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As I and my engineering friend rode in the MH ST bus to Satara for another engineering friend’s wedding, we ended up talking politics like we always do, after discussing marriage and salary hikes of course. “How can one still support Modi after all the hatred and negativity they have brewed in metro cities even”, I said “This religion-based politics was limited to the rural areas not too long ago, but they’ve manipulated even urban pop to believe in the false power and false threats to the common Hindu man.”
“Do you see an alternative?”
That question of his got me thinking of another side of Urban Modi supporters that may not be religious but simply out of option.
Given the mass-scale political candidate poaching done by the BJP and the lack of any solid counter-attack for the opposition, it seems to the urban working class as if there are no other real options. Already poorly knowledgeable about local politics and who to vote for, what most of the young working class in cities do is ask their siblings/colleagues for opinions/decisions, or read online about the candidates a few days before elections, or worse, vote based on the marketing materials they are exposed to.
And BJP seems to have an upper hand in all three scenarios. All the WhatsApp forwards and negative media targeting the opposition have weakened the opposition’s authority and brand image, while the “Modi marketing” and advertising continue to grow beyond borders. As the routine-run, salary-addicted capitalists we are, the problems of minorities or those far from us does not affect our conscience.
Most of us even have a deep unrealized fear of the consequences of not supporting the BJP, given the level of control they have gained over the crowds and the judiciary. Since most of the political content we have seen on the past 8 years is about the BJP’s power, it seems pointless for a scared corporate employee to have an opinion about it.
People like us favor the majority, which the BJP has made it seem it already is. Right from businesses to foreign governments, everybody seems to believe there is no competition for Modi.
We are now seeing a few ads by the INC (the “haath badlega haalat” campaigns) but is it too late? Of course, there is a significant crowd that is against the BJP manifesto but do they see the INC or the I.N.D.I.A alliance as a competition worth supporting? Wouldn’t we just give up and rather not vote? From what I feel, not voting in this election should be equivalent to supporting the BJP as they would have still their bhakt vote bank that would put them with the majority.
No matter how the urban corporate class decides to vote, I’m sure we are in for another heated, filmy, unthinkable surprise.
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It is an insult to more than 100 crore Indians to say there is no alternative! Leaders will emerge given an opportunity. People probably thought there will be a vacuum after Nehru and then after India but the country moved on. There may be temporary inconvenience but having a strong leader with wrong ideology and divisive rhetoric is much more harmful than having a normal Leader/government with right inclusive ideology.