connect with.
A great communicator who has succeded in taking the masses into confidence. Talks to people frequently in a convincing and confident way. The average voter gets carried away. How long the majic will last is to be seen. His management of the Covid crisis so far has been commendable,.
Shekhar Gupta has told us why Modi cannot be dislodged. Perhaps, in his next article he will tell us what Modi’s governance, or the lack of it, will cost the nation. To my mind, it is not so much as the economic downturn or the security of the nation that are the prime concern. These can be rectified and have been done so. It is the serious chasm that he has created between the people and the wilful dismantling of the constitutional institutions that are a cause of serious concern. A government that uses the past to justify the present does not have a future.
SG is back to his style of sitting on the fence.
He knows Modi is a failure : economy, Covid, China.
But Modi’s rating is high, so he must have some magic. What is the magic ?
Modi’s support is based on only one factor : Hindu communalism, and beating up Muslims. Hindu sadism has given Hindus a sense of power. SG should declare this – and condemn it, instead of investing Modi with some inexplicable halo.
N. Ram of ‘The Hindu’ has a clear stand – no matter how many vote for Modi, his position is that it is built on hate and that is damaging to the country.
The Print like so many papers publish neutral articles but then allow space to RSS fascists to present their line – as if that makes it impartial. N. Ram of ‘The Hindu’ on the other hand does not allow that, so we know what the paper stands for. We do not know what The Print and SG stand for.
Apart from playing the Hindu card against Muslims, Modi/BJP-RSS have worked out a formula for long stay. One is to strike an alliance with the corrupt Gujarati business class – Ambanis and Adanis. Get them to buy up the TV media, create Arnob Goswmai and the likes, so that there is only ‘positive’ news, and intimidate independent journalists and critics. Then capture social media. Ambani creates Jio, so every unemployed Hindu vagabond has Whats App. The BJP’s IT cell then employs 1 lakh Hindu youth to churn out hate messages on social media and the Hindu vagabonds with Jio lap it up. Get Facebook to deletecritical messages on social media. Use the TV media and social media to help win the election. And if something goes wrong, use money to buy opposition MPs.
How can India compete with China, EU and US ? There is no investment in Education, manufacturing, health care and economy. There is only investment to maintain power and wealth in the hands of an oligarchy. The Modi magic is only that. The rest reflects poorly on Hindus – their willingness to go along with hate, and their passive acceptance of their fate., and lack of desire to improve.
Spot on!
This is not a good sign to have no worth while opposition, which is a must for functional democracy. Modi is becoming more and more dictatorial and for a country as diverse as India such things are extremely dangerous. With no opposition and a tamed and tutored media, institutions like judiciary, election Commission, IT, ED, CBI lay completely deshaped if not destroyed yet. Unilateralism is becoming a policy, see what happened to 370 and now to Naga peace accord.
Morituri te salutent.
Shekhar Ji, This article shows your desperation like congress and combined opposition. There is not a single leader in opposition who is honest and willing to work for the country than themselves. Why will people believe in any of the opposition leaders? Congress need to get rid of Gandhi family and let other leaders such as Rajesh Pilot grow. Then there could be hope of building back the GOP. Congress need to get rid of the whole think thank coterie who cannot win elections but make decisions. Probably there may be some hope of winning in the next election.
Gupta Ji, Today charisma etc are built over media platforms and other ideology positive for the country progress other than the current one was already scandalised. Currently you don’t need to take to street to lure gullible voters, the job is out sourced to Social media and mainstream news media houses in that case from a new charismatic leader will emerge in such a short notice? The gestation period for a new charismatic leader is 10 years from now considering the current socio political situation of the country… Your article is just a fantasy
An article as sharp as Razor. Shekhar Gupta tell it as it is with a pinch of wisdom spread across it. This is an engrossing and enlightening read. Thanks.
