Answer this one honestly. In all your life, have you seen anybody else, or specifically, any public figure, who resembles his own mask as much as Narendra Modi does? You could possibly argue that computers have rendered mask-making more accurate. Yet, we have never seen a real face and mask so like each other as with Modi. Sometimes, you’d even wonder which one is more real.
The mask has been an essential metaphor in BJP politics ever since the rebellious-but-erudite K.N. Govindacharya mocked Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a mere mukhauta (Hindi for mask) of the BJP while the real face was entirely different.
It was a diabolically clever description. What Govindacharya meant was that the RSS (and the Hindu Right it represented) was the real face of the BJP. The liberal, secular, inclusive and middle-of-the-road Vajpayee was just a mask to conceal it. Vajpayee was furious, but admitted in a conversation with me a couple of months after losing power in 2004 that this was indeed the reality. That what he represented was not the real BJP and that Govindacharya was right.
Just about three months since his ascent to power, you know that there is no such confusion in Modi’s case. The mask and the real face are exactly the same, physically as well as metaphorically. To that extent, Modi is genuinely a leader of the nationalist Hindu Right, and his government India’s first genuinely right-of-centre one, socially and politically for sure, and we wait to see if it turns out decisively that way economically as well.
Every major action and utterance of his, from discontinuing the routine of 7 RCR [now 7 Lok Kalyan Marg] iftars to his Independence Day speech and now cancellation of foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan, underlines the same point. Americans would put it as “the man you see is the man you get”. In India, in the BJP’s current context, it is, the man you see on the mask is the man you get as your leader.
This is a new phenomenon in Indian politics where hypocrisy — signal Left, turn Right — has been the norm. Barring some phases of hard socialism, as under Indira Gandhi post-1969, all our leaders have been a bit of this and a bit of that, pretending to be of the Left, but never quite true to it.
That’s why India has always had a mixed everything, from economy to social and foreign policies. Even economic reformers like P.V. Narasimha Rao and Vajpayee have had to hide their actions behind socialist camouflage, and L.K. Advani, who founded the politics of hard Hindutva, famously paid homage to Jinnah.
In short, the mask has been an essential equipment in the trick-box of India’s political class. This is where Modi, and his BJP, I dare say, are different, and this will be the hallmark of his tenure in power.
Unlike other ideological leaders who, once they rise to the top, make course corrections, usually moving to the centre, Modi has given every indication that he will, as prime minister, be no different from the way he was as chief minister of Gujarat.
This reflects in the generally underwhelming talent base of his Cabinet, reliance on trusted civil servants, shutting out of the media, and centralisation of power. He will sound inclusive — as he did in Gujarat consistently after his second victory in December 2007 — but will not reach out to any particular community, whatever its sense of insecurity or hurt. And on issues of national security, his actions as prime minister will be consistent with his fundamental views and instincts.
That’s why he would take no time cancelling talks because Pakistan’s high commissioner meets Hurriyat leaders while every other prime minister, including Vajpayee, had ignored this as a mere side-show or tamasha.
Read the text of his Independence Day speech carefully. It is inclusive, conciliatory, forward-looking and modern. But it is also pure RSS. Modi spoke as an RSS pracharak would have, stressing family values, morality, cleanliness, discipline and patriotism. But his tone was far from threatening or overbearing, the choice of words careful, but with no attempt to specially reach out to any particular section, minorities, Dalits, OBCs, tribals.
In the RSS worldview, all Indians are the same — in fact, in the purest ideological interpretation, as recently underlined by sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, they are all integral to a common identity of Hindutva, although Modi has never gone that far since he rose to public office for the first time in 2001.
And chances are, he won’t. Because, like every other follower of a sharp ideology, he has made a course correction, but he did so much before he rose to prime ministership. He did so post-2007. His discourse became so benignly inclusive that, in the 2014 campaign, you couldn’t find one line you could object to on grounds of communal insinuation or even lack of civility. But there was never a special approach to Muslims, and that is how he is going to be as prime minister. His Independence Day speech highlighted the same Modi.
What are the other clues from his past and recent conduct that give you an insight into his mind? He ruled his state for 13 years without a Muslim legislator in his party. Yet he did not allow the VHP and the RSS a free run in the one state they would have hoped to be able to call their own.
You ask Pravin Togadia, who is the one fellow Indian whose guts he hates, and, if he is honest, the answer will be Modi. Alright, no VHP people were put away in encounters, but some had cases of sedition filed against them. How he subdued these groups was in contrast, for example, with the pampering they enjoyed in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
As time passes, expect more of the same from him in Delhi as well. He may not have responded to or contradicted publicly some of the recent utterances from the RSS, etc, but you have seen the noise levels go down.
