A singular visual difference between BJP and other parties of India is that while the cadres of other parties are blindly Sychophantic of party leadership in the name of loyalty, the BJP cadres with seismic sensitivity often find fault with their own leadership especially the Prime Minister with an ‘I told you so’ righteous attitude, sometimes join hands with opposition in vitriolic condemnation and often dish out plateful of ideas and advises for the party and leadership to survive. But it is to their credit that notwithstanding their loyalty to Hindutva and Modi, their love for their nation precedes that of the party and it’s leadership.
The recent electoral setback for Narendramodi and Bharathiya Janata Party set many tails wag intensely and amplified this attitude as many supporters and followers of BJP and Narendramodi became instant psephologists, political commentators and turned experts on election management. Some provided Narendramodi ideas on governance and suggested modus operandi on the art of winning people and vote bank politics. Some found fault with Modi and his governance totally and decried him while some others claimed that he has disappointed the core hindu vote bank. The internet is exuberant with such ideas that rose from anguish of the recent election loss. No such thing ever happens when the anti BJP parties lose elections...they just blame the system and especially the EVMs and get away but praise their leadership by twisting election results.
The idea of this brief article is not to dissect this electoral setback. But to defend PM Narendramodi from detractors and advisers to the PM. We know that many mean well. We also know that our PM often solicits for ideas and is open to ideas through his application and website. But to conceptually understand the whole idea of governance by the PM and to understand and go beyond statistics is a different ball game while dissecting then microscopically comes easy. We need to see the whole picture of India and her leadership based on values, intentions, efforts, sacrifices and scaling achieved.
Let’s also understand who Narendramodi the Leader is, his past achievements and his character. If one amongst us can come marginally match his standards, gone through analogous tribulations that he had gone through, sacrificed so much , benefited so little personally and taken strenuous efforts for the Indian nation then that person or a group of persons may said to have understood him well and cipher sense to bring him down. But is there any? Let us also weigh PM Narendramodi against past standards in public integrity and governance but not vaguely pull him down without understanding or desire to understand what the government under him have achieved. As they say that hunger of the poor can be understood only by another poor man who felt it’s pains, this man called Narendramodi can be better understood by those who have gone either through similar fire. Yes Modi can be understood easily by those with a conceptual mind like Shakespeare that understands lives easily but we live in an analytical word where we miss the woods for the tree.
Born very poor, the mother of Modi brought up the kids working as a house maid. Father died early and despite such adverse conditions Modi gains academic qualifications, joins RSS and travels across the nation to gain knowledge of the people and their roots. Even withdraws from a forced marriage and thank God, he left soon unlike Lord Buddha. Learns the skills of governance, becomes Chief Minister of Gujarat, handles state under worst of both natural and manmade calamities. Condemned by critics as responsible for the violence in the state but exonerated by the highest court of the land. It was to his credit that peace returned to Gujarat and progress and prosperity became hallmarks of his leadership. Later, despite odds stacked against him, leads BJP to form a Govt at the national level with majority, the first time for any party in decades. What marked Narendramodi as a remarkable person and kept him apart from past leadership was his thirst for learning and his willingness to learn and this has stood by him throughout life.
How did he act as PM of India? As Pranab Mukherjee speaking of Modi said that with zero exposure or experience in New Delhi, he understood the vast central system, its intricacies by sheer hard work. PM Narendramodi never played to the gallery which is a temptation no politician in free India has not succumbed it, never worked to gain public acclaim, took harsh unpopular decisions on what he thought was appropriate and provided the cleanest government India had since the Mughals arrived. 800 years ago. Wasn’t this a huge achievement? Travelled intensely to meet foreign leaders on work and most often travelled in the night to save time. Those who thought frequent foreign jaunts are either unaccustomed to such travels and those who indulge in frequent travels for work detest them. Jetlags, loss of sleep, body going through stress because of varied time zones can create ennui and exhaustion. Despite such hectic schedule, PM has never opted for a single day of rest. No vacations. No fun. No family joys. No friends getogether. But thoughtfully and thankfully , he dressed well to keep the dignity of office but even this smartness became an eye sore to the petty filthy rich of India. How can a chaiwala get to be so healthy , energetic and so smart as he delivered his speeches without any references in hand? And when he defended his past status of chaiwala with pride, some brilliants called it self pity. Fact remains he was not ashamed of his past. Funny that when some claim entitlements based on the past of their families, no questions were ever asked. As he confessed in London, Narendramodi was abused like no other leader, was cast with aspersions but without proof. He plowed on; Focused and unmindful of the noises of politics and melodrama media.