The angst of the committed journalist of Lutyen’s Delhi . Buddy you should know that it is only comparative standard in the politics. Whether other global leaders’ performance amidst Covid crisis or absence of any leader of Modi’s stature in Indian politics are mainly the reasons of his rating. Moreover force majure conditions can not usurp peoples’ admiration for the leader . Eg Covid or Chinese aggression are not his making. Your wishful thinking can not pull down Modi’s rating
Are you so happy that Indian politics is now so unipolar?
This is written more in frustration rather than any rational reasoning. Shri Shekhar Guptaji is mesmerised by Rahul Baba and is frustrated that the dummy he is in love with is not performing. I will advise him not to wait for anymore. If Rahul Baba was talented, he would not have taken so many years, and so many defeats to show it. And why he is so obsessed to defeat Narendra Modi? What is his fault? A poor family upbringing? A self made person? No godfather? What is the problem? Honesty?
I advise Guptaji to stop giving free consultancy on, how to defeat Narendra Modi and accept the fact as it is. In stead rather he should be thinking about the frightening scenario if there is no Narendra Modi.
NaMo is no self made person. He is the product of RSS. Though currently people vote for modi and not it’s political outfit bjp.
Point being asked is, why mis-handling of migrants during covid didn’t discredit modi as much as sudden spike in delhi made kejriwal image mud.
20 soldiers killed by chinese for the first time since china war didn’t bring any criticism of his foreign policy but sympathy for trusting the rogue country. Suddenly UPA’s policy of trade with china has been played out as anti-national.
Similarly, rafale offset contracts to anil ambani doesn’t smell foul.
This is only explained as “india smitten by modi”.
It can happen all the ” Prince ”
Needs to do is.
1) Declare he will control population by implementing population control measures strictly.
2) He will ensure that scienctific education will be prioritised over religious beliefs. Religion to be a personal choice.
3) No proselytizing activities will be allowed.
4) GIVING benefits and government posts to Undereducated jhollawallas and rent a journalist would not be a state policy.
5) NO political phone banking.
Start with these and political benefits will accrue.
what is “political phone banking”?
Before going any further, I must clarify that I ain’t a Modi fan in any shape or form.
Now, implied in this piece from Mr Gupta is that:
a) there is a section of the society, albeit a dwindling minority, that needs Modi out and
b) there is no alternative in sight.
Clearly, democracy is about enforcing the majority will, and currently the majority appear to be quite content with the choices they have made. Obviously, then, the current dispensation can be undone up until the majority has a different view. The majority in India still lives in villages and small towns. Whilst the billionaire clubs have flourished over the years, nothing much has changed for those living in villages and small towns, except the following:
1. Crores who knew banks only as a place providing money if you own buffalos (cattle loans) have bank accounts.
2. Cash (may be pittance in the sum of Rs 2000) is directly received in to their accounts.
3. Crores have gas stoves burning in their village kitchens, at least three times a day
4. Crores in villages can now pop in to their toilets every morning (ignore the quality standards, they still do the job, don’t they?)
5. Muslim women are no more at risk being ‘instantly divorced’ (triple talaq)
6. Regardless of the personal freedom issues, many consider removal of Article 370 a right and bold step
7. A Ram temple is indeed being built, notwithstanding the impropriety associated with the method used to get there
8……………..
9…………
You can go on and on, and each one on the list above adds a few crores to the BJP vote bank. And that’s Modi Sutra for a country that still gets enamoured by the charm of Ram Rahim, Asaram, Nityanand, Nirmal baba, Asimand et al.
Mera Bharat Mahan..
“Secular” is not for India. By definition , where secular is separation of state and religion, with special status based on caste and religion in the constitution and existing Government policies that discriminate based on caste and religion, how can India be a secular state?
The way forward for Indian democrcay is uniform civil code. Separate religion from state. Avoid the word “secular” in politics and public debates…and hope for strong, sincere, able young leaders with integrity to emerge in the modified India.
Secular is not India. Neither is democracy. India will be a dharmacracy run by babas, yogis and godmen and the framework with be varnashrama dharma.
‘The way forward for Indian democrcay is uniform civil code. ‘
As if that was the main thing holding us back, and not the Hindu caste system, and other primitivities of the Hindu mind like gobar and gomutra.