Of course, disciplining the sarsanghchalak is a different challenge altogether. Modi’s method, therefore, is likely to be more in the nature of very soft Hindutva, and very pronounced nationalism. You will be surprised if he allows his government to be distracted by the Ram temple, a common personal law or the repeal of Article 370 in this term.
Modi believes in employing his political capital to further his ideology, but he will do this very, very cautiously. As the India Today Group-Hansa Research Mood of the Nation opinion poll shows, this seems to be already working: A surprisingly large number of Muslims now say they will vote for Modi.
These are early days yet, but could it be that Modi is now refining an innovative ideology of the Right? Very nationalist, very moralistic, self-righteous, uncompromising, yet non-threatening to minorities. He and his Government show many other traits of the instinctive Right: Their penchant for giganticism, for example.
Sardar Patel’s statue has to be two and a half times the Statue of Liberty, and a country where top speeds of passenger trains have remained the same in decades has to suddenly leapfrog to bullet trains. More such traits will surface as the months pass. India’s first genuinely Right-wing government will unfold into a fascinating political story.
Postscript: I did receive a few calls from Modi when he was chief minister, but only once to complain. My paper then had done a story saying that, in many parts of Gujarat, poor Muslims were being denied NREGA benefits. Modi said the story was factually wrong.
“You criticise or question me over Hindutva, that is fair and it is your right, because I believe in Hindutva,” he said. “But I strongly object if you say that I am denying my poor Muslims a hundred rupees a day.” I said I would have the reporter recheck his facts. “What you people in Delhi will not understand is, in my Gujarat, my Muslims are not so poor that they will work for NREGA. They are mostly doing very well and will not waste their time in unproductive work, ” he said. Subsequent checks indeed showed the story to be based on incorrect facts and surmises, and we readily made amends.
In retrospect now, does this tell us something about Modi’s mind as it has evolved through his long tenure as chief minister? That he will not specially reach out to the minorities, but would so strongly resent it if accused of being unfair to them as a ruler. We may, in fact, be dealing with a leader who does believe in rajdharma, but would define it for himself in his very own way.
This article was originally published in India Today on 21 August 2014.
Also read: If Pragya Thakur wins this Thursday, Modi is in for an embarrassing 5 years
India saw one of its wprst period during 201-2019, You saw a great Pracharak???? Believe me it is time for your retirement after a long great career.
Please take off the article. It does not hold good in 2019.. Bad for you, Mr Gupta.
This comment is full of anti-modi people. It assures me my vote for modi won’t go waste. Modi is doing his job good
May be, as a Chief Minister of Gujarat, he might have, as reported, kept VHP and RSS at arms length. But as the Prime Minister, in his stint in Delhi he has hardly done so. As a matter of fact he cannot do that. The RSS has outgrown his capacity to defy it. Many cadres in the civil service in the country have been infiltrated by its men. Even the judiciary is not free from this fact. There is a constant effort to involve armed forces also. Modi is just a tool in their hand.
Those who don’t like RSS at least must know the facts about the reasons for hating RSS. If there is an organization that understands India ‘s roots, it’s people and culture, it’s RSS. If you agree that RSS has grown by leaps and bounds, it’s natural that more RSS persons will be government services as well. In a democracy a RSS person has as much right to be in government as you and anybody else has. The amount of propaganda that goes against RSS has not been seen against any other organization in India. For some people the whole politics is based on RSS bashing. Still RSS doesn’t come out and defend itself because its roots are deep and strong, its ideology is Indian and it’s totally devoted to India and India.
Wow …. SG what you have written in 2014 still hold true to the man called Modi…. The people are blind folded by Liberads Selective Lutyens Leftist journalists over the Social Media…. Their hold over the media, faculty, literature don’t allow people to think otherwise about Modi….. People must appreciate that after 2002, not a single riot taken place in Gujarat…. And moreover at the time of Gujarat 2002, Modi was not having a grid on the administration as he was barely a six months old CM….. Whereas it was a regular feature under successive Khongress Govts in Gujarat before BJP ascended to power…. And if BJP is guilty for Gujarat 2002, then Khongress is 100 times more guilty for Bhagalpur, Hashimpura, Meerut Malayana, Mumbai riots and Sikh Genocide of 1984…. And for opening of gates of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya by Rajiv Gandhi was the last straw which gave BJP a tool to beat with…. Leftist Liberads Selective Lutyens media want people to forget the follies of Khongress when BJP as a force was not even born at the time…. Are we can say that those media people were and is also getting paid by the Khongressis…. I would like Mr Shekhar Gupta that you should make it a pre-condition to read this article by all your fellow writers who wanted to publish their article in ThePrint…. Still you avoided to criticise other political leaders for their duplicity….. How good it is that the PM of the country work for everyone without any special treatment or privilege to anyone….
