Voters of India, well done, you have redeemed democracy, punctured the hubris of populism.
Ten years ago, you were disengaged from politicians who were exploiting their power for private interests. You were disenchanted with politics and wanted newness. It made you open to a populist leader who claimed that the system was rigged. He made you believe that he cares for you, and not those people—the elites and the minorities. You liked the way he talked, you felt a connection; he oozed command and promised hope. He became your messiah who would always safeguard you, your well-being and your interests.
You didn’t know then that you were voting for populism. Or that Narendra Modi was a populist leader. You innocently liked him and voted for his charm, his mesmerising hold over you made you believe in his promise that he would look after you. And in 2014, you made him your voice.
A decade later, the tide shifted. You started to disengage with your leader and his men. You saw the power given to them being misused—arrogantly and proudly—for their vested interest. You saw the reality beneath the façade that nobody was ready to show—definitely not the media. You saw your very own, who disagreed with power, being either harassed online or put in jail. You saw that anybody who stood against him and his power was struck down and labelled an enemy of the nation. All narratives mixed politics with religion and tried to polarise and divide you. God was superseded, and you started fearing for yourself and your future. You realised that the past decade has bruised the health of democracy—‘democracy khatre mein hai (democracy is in danger)’ suddenly felt real.
Also read: 2024 results show Modi isn’t very different from other politicians. And just as biological
Against the odds
Nobody believed that you had it in you to vote out the messiah you chose. Hardly a politician, pollster, or journalist from one end of the country to the other had ventured to forecast what would happen in this election. After all, Kashmir had become an unbreakable part of India, and Ram had come back. And they all assumed, ‘bus, ab ki baar 400 paar’—This time we’ll cross 400 seats. But you did not react; there were no signs of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
You let your silence speak, and it was deafening. You were fed vicious propaganda and fake news, but you didn’t fall into anybody’s trap. You knew ab ki baar 400 paar was not possible. You loathed talking about the leader and his politics, much less discussing who you would vote for. I heard you speak only when you were confident that you were in the company of others who held the same opinion as you. You were afraid, but you were also confident that you would break the shackles. You did not believe in the exit poll numbers. In galli and ghat, I heard you speak confidently of how the numbers were a farce. You knew what you voted for. You knew who you voted for. You knew why you voted for it. Nobody could or wanted to read your silence; they were busy reading the imperious boom of the netas.
You sensed the undercurrent and saw democracy being challenged. All around you, there was noise—‘If not Modi, then who?’ You were confused by the competing messages and by this arresting thought. But grudgingly, unwillingly, or in hopefulness, you voted for parties and candidates that you trusted, feared, liked or disliked to vote out populism.
Also read: Nobody should doubt Chandrababu Naidu’s determination. If anything, they should fear it
Victory is yours
You didn’t stir a revolution or a revolt; you waited for the mood to change to speak your mind. You exercised your right. You came out in this excruciating heat, tramped through the blistering heatwave with a will—a will to take out pessimism, fear, unaccountability and haughtiness. To put populism in its place.
In the privacy of the voting booth, some of you chose populism, keeping your trust in Narendra Modi intact; but the rest of you chose democracy. You flexed your muscles to put the Right in the right place, and stir the country rightly toward ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’.
You created a masterpiece. The verdict of 2024 is undeniably your verdict, where populism prevails. You see, populism shall always exist. It finds life in the cracks between democracy’s promises and the impossibility of their full, permanent realisation. It has always been part of democracy, arising from the uncertainty of where democracy will take us—not this time, the next, or the time after that.
This verdict will allow you to get a taste of real-time politics, which was amiss the last ten years. You will have a defining, strong voice from hereon in the people’s House. Your verdict has put the soul back in the big stone building of democracy. Democracy, which was looking tired and had become limp, which had become messy and ineffectual, will now be fuelled to function, debate, criticise, live, breathe, and speak. As French political scientist Tocqueville put it: “More fires get started in a democracy, but more fires get put out too.”
Voters of India, take a bow, you put the spotlight back on you and the applause is yours.
Shruti Vyas is a journalist based in New Delhi. She writes on politics, international relations and current affairs. Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)