‘…and hope for strong, sincere, able young leaders with integrity to emerge in the modified India.’
They are emerging – Tejasavi Surya, Anurag Thakur, and various rapists and rioters.
‘modified India’ will be India run by cow vigilantes.
Shri Gupta and his fellow travellers clearly have not gotten over their shock, disappointment and frustration at the rise and rise of Shri Narendra Modi. The only good thing in this write up it that it has finally dawned on Shri Gupta that nothing will defeat Shri Modi, except Shri Modi himself. As of now, that is a fact. But then, Padma Bhushan received requires regular paybacks to the Dynasty. Hence he will toil more.
Shekhar Gupta is both frustrated and exasperated by the steadfast support Modi enjoys among the people of India cutting across castes, languages and regions. Increasingly, Muslims too are veering towards Modi as they have seen though the fake secularism of the Congress, regional parties like SP, BSP, RJD and assorted leftists who merely offered lip sympathy while stoking fear of “threats” from Hindus. Modi has established a strong emotional connect with the people, Hindus in particular, in a manner no Prime Minster in India ever did. He is seen as their protector. defender and staunch a believer who proud flaunts his Hindu identity. No administration in India has implemented so many economic and social reforms in such a short time as did Modi. That is why even if the opposition bands together they cannot defeat Modi at the national level.
Read Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and Deception by Dr Timothy R Levine.
In Bihar, CM Nitish Kumar is poised to win a fourth term, even as his record on governance – economic development ki toh baat hi mat kijiye – is crumbling. It must be a great relief to be not judged by small things like performance and delivery.
Yes Nitish is bad but the alternative is 9th class fail son of Lalu and a schizophrenic son of Lalu,and Lalu Rabri,So I guess Nitish is the lesser evil
“To make it simpler still, the fewer assumptions you needed to make in arriving at a conclusion, the more plausible it would be.”
Exactly. Try and apply this to religion… On the one hand, there is “God is One” (if you can accept there is a God, then this means the fewest of assumptions, that is, just One), as compared to the pagan concepts of multiple mangods (with as many assumptions as the number of “gods”).
Think about it.
Dear missionary, even more simple is there is no God.
And seriously I cannot understand if you can take on faith a single unprovable deity, why you balk at many.
A wonderful analysis, Shekhar Gupta. You have given one of the best political anlyses of the situation in India. Pleae also mention next time (and remind Shivam Vij) that Rahul Gandhi is the leadeer who will defeat Modi. We still remember the great energy with which Rahul Gandhi promised to beat Modi with a lathi. After that, as Mani Shankar Aiyer has said in the past, Modi will be good for selling tea at the meetins of the AICC. Rahul Gandhi zindabad.
Fort Modi is impregnable despite China, Covid, job losses. Only one leader can defeat him.
Unless all of that comes together, Modi is impregnable is the FIRST FALLACY.
So, what do you do then if you can’t stand Modi and do not have a Green Card ready? THINK OVER WHAT IS THE REALITY…..
He is the first PM we have had without a whisper of corruption against him, the wealthy greats tried making him look CORRUPT- did not work and could not convince the voters.
To start with let us give credit to whoever thought of bringing this RSS swayamsevak to politics, many before have been brought in including Mr. Bajepai and Mr. ADVANI, but Modi does stand out. WHY?
The intellectuals and commentator are not for some reason willing to accept that apart from his oratory, full time commitment, HIS IMPPECABLE FINANCIAL INTEGRITY is what makes him what he is.
In none of his speeches he quotes the great westerners from democracies or courts or literature which impresses the English speakers only, so they cannot stand him who is not on par with them. But then he is able to carry the majority with him.
THAT WOULD BE ONE LEADER WHO WOULD BE ABLE TO DEFEAT HIM.
What we need to find is person with no sons, daughters or son in-laws waiting in the wings, no family trusts, no growing properties, no hi-fi friends from Bollywood or India-Inc on public display and other family members living off the tax payer’s money.