How many lynchers have been punished with the ferocity they deserved? How many Muslim candidates were fielded by the Bjp? Why was the woman representation act not passed by this government with the same alacrity as the triple talak bill for Muslim women? Not making a differentiation while doling out a mere 100 rupees a day is enough to change your opinion? Come on Shekhar, I thought you were more astute than that. Or is it that you think it is better now to subscribe to the ruling dispensation. You could have at least waited till the 23rd.
Mahatma Gandhi lead the INC in the freedom struggle because people did not suspect any difference between what he preached and what he believed in. Many in the freedom struggle did not agree with his philosophy and he had to pay the price with his life for not compromising with his belief. But even none from his opponents questioned his integrity.
Democratic politics needs to cater to the aspirations of majority of the electorate. INC tried to cobble winning majority in elections by aggregating different groups , but in doing so appeared clever and dishonest to large sections of the people. This playing politics for winning elections has reduced the respect for politicians and people assume that all political leaders are lacking integrity. The jokes and cartoons in newspapers and social media show this abundantly.
If a leader has the courage to speak and behave the way he believes he has to pay the price. The animosity of liberal intellectuals towards Modi is the price he is paying. Many leaders from opposition parties may be more communal in beliefs but as long as they present a facade acceptable to the liberals they will not be questioned.
The selective targeting of Hindus for their traditional peculiarities and ridiculing them hurts their self esteem when equally and even more ridiculous practices from other religious groups are not targeted for fear of hurting their sentiments and not to appear siding with their opponents is responsible for the loss of trust in the liberals’ impartiality.
I am a little confused about Shekhar Gupta has has in his mind in republishing the article which he wrote after Modi’s victory in 2014 election.
Dear Mr.Shekhar Gupta,
What a neat turnaround from you!! Just till two days ago before the exit polls you were hammer and tongs on BJP and Modi. Now that all opinion polls showing BJP as coming to power on its own, you neatly softened your stand and became a “neutral” guy praising Modi as honest guy and saying that you have to give it to Modi. Amazing change my friend.
I am sure you will soften even more in the coming years to come and just before elections in 2024 you will show your true colours.
Keep it up.
Shame on you Mr Gupta. You could do better than churn out your old articles and give a totally untrue picture of facts. You have completely ignored the several cases of mob-lynchings that have gone unpunished, and the innumerable instances of Muslim-bashing during the last 5 years. By quoting one case of Modi not gudging a Muslim a Rs 100/- dole, you have tried to cover his sins and given him a clean chit for all his wrongdoings, a list of which could be prepared from the facts quoted in the several articles published on the Print.in by more conscientious writers.
Is this what we should expect from you,henceforth?
In a truly secular country, it is not necessary to pander to any particular religious community. But it is the job of the govt to protect all its citizens without any discrimination whatsoever. Can Modi lay a claim to that? Hardly, with his 2002 record in Gujarat and with the lynchings and beef killings and violence against dalits (Una).
Shekhar babu, finally knocking at the doors to be let in.
If I have to say what is the single most important trait of Modi that makes him so popular among Indian masses is that he is the same inside as he is outside i.e. the person who can be trusted and believed. Rahul Gandhi represents the opposite i.e. he is not the same inside as he often acts outside and obviously not all trust Rahul Gandhi. To build one’s credibility it’s utmost important that the person is same inside and outside. This is trait is very rare in Indian politicians as it’s very hard to be.
One statement, and its provenance was proved to be baseless on verification. Yet, we had the ‘spectacle’ of Rahul’s ‘Rafale’ and other rants running ad nauseam for seven months, with more totally unsubstantiated assumptions and wild innuendos every passing day occupying prime space in the TV and Print media. Common people with even reasonable intelligence could see what the media failed to question Rahul about, allowing ( deliberately? ) people to believe in lies passing as Gospel truth. A great disservice was done, particularly at a time when the nation was poised for an election. The media sinned by omission than in commission by looking on and not doing its sacred duty. Perhaps, it suits the media to do so. Their standards have obviously fallen steeply. The relevance of all this to the article is that, notwithstanding the ‘mask’, there is a really sincere person behind it, who is being painted in dark colours by those with self serving, and entirely selfish, interests.
You are already aligning yourself to the wind. No longer a watchdog but rationalising and soft-peddaling the power that dictates.
Being a watchdog doesn’t mean that you become color blinded. A journalist must be able see the truth and be brave to tell it to people. If a journalist sees the truth in one color, he/she is bound to miss the reality and loose his credibility among people who can see the rainbow. Many liberals and intellectuals become victim of self deception and a laughing stock among people.