Despite five years of incumbency, this narrative allows Modi to project himself as the underdog in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
With less than a year to go before the big Lok Sabha battle begins, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has showed his hand. It will be a ‘victim’ but ‘stable’ and ‘welfare-oriented’ Modi versus the rest in 2019.
Modi’s recent interview to Swarajya magazine – where he claimed the opposition’s sole agenda was to remove him – and his government’s decision to raise the minimum support price of the paddy crop by Rs 200 per quintal, have set the tone for his campaign.
“They have no agenda except to remove Modi,” he said dramatically, referring to the opposition parties’ attempts to forge a united front against him.
Smart story to sell
Modi being the ‘victim’ of the opposition’s undue hatred is a clever story to sell to the electorate. Despite a full term and five years of incumbency, with this narrative, Modi becomes the underdog, and his political rivals end up looking like their only purpose is to see him out of power. The ‘chai-wallah’ versus the elite account is also sure to come up at regular intervals.
This is also a considered strategy to try and divert attention from the fact that the BJP’s governance track record has indeed left a lot to be desired, that Modi has not fulfilled several of the lofty promises he made before the 2014 elections, and that policy decisions like demonetisation have ended up hurting the common man.
In the interview, the PM also claimed a “non-ideological and opportunistic coalition” is “the best guarantee for chaos”. Pointing out the contradictions within a grand alliance, Modi said “such instability adversely impacts the growth trajectory of our nation”.
With this, he has created a clear binary – stability versus chaos – where he, a ‘strong’ leader, stands for the former, while a splintered, contradiction-ridden opposition coalition means the latter.
The pro-welfare pitch
Alongside this narrative, a pro-welfare pitch will be the other crutch to prop up the PM and the BJP. Wednesday, his government fulfilled its budget promise to farmers that there would be a big hike in the minimum support price for crops.
“I am very happy that the promise made by the government to our farmer brothers and sisters of giving minimum support price at 1.5 times the production cost has been fulfilled. There has been a historic increase in the MSP. Congratulations to all farmers,” the PM tweeted Wednesday.
With this farmer outreach, Modi has attempted to cement the pro-welfare image he has crafted in the last four years, after the initial patch when he was attacked for being ‘pro-industry/rich’. To shed off the ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ tag, the PM has attempted to lay emphasis on welfare and rural policy with schemes like Ujjwala, Saubhagya and Jan Dhan. Work is on to meet the target to construct one crore rural houses by March 2019, and no stone is being left unturned for the launch of the ambitious insurance-based healthcare scheme Ayushman Bharat.
Hindutva not far in the background
Interestingly, however, the PM is also making sure he is able to keep his core constituency intact. At a social media meet organised by BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav last month, several said it seemed like the PM was not doing enough to engage with the core base.
To make corrections, the PM chose to give an interview to Swarajya magazine, to communicate his message through what the party believes is the ‘right channel’. In the exhaustive interview, the PM steers clear of vigilantism in the name of cow protection, thus avoiding irking the BJP’s ideological parent RSS, or the party’s Hindutva vote-bank.
On the issue of intolerance, the PM said social media is a democratic influence, while earlier only self-appointed experts spoke. With this, he skirted the issue of rising intolerance in the country, and gave social media, which is heavily criticised for abusive trolling, a “democratic” status.
Modi the ‘strong’ and ‘decisive’ leader is already an image the PM has carefully crafted for himself. The next nine months would be spent on portraying himself as the lone target of the ‘vengeful’ opposition, and a leader who stands for the poor.
Prof PK Sharma, Freelance Journalist, Barnala (Punjab)
While once speaking in Parliament PM Modi had asserted that it was not that easy to study or read Modi !
But ironically, in my view that assertion now within a very short span of time turns exaggerated,boastful
and self emulating !
NaMo at this juncture stands very badly exposed ! It is a child’s play to read his ploys, rhetorics and gimmicks
because he loads these with lies, misstatements and dramatics of the highest order sans either any worthwhile
or deep philosophy, content and ideology ! Overlooking “Nation Above Everything” spirit this study reflects
sheer megalomania, whims and impulses at their best display !
Now eyeing very desperately second term in the hot seat, he will go all out to repeat May,2014 in the May, 2019
Lok Sabha Polls by hook or crook ! He will employ all devices and methods at his command to achieve this end !
We have now the first glimpse of the same very much in view. For more than four years in office, he remained a
silent and blind specatator to the plight of farmers who faced music going to the extreme course of committing
suicides ! There can be two possibilities involved in this indifferent attitude ! One could be that he was at his
wits end how to come to the rescue of the farmers finding themselves in dire straits? The other one could be
that he did not have the intention to do anything to better their lots !
Nothing amazing ! The historic NaMo MSP hike is a gift to the farmers after four years in the seat in the election
year ! Many distinguished agronomists of the nation have deemed this MSP hike as soaps and eye wash in wake
of May, 2019 Lok Sabha Polls !
Then NaMo during all these four years could have ensured supply of petrol, diesel and kerosene oil at the cheapest
rates in wake of crude oil available in the international market at the lowest ever price during these four years, had
he been pro-masses and farmers from the core of his heart ?
Furthermore, his ill-timed, ill-thought and sans proper home work anti-public decision of demonetisation subjected
innocent masses to untold miseries and hardships resulting in nothing else but futility ! The GST decision too suffers
from a lot of confusion and uncertainity leaving traders non-plussed very often !
Ms Ruhi Tewari’s article “It will be a ‘ victim ‘ Modi versus the rest in 2019″ appears quite paradoxical in nature! If she
allows me the liberty of alteration then the title of the write-up infact ought to be
” It will be a ployster-trickster Modi versus the rest in 2019 ”
How is Modi a victim in this Marathon Event of 2019 ? Rather he made the nation, its people and the entire system a victim
of his short-sighted vision, hollow, magalomaniac, parochial, whimsical and impulsive outlook !
Prof PK Sharma,Freelance Journalist
Pom Anm Nest,Barnala(Punjab)
The writer is not objective . He/She seems to be a Modi hater and is lamenting that nothing can be done to stop him. It would have been better to list many achievements of Mr Modi and compared with the Rahul Gang and thier lies
You on the other hand seem to be very objective. Not too late to be a journalist. Heard postcard news is recruiting.
The only people who know the truth are the journalists. After all, they have connections to beyond the web of lies we are even entangled in. The real enemies are available through journalists and need to be flushed out first. Portraying Modi in this light is just to take the attention of of them (though few people know of their evils since they act through other people). If this comment is not passed, I won’t be surprised. I wrote a similar comment and ‘they’ didn’t let it appear in the comments section. Filthy bloodsuckers.
It matters little how good the economy grows, nothing will ever change in this country.
There is no law and order in this country. That is so in all the states.
India is now one of the major economic powers portrayed in the press and claimed by he Government.
But look at the lawlessness in almost all states.
Now the Central Government has declared that Law & Order is to be maintained by State(s).
There is no law and order in any state.
Someone has to bell the cat.
S.Vas
The article needs to be flushed down the toilet.
Difficult to portray the combined – though at the moment not united in a pre poll arrangement, with a declared face – opposition as a rag tag arrangement that spells chaos, even an inability to complete a five year term, as happened after 1989 and 1996. Shri Sharad Pawar is not a serious contender, because the NCP may get no more than ten seats. However, he represents the bench strength of the opposition, especially the regional parties. Few would question Shri Naveen Patnaik’s maturity and ability. Difficult to place Shri Rahul Gandhi at the moment, but if the Congress crosses 125, with good numbers coming in from states like Rajasthan, MP, etc, it will be difficult to deny the party and its President their due.