PM Narendramodi’s way of governance fundamentally was by delegation of powers. Many of his Ministers like Nitin Gadkari exceeded expectations. Some were average and he did not wait to act on someone like Ms Irani. He did not interfere with the independence of Ministers but demanded reports. Some were loose tongued, some others were lethargic but politics of governance is not a total black and white thing. There were shades of grey. He tolerated some for which I believe he may have valid reasons which hopefully he will explain when he retires one day. Modi is not a gullible man but a combination of commitment, character and cleverness. Without cleverness, he will be washed away by the marauding opposition who in the name of politics played nasty games on people and turned them victims. He demanded discipline from cadres and some fringe groups but sadly when they didn’t listen to him he asked state governments to act as law and order was a state subject.
Modi ensured that Bureaucracy acted and importantly became available in office and accessible. The Govt focused on revamping the British system which the collaborationist Congress party had continued. Red tapism was cut away. Outdated laws discarded. Demanded accountability for public money dispensed. Plugged system loopholes. But yet there was no vengeance in his actions. He let law and Judiciary take their own course which led to slower actions on dacoits belonging to politics , bureaucracy and businesses. This angered many of his followers who wanted actions on par with Middle East nations. Instant punishments. Judiciary refused to accept suggestions for its overhaul and kept interfering in administration and became a Parliament by itself. Yet, on many economic and social parameters, Governance in India saw high intensity under the leadership of Narendramodi. But some ignored them as they did not suit their political agenda but instead disparaging India with lies lies and canards became propagandist tools. Remember St Kitts and the Coffin scandal? A friend of mine who frequently appears on debates on national TV called WB and IMF statistics on India as alternative facts while those given by Tenpath as real and pure. Such charlatanism parades as intellectualism!
But Narendramodi had a sense of India’s political past, a respect for the heritage and past achievements of the soil and an understanding of mass psychology. Had he arrested Sonia as was done to Indira Gandhi even for the most credible of reasons, that act would have paved the way for her return on grounds of pity as it happened in many cases. Indians forget their own pitiable status often and but are willing victims to dramas of victimisation and are very compassionate to their targeted leaders.
Some refer to Narendramod’s actions as Chief Minister when he bluntly refused to appease minorities and desire that he repeats those actions. They failed to understand that being a CM and being a PM are being under two completely different arc lights. The Actions of a CM at most may attract the state and sometimes the nation, but being a PM of the World’s largest democracy means one needs to tactful, play any game according to international circumstances so none of the acts backfire. Tactlessness may affect international relations and trade. It is this new found tactfulness that ensured Iranian oil on rupee terms to India, the control of international oil prices as confessed by a minister of KSA and building of temples in UAE. Whatever may be the grievance of the minorities, it is to Modi’s credit even India’s enemy nations envy him and desire to have a tall leader of his caliber for themselves.
Many Hindus feel that they did not receive any special concessions or discounts from their Prime Minister. But they were not discriminated as in the past as no group or community excepting the weaker sections were given special attention at the cost of others. He had to be wary of unfriendly Courts which over react to issues concerning the majority religion and Modi’s hands were tied. He chose to be quiet on some issues in the manner of PVN Rao and MM Singh. Tact, again.
Modi introduced some schemes to uplift minorities like scrapping of subsidised Haj pilgrimage but it is a fact, barring exceptions, the majority amongst minorities will refuse to acknowledge favours received. PM’s accent to SCs, the Poor is condemned by middle class which forms his major vote bank. It is only fair and dharmic that the poor and suffering are taken care of in any society. To condemn programs for the the depressed communities shows an insensitivity which plagues all middle class. But Modi having been very poor can not be expected to disown the poor though Lutyens propagandists claim that he was friends to the rich. How? Because some businesses flourish and some rich were found in his pictures. Prime Govt lands in New Delhi were taken away by elements close to dynasty but media will never ever refer to such nepotism.
Why is Narendramodi so easy to deride?
He is just a common man who came up through democratic means so he won’t ever hurt democracy or freedom of speech as in many states like Tamilnadu where dissent is punished with court cases. You can call Modi a dictator because he won’t act like a dictator. It was a fact that people were scared to criticise Jayalalithaa or Karunanidhi while they were in power, even on social media. But Modi is calm to criticisms. And most importantly represents change for good for the first time in India in many millennia. Change always means efforts and positive change demands understanding, efforts, sacrifices, pains. No developed nation ever rose to heights without her people sacrificing for the sake of posterity or future gains. India which was a nation of tax evaders is hurt because it is now a tax complying nation. As I read in a phone message, Indians want change but without any change within. They want to go to heaven without dying. Indians need to remember that even their family can not flourish, if it focuses on instant pleasures, refuses to save for future, plan the lives of kids and take pains to make a living.
Narendramodi is a result of the prayers and blessings of our ancestors and our Gurus. He understands his responsibility. If there is one living person in India who won’t let down his country, it is PM Modi. It was his planning,acumen and hardwork that catapulted him as PM. He knows what to do to save India from wolves waiting to devour your wealth. Please do send him your advises but as our leader, let’s trust him to decide right and work his way to successes. Setbacks remove the lethargy of minds and am sure he will continue to lead India. Please support India by supporting him as the future of our kids rests on his mantle.
As they say, Trust in Modi. And keep calm.
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