The Motera pitch may have cut short a five-day sporting contest, but it did make us witness the beginning of a long-term political game — the emergence of the Narendra Modi cult. With the naming of the renovated Ahmedabad stadium after India’s Prime Minister, it wasn’t difficult for many to observe the cult that is in making. And it is touching new skies everyday — on Sunday, when ISRO’s PSLV-C51/Amazônia-1 mission left the earth, it carried a satellite whose top panel had an engraved picture of Modi and an e-copy of the Bhagavad Gita.
From the time he wore the monogrammed suit to now, when he has a stadium named after him that lies at the heart of a sports complex named after the Iron Man of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Modi has come a long way. If this is the beginning, then in this article, I wear the futuristic glasses to see what the final look and shape of the Modi cult would be. With a battery of doting followers, it is not that hard to imagine the future. The ingredients are already here, we just need to connect the dots.
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Cults not alien to India
Cults are not alien to Indian culture. Powerful people can make others, those who look up to them, move mountains, which is why cults have been observed in human history since ancient civilisations.
We’ve seen cults in our lifetime too — from Osho to Asaram Bapu to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. And the command these figures have had over their followers was simply surreal.
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The future of Modi cult
When the Modi cult comes into its full shape, India’s ‘national colour’ would be a deep hue of saffron with all public buildings washed with it. Armed with saffron flags, it is Modi’s supporters who would be called the true nationalists — filled with fervor, crying out ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘NaMo Namah’, as salutations of true patriots.
The national animal would be changed from the Bengal tiger to our indigenous cow, who will enjoy air-conditioned gaushalas with an entire cabinet ministry dedicated to their welfare. Scientific studies have been funded to check their cow dung and urine for medicinal properties. This isn’t imaginary though. It has already happened. And we also have a cow cabinet in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.
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When there will be ghar ghar Modi
Once upon a time, lovers inked their beloved’s name on their arms as an ultimate declaration of love. In the future, India will have millions of arms tattooed with ‘NaMo’.
The love for India’s second icon, after Mahatma Gandhi of course, will seem only natural. After all, Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse would bath in glory as a venerable being whose ultimate aim was nationalism — Mahatma Gandhi’s murder wasn’t intended for any other reason. And many people would not only believe but also endorse it. So it is only obvious that for such people, someone had to fill the void of the overhyped Mahatma. Who better than Narendra Modi — someone who, by then, would have given us Kashmir, Ram Mandir and CAA, topping it up with NRC.
If India was to have an ultimate cult figure contest, Narendra Modi would win that lotto. He already has made ‘humble’ beginnings. Modi has managed to captivate his followers’ imagination through his ideology, oratory skills and iron-fisted command. To look into the future and imagine his cult is no less fascinating.
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Modi hoga toh mumkin hoga
The inauguration of the Narendra Modi Stadium will have a long-lasting impact. People, in the future, will become acutely conscious of the fact that everything was named after the Gandhis — Indira, Nehru, Rajiv and Sanjay — and a national sentiment will build around this that would demand change. Why should places be named after one political family? People would not want things to be named after Sonia, Rahul or Priyanka. So, a change will be much needed. And the answer to that change will of course be Modi.
International airports, stadiums, awards, all will be dedicated to India’s true son — Narendra Modi. And since he does not have a family, naming places after him won’t create a legacy. DD will be replaced by NaMo TV.
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2025: RSS centenary
The Central Vista project would be complete and Narendra Modi would do its ‘Pravesh-Puja’. Modi will break away from the colonial symbols for true bharatiyata. Lutyens’ will be long dead — literally and figuratively. The new Parliament building will be called Modi Vista where all ministers and bureaucrats will remain internally connected. This, to make sure everyone works 18 hours daily, just like Narendra Modi would continue to do, even then.
The RSS would take it upon themselves to show the Muslims of the nation the true path to nationalism. They will act as the elder brother of the minorities. Uniform Civil Code will finally be explained to the Muslims, after NRC implementation.
Religion will no longer be a talking point in India. Modi cult will successfully explain to people that inter-religion marriages are bad for the nation and weaken society as a whole. ‘Love-jihad’ would, therefore, be successfully eradicated. The debate over caste will also fall way-side because the cult will prove to everyone how years of reservation deteriorated merit. The centuries of inhuman treatment of the Dalits would end because that would be a New India. Brahmins and Dalits will be alike because Modi’s followers will assert that in New India, Skill India and Digital India could change Dalit lives. We will have no choice but to be ‘reasonable’ with them.
With Modi’s pictures on all government buildings, Gandhi’s spectacles will also be done away with — from brochures and government files. Swachh Bharat, you see. Modi’s cult will also hope to cajole the government into getting new currency notes with New India’s new-age grand-old man: one who wears perfectly trimmed beard and Cartier glasses.
The author is a political observer and writer. Views are personal.