THAT WOULD BE ONE LEADER WHO WOULD BE ABLE TO DEFEAT HIM
Shekhu had perhaps access to Indira and Rajeev and therefore treats them like his Goddess and God; and put them in the category of great man Mr. Modi though former were not great.
My 9 year old niece could do a better analysis of this Shekhar. Thanks for saying nothing much except ‘do nothing- wait for Modi to f*ck up’ Coward
Mr Saavee: Your 9 year old niece would have been a lot more polite than you. Perhaps you could learn politeness from her. After all, you seem to be utterly incapable of formulating a single counterargument to support your Modi bhakthi and so the least you could do is pick up a modicum of decent behaviour from a child.
I am pretty sure that your niece would turn out to be a much better and an infinitely more cultured human being than you.
Pathetic Mr Savee.
The opposition needs to present a credibel story for India on how they can addres their issues and they have to be 24×7 and transparent.
They need to pick up some learning from Sonu Sood who despite all the challenges did his bit in helping people and continously had a one to one dalogue with the people
First reason why Modi can’t be defeated is your theory that India is in a mess due to Modi and still voters are enchanted. That premise itself stinks of prejudice against Bjp and bias for Congress. As long as the Opposition does not weed out vested minority cuddling and corrupt politicians from amongst them there is no way any opposition party will be a challenge. And journalists like you and magazines like Print are to remove their bias goggles and write on aspects where this Govt is not doing well. A true good person can emerge then to combat this Govt. First rid your bosses. Be a sport to admit that you guys fostered communalism.under a false brand of secularism. U guys condoned the Dynasty corruption and foreign funding for conversion activities under ages of Sonia
Mr Ravi Krishnamurthy: It is mind boggling that ostensibly well-educated, erudite South Indians like you do not read the economic, defence and political writings on the wall and instead unquestioningly swallow the fibs and fantasies created by a Delhi University graduate with a pogrom under his belt. What your saffron tinted glasses, exacerbated no end by your tunnel vision, prevent your ilk from discerning is that India is in dire straits on all fronts now. And yet, the man who got the country into this morass is lauded by your ilk because he knows that your latent hatred of Muslims matters more to you than anything substantive in terms of economic or social development for the country. Leave alone foreign policy and defence.
The bogey of opposition parties favouring minorities at the expense of a majority is invoked by all – I re-iterate all – Indian politicians create to distract gullible people like you from their own deep failures. And then again, politicians define minorities and majorities as they please and generate anger to get the majority to become violent against minorities. In the 70s and 780s, Bal Thackeray railed against the minority “kaala madraasis” – like the Ravi Krishnamurthys of Bombay – who he claimed were looting the majority “marathi manoos”. In the 90s, Bal Thackeray’s minorities became Muslims against Hindus and soon became Bihari minorities against the “marathi manoos”. Remember the “ek Bihaari sau Bimaari” headline in his fascist rag Saamana?
And then you forget how the DMK in Tamilnadu turned against your own Brahmin tribe claiming that the Brahmin minority held back the progress of the Dravidian majority. As a child growing up in Madras in the 70s with not so very South Indian looks, I remember the taunts, the exclusion from universities and other forms of hatred that I had to face as a minority.
Yes, the Congress, the DMK and other parties exploited secularism for opportunistic reasons and have many a skeleton in their cupboards for that. But the hate and rage you see in today’s India against Muslims cannot be pinned on to that. Even in the drawing rooms of the highly educated in Madras, I have heard perfectly genteel madisar clad maamis regurgitating Modi’s and Amit Shah’s messages of hate and violence towards Muslims – completely oblivious to the irony that they were speaking the very language that the DMK used to exclude and “other” them. All this whilst serving excellent, vegetarian “Vatha kozhambu” !
