Sushil Kutty
Eight years of Narendra Modi, and the lament is “there are still two more to go.” May 26, 2014 Narendra Modi stuck his thumb out at the naysayers and took oath. From that day on, the people of India haven’t been given reason to forget that the man rules their lives. And, if anybody should take responsibility for the lurking disappointment, it’s as much the Opposition as it is the man himself.
Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe rates Modi’s eight years a “success”, but then which BJP Member of Parliament wouldn’t. One of the distinguishing features of eight years of Modi is the complete capitulation and submission of party and government to one-man up-manship masquerading as collective decision-making. There are pictures of Modi sitting at the head, holding what looks like the “class” of his Council of Ministers!
Modi, says Sahasrabuddhe, ensured the “delivery of several welfare programmes and schemes”. And if Modi has been railroaded as ‘Divider-in-Chief’ by the Time magazine, Sahasrabuddhe settles for “Great Communicator”. To the lay observer, titles such as “Great Communicator” are generally associated with dictators! And Modi, for no fault of the hoi polloi who voted him, is considered authoritarian and a statute-killer, despite his numerous vote-gathering welfare schemes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is no spring chicken when it comes to sticking to the throne. Once or twice in the eight years, there were misplaced reports of an invisible challenge posed to Modi from within the party. Turns out they were hoaxes. Modi and his eight years is one of zero challenges, which actually fosters the feeling that this is one dictator who is entrenched, who has covered his spoors excellently, and he wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Neither Home Minister Amit Shah, nor Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, can dislodge Modi from his position on the top of the heap. Throughout the eight years of Modi rule, Modi remains the only option for the hard Hindutva right. So long as the TINA factor is associated with Narendra Modi, the hard Hindutva will keep voting Modi every five years till the man is returned to the five elements!
But that is luck which eludes the anti-Modi. Last heard, Narendra Modi was in the pink of his health with all his medical coordinates ascertained, and found working. That is also why the eight years of Modi so far has seen a steady build-up of the frustrated anti-Modi. In fact, social media is packed with them; with their wits about them, but helpless and inadequate, because they’re a scattered lot, which makes them appear aimless, drifting. Nothing that they write or post or do is working.
Which brings us to the opposition parties in Modi’s eight years. The Opposition is splintered. That has been a feature all these eight years of Modi-rule. No amount of Modi-bashing could deliver to the opposition parties, and their idea of India, deliverance from Modi, and his idea of India. Eight years of tribulations is all that the opposition parties got in return for their trials. If Modi is ‘Divider-in-Chief’, the man did a great job keeping the Opposition divided!
Also, when the history of Hindutva is written, these eight years of Modi rule will be the ‘Golden Age’. Among his Hindutva successes are the repeal of Articles 370, and 35. Also the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, of which Modi laid the ‘foundation brick’ with much bhakti and devotion, and the rebuilt-revamped Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Modi’s parliamentary constituency.
Eight years of Modi rule has seen Modi establish himself in the league of Rani Ahilyabhai Holkar and Raja Todarmal. Eight years on, more temples are being discovered underfoot mosques. So much so, if every find is disputed, it wouldn’t be long before Narendra Modi is given the title ‘Gyanvapi Modi’ or ‘Taj Modi’, or ‘Qutubi Modi’. Imagine the plight of ‘mosques on temples’ if 2024 delivers to Modi another term?
Of course, there are many secular accomplishments of eight years of Modi. From Swach Bharat to Ujjawala to what else, including the Jan Dhan Yojana, and the DBT. The abolition of triple talaq was a true victory. But the biggest test was when Covid-19 struck, and Modi girded India up with the banging of thalis and the biggest vaccine drive in history. Now, the WHO is raising the red flag on India’s Covid death count even as the Quad strengthened the saying that only poison is an antidote to poison!
Eight years of Modi rule saw bouts of cow-lynching and ‘award vapasi’—cries of intolerance; and migrant workers trudging long distances, hungry and distraught; bodies floating in the Ganges, and bodies buried in the sands of the Ganga. Eight years of Modi rule saw the BJP winning elections, and the Opposition losing elections. But the 2014 and 2019 were the ones which established and perpetuated Modi rule; for Modi bhakta, Modi hai to mumkin hai. (IPA Service)