You rightly rail against corruption in the opposition. But what about the rampant corruption in the BJP itself? The sweetheart land deals that Baba Ramdev gets; the Rafale maintenance contract being allocated to Anil Ambani, the king of NPAs with zero aerospace experience; the corruption in the Rafale procurement itself with both Congress and the BJP enriching themselves; the very opaque slush fund called PM Cares; the fact that none of the tax dodging people in the Panama Papers and the HSBC lists have been prosecuted – Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai etc. are still walking scot free; the dropping of charges against Congress or other opposition politicians if the defect to the BJP etc. etc. Indeed Mr Krishnamurthy, the BJP neatly fits the description that Arun Shourie once gave:
BJP = Congress + Cow !
You go on to suggest that the opposition fostered communalism under the guise of secularism. But isn’t the BJP doing the same Mr Krishnamurthy? Mobilising the North India upper caste Hindu coalitions against Muslims? Do you really think that groups such as Sikhs, the North East etc. are viewing this development with glee? When Amit Shah decrees that the Home Ministry will operate in Hindi only, doesn’t he throw the South Indians and other linguistic minorities under the bus? Maybe he regards you and your ilk as the next bunch of people to get the “termite” moniker to be thrown into the Bay of Bengal?
As things stand today, India is on the bullet train to a one party Hindu Rashtra with a rewrite of history, its culture and a deliberate suppression of minority rights. And eventually by a rewrite of its Constitution to cement this descent into fascism. Any by minority, I mean not just religious minorities but lower caste Dalits, South Indians, people in the North East, Sikhs etc. etc. Sadly, that process of the dismantling of democracy is aided and abetted by people like you Mr Ravi Krishnamurthy who do not believe in the checks and balances of democracy. Your unquestioning trust and willingness to concentrate power in the hands of one man believing that he and he alone can solve the problems of India by deploying his cutting edge Delhi University education reminds me of a quote from novelist George Orwell (1903-1950:
“We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it”
As long as voter of your like exist in India, RSS would rule forever.
Modi himself knows that he is untenable. That’s why he has told his makeup artist to give him a RISHI-MUNI IMAGE. Notice his thick moustache and tapering white beard of late towards that effort. He has messed up the “ground realities”, so he wants to tell the countrymen that he is ABOVE ground realities.
The ground realities are: economy, defense, jobs, Kashmir, north east, and so on.
Only some senior journalists like Shekhar who specialize in giving back-handed compliments to powerful men would want to project Modi as invincible. I have made a prophecy, that Narendra Modi will be the third Modi to run away from the country.
Mr Sanjiv Bhatla: Outstanding comment Sir !
You hit the nail on the head when you say:
“The ground realities are: economy, defense, jobs, Kashmir, north east, and so on”
The Modi image is actually cultivated by the US Public Relations firm APCO Worldwide, see its website at: apcoworldwide.com
APCO specialises in burnishing the credentials of dictators, authoritarian statesmen, cigarette firms, polluters and the like. APCO boasts a long association with Narendra Modi, starting from his days as CM of Gujarat. The Vibrant Gujarat summit was one of its brainchilds. And like most other Modi ideas, the Vibrant Gujarat produced hypes, headlines, hot air and many vacuous Memorandums of Understanding with little substantive to show on the ground. Gujarat continues to suffer from malnutrition. Of course Modi explained away malnutrition as being caused by vegetarianism and the desire of Gujarati girls to slim and fashion conscious !
But sadly, the Indian electorate, even the educated ones is so easily duped by politicians when you appeal to their prejudices. After all, A.Raja of 2G fame, the man who embezzled billions and was briefly imprisoned, has been re-elected and is now an MP.
What you say about A. Raja is true, and that explains a “common denominator” of Indian electorate’s mind: EMOTIONS, EMOTIONS, and more EMOTIONS. Those leaders who can establish an emotional bond with Indian voters CAN FOOL THEM PERPETUALLY. Raja was a small leader, but he had it in him. When he was released from jail and reached his native place, he was received by his voters as if he was returning after winning an Olympic medal!
Nehru could do it, Indira could do it because of her charming looks, she wasn’t an emotive orator like her father.
And that’s what MAKES MODI SO DANGEROUS. He too can establish emotional bonding. And he is out and out a harmful leader – – he knows no economics, he doesn’t care for Democratic values, nor for sacred institutions like judiciary. Modi cares two hoots for country’s welfare against his friends welfare, he thinks India’s money is his personal money that he can spend whichever way he likes.
Just yesterday there was a news that CAG has no jurisdiction over Rafale accounts.
Modi haters want to defeat him without working for the people to realize their dreams. Instead they abuse and accuse people for their intelligence.
Modi haters want to defeat Modi by using lies, fabricating truth, manufacturing stories and indulging in all sorts of crooked behaviour.
Modi haters want to defeat Modi by denigrating India in foreign countries through their colleagues i.e. librandus.
Modi haters want to defeat Modi by speaking the language of India’s enemy countries – Pakistan, China and Turkey.
Modi haters want to defeat Modi by continuously reminding Indians that they are inferior in the global competion.
and so on…
However, People see no reason to change Modi with a leader who will prove worst than Modi as their past and present experience of opposition rules..
Ak.dev: Godse worshippers like you forget that in “democracies” like India’s where the BJP government stifles free speech, captures control of all the levers of government through its patented saffron putsches, engineers defections and uses religion to hoodwink the masses and shield its gross incompetence, well, the likes of Savarkar worshippers like Modi will climb to power. After all, public memory is fickle and even A.Raja, the man who embezzled billions of US$ has been re-elected hasn’t he ?
Your fawning, vacuous post shows that you are just another blinkered, blind bhakth peering at the world through saffron tinted glasses.
RSS is the future of India. If it frightens you, what would you do?
ak.dev: RSS might be the future of the vast Hindi speaking cow belt of North India given the fact that your itchy-testicled gaurakshak clones are surely present in large numbers. But, a resurgent RSS and its Hindu Rashtra agenda will drive deep wedges across the nation and possibly end up splitting the nation into many parts, given the massive diversity within the country. Or at least further weakening the already weak unity of the nation.
That is exactly what happened in the former USSR with its Russification strategies under communism. The once vast USSR split into 15 different countries – albeit with little bloodshed. A similar but much bloodier phenomenon happened in multi-ethnic Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Serb nationalism and Serb dominance – among many other factors – lead to a bloody civil war and the once rather prosperous nation splintered along ethnic lines into Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Bosni-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro.
Reshaping India along the RSS ideology will rekindle the Khalistan movement; the north-East will get restive and China will drive a wedge there; Pakistan will be presented with fresh opportunities to play mischief in Kashmir and the the whole of South India – which by a large majority asked the RSS and its Gujarathis to get lost – will also become restive.
The RSS is no different from the Islamic movements of Pakistan. Their attempts to unite Pakistan under an Islamic identity failed and E.Pakistan fought to leave the Islamic embrace of the “homeland” for India’s Muslims that Jinnah had created. India has more gestating Bangladeshes than your ilk comprehends.
Mind boggling that a party that was inspired by Nazism and fascis, never flew the national flag until recently, was involved in the killing of the father of the nation and has a hand in every anti-Muslim pogrom is your ideal.
SHAME ON YOU !
I have to say that is well written.
For me, even more mind boggling is the silence of the minorities in putting up with it. They should display their hunger for a just fight. It has to be more articulate, has to be fought in courts, in the streets, in the parliament. When orchestrated cow vigilantes went about their business, i was bewildered to know that beef isn’t openly available (myself being a veggie). For me, right to food choice can’t be dictated and we brag that we are secular. But definitely the cow laws can be fixed by demanding it. Or can be overturned by the court. Definitely minorities aren’t fighting it the way they should be. Onus is also on them. I fail to muster name of one popular leader who is a muslim and is a progressive, rational other than APJ.
In short, let me put it simply – Modi haters are doing enough damage themselves to make sure they never let Modi lose ??
The leftists, liberals in their desperation are teaming up with other nations and anti social elements which would help Modi earn more glory than ever. A trying doctor is anyday better than a notorious doctor who can even sell your organs.
Are leftists, liberals responsible for your Hindu communalism ? Don’t you have the capacity to think for yourself ?
Modi has already earned glory by inciting Hindus to riot. He excels in Hindu sadism.
‘…anti social elements which would help Modi earn more glory than ever.’
Do you mean to say he will send sudras on trains again and burn them to earn more glory ?
haha, dev ji fantastic answer! everything about economy etc are great! no worries! only haters, specifically modi haters, see gdp, etc
What’s wrong with the English and editing? Aren’t people hurting???? Really! I thought it was always meant to be …. Aren’t People Hurt!
Sekhar ji not expected from you.
Precisely. I am glad you brought this up Mr. Mishra. This is, I suspect, another ‘modification’ by the Yankees to British English. And Shekhar Gupta (ji) seems to enjoy using it repeatedly. Please Editor, we grew up admiring your fluent style – such additions do nothing to enhance the appeal of the language. Remember what happened to terms like “happenstance”, “fantabulous”….
I wrote a comment agreeing with you, Mr. Mishra. Several hours later waiting for “moderation”.
God u are so desperate mr gupta???
This is hardly the topic for National Interest. Next elections are far away in 2024 and India Today survey is conducted routinely every six month. So why bother about defeating Modi now, unless your are a die hard sickular and your only job is to think, write, talk and strategize about hate mongering and how to get rid of BJP and Modi.
That said, the old Indian political paradigm of caste based division of majority is today made irrelevant by Modi and BJP. And all that Shekhar has concluded in the article follows from this fact. Of course, Indian trust their leader, when such leader is seen as sincere, hard working, non corrupt, pro- poor and nationalist. Modi fits the bill very well on all the counts and continues to do so, unlike MMS who lost his aura in early years of UPA II . Also, Indian voters are very well aware that every decisions taken by their leader will not necessarily be right and may even perhaps affect them adversely but so long as such decisions are seen in common interests, they are accepted.
However, such a majority consolidation has come about to mean as if there has to be opposition to some other religious group is a cause of worry. And that is where Modi has to be careful despite attempts by the opposition and leaders like Owaisi. Sabka Vishawas must be sought by Modi earnestly.
After all, Modi has to be around even after 2029!!
Looks like Modi army found the site and they are so blinded by Modi mania that they even attack a unbaise journalists. Don’t forget free journalism keeps politicians in check , if you people can’t even take criticism then you are begging for authoritarian government remember that.
Dear Shekhar
I have great respect for your column and most of the time you are spot on. But I beg to differ here. First of all the timing of the poll is very convenient and looks to endorse Modi’s policies. Second, the same poll endorses Yogi Adityanath as the best CM in India?. Give me a break. This whole analysis is designed yo boost Modi inspite if he performing poorly on all aspects of good governance. One expected that he would utilise his second mandate better but sadly he has failed.
Mr. Khan sorry to say but you belong to a community which has no credibility in the eyes of majority masses of this country. Your problem is that Shekhar kapoor did not write what you wanted to hear that is criticism for Modi. As long as majority of indians think Modi is doing right things he will win. Meanwhile you can keep hoping that someday Modi will be defeated and Muslims will play a major part.
You are correct. SG knows all Modi’s polices have failed, but he believes Modi has some mystique. His choice of title ‘Modi is impregnable…’ in fact shows that is what he wishes to convey.
There should be pressure on the gandhis to quit congress. then there is a hope that an alternative political leadership will emerge. the gandhis are adopting a dog in the manger policy.
The most important thing that Modi, as a politician , posseses is the trust of fairly large no of people. Nobody believes that he is infallible….Nobody believes that he can do no wrong….But, a huge no of people, including his opponents, believe that he is sincere….that he has no personal axe to grind… People, percieve him to be cool, calm, collected in times of crisis… Imagine being hit by a triple whammy….Economic crisis, Covid Pandemic, China Mischief…… any other indian leader, would have simply gone down …. he has shown and people see his examplary conduct during this crisis…. That’s Leadership… People automatically get drawn to it…. He will be defeated only if people are let down by him…. Which i dont and i hope , see happening, because he is far too smart and a grounded politician….
Superb comment!
‘Imagine being hit by a triple whammy….Economic crisis, Covid Pandemic, China Mischief……’
Mr. Kannan, I suggest you engage your very Hindu brain.
Economic crisis was his own making – with demonetisation, badly implemented GST. Demonetisation was not an honest mistake, it was calculated wickedness.
Covid pandemic – that affected the world, so the only comparison is whether he controlled it as well as some other countries did (like Germany, Korea, and even China). The answer is that Covid has gone out of control due to his incompetence. India has a curve which is rising with no sign of a peak, whereas in most countries, it has peaked and levelled off.
As for China, there is a video of Modi boasting about his Plus One relationship with China. The passage of Article 370 and Amit Shah’s boast of capturing Aksai Chin provoked China and that brought the beating. Then Modi kept quiet like a pussy cat. That beating exposed Hindu grandstanding – it is one thing to beat up minorities and bully Nepal, but real capability is when you can stand up to China. The Modi type Hindu has been proved to be a coward.
Shekharji’s advice for anybody unhappy with the performance of the govt is – lay down and get rolled over. All the hard work done in building up the economy through the 90s and 00s should be forsaken and forgotten. Incredible and unbelievable advice. But in real life, lying down supine in the face of obstacles is not the path to glory or salvation. Struggle to overcome obstacles is the nature of life – if you win, you enjoy the earth – if you lose you disappear and someone else replaces you in the struggle.
On one point though, I wish to elaborate a bit – Bhagavad Gita Chap 16 verse 4 says that hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, harshness in personality, anger and ignorance are tamsi qualities and such a person even if outwardly successful can never be a person of God but in reality is a “asurim.” (the word asurim is not mine, this is what the Gita says literally) Perhaps this is what Shekharji is alluding to with his remarks on arrogance by previous rulers.
Boring article by Guptha, he wished Modi to be replaced by Rahul Gandhi in 2019 bit failed , he will fail again . Shekhar Guptha was given Padma Bhushan by Congress previously , Guptha is doing their service .
Why do you read boring articles Mr Reddy ?
I already made a comment like this for another article in The Print. Unless until Modi makes a gigantic mistake (that too with bad intention; mistakes with good intention are forgiven like demonetisation), others have no chance. RSS is a faceless organisation with strongest roots in most of western and northern India. All they were waiting for leader like Modi and they knew they can churn this political wheel endlessly. Communits did this with Basu in W Bengal, so much so, it gave communists another 5 years rule free even after Basu left the scene. Now the only relevant question is who is the successor to Modi and whether the opposition can defeat him. But Yogi knocking at the doors with apparent good administration record in UP and still stronger religious adhesive, BJP will also get 5 years free rule after Modi leaves the scene and it will be upto Yogi to match up to Modi’s stature.
This is absolute nonsense , no entrenched leader loses , Atal lost , Rajiv lost and Indira lost . At the state level , almost all leaders loose sooner or later .So what is with Modi , why he is looking so impregnable and why is his popularity soaring despite the dire straits India is in ?Shekhar Gupta has partially answered the question , what would have others done in the circumstances differently , nothing much and that is the problem with the opposition. Nobody has been able to articulate an alternative convincing vision .If status quo is maintained , then this is it , it would be another french open for narendra ‘rafael ‘ modi without the rafale strategy of rahul hurting at all .
So……. finally reality is dawning on Mr. Gupta & other leftist insignificants like him.
Pappu the Clown can make all the videos he wants. The curly hair and fake tan are meaningless. The thinking voters in cities and villages understand why they are voting for Mr. Modi.
“The curly hair and fake tan are meaningless.” It’s the exact truth.
Amazingly presented statement
I concur with above opinion. May be made peace to live with Modi till 2029….
Agenda of writer in the report clearly shows he is anti Modi. If Arnab is being crticised for one side reporting. Shekhar Gupta should also face the same.
Not necessary to strengthen media.