Narendra Modi : An Idea Whose Time Has Come

So Narendra Modi does it again – winning on development plank for the 3^rd consecutive time. There were apprehensions among certain sections that he may repeat a Chandrababu Naidu – who bit the dust despite huge media hype on the contrary. But it was Modi all the way (to Delhi?).

 

Of course, the usual suspects were interpreting this as depletion of his mass-appeal (one seat less than last elections). 

Nonetheless a victory capturing 2/3 of the seats permits only one interpretation – the people of Gujarat have reposed their faith in Modi. Period!

Narendra Modi in a curious fashion represents the antithesis of Nehru and Nehruvian-establishment nurtured leadership.

Nehru’s Idea of India

Given the carefully calibrated image of Jawaharlal Nehru, many Indians worship him as the paragon of democracy & liberty. Unfortunately, with media & academic centres infiltrated by Socialists/Communists, we are deprived of learning the alternative perspectives.

Nehru is a curious successor to Gandhiji. Gandhiji was first and foremost a Hindu leader whose primary task was to uplift Hindus from the abyss of casteism, superstition and bigotry. He invoked predominantly Hindu sentiments to urge Indians to fight back British. His focus on vegatarianism, Ram-bhakti, and faith in Geeta mark him distinctly into Hindu fold.

And while he respectfully interacted with Christians and Muslims and was gracious enough to accept certain good points, he remained a firm Hindu who clearly remarked those they have nothing new to offer to Hinduism. He once said: “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.”

Nehru with Lady Mountbatten

In sharp contrast sample this statement by Nehru: “You realise, Galbraith, I am the last Englishman to rule in India." Nehru’s discovery of India was via London. Nehru counted himself as civilized as against native Indians for whom he had nothing but contempt. Nehru wanted to move to Oxford from Cambridge because “Cambridge is becoming too full of Indians”.  

Was Nehru a towering figure in freedom movement? Subhash Chandra Bose’s election as Congress President in 1939 against Gandhiji’s nominator Nehru tells a different story. Gandhiji took this personally and offered to quit Congress. Just to placate Gandhiji, Bose resigned the party and later formed the Azad Hind Fauz which ignited the patriotic spirit of British Indian Army. With the death of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1950, Nehru emerged as the giant in Indian political arena.

Pity that Gandhi nullified his unparalleled service to India by choosing an inept successor who barely shared his perspective!

Nehruvian Influence

No wonder, under Nehru, an innocent word like “secularism” that factually means separation of religion from state has now become a euphemism for Hindu-bashing. The root of this unique interpretation is Nehru’s own perspective inherited from British – that Hindus were savages and we must imitate the West, a highly superior civilization, to better ourselves.

On the contrary, leaders like Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Tilak, Gokhale etc. were sons-of-soil who readily accepted Indian flaws but equally recognized Western ones too. They refused to fall flat for Western Civilization and aptly realized that for ages India was a markedly advanced civilization and as late as 1800 AD it accounted for a lion’s share of world trade.

The history which was perverted for British propaganda remained intact under the Nehruvian India – in which narrative Islam liberated Hindus from Brahmanical stranglehold. And the violent history of Islamic conquest was carefully concealed and made to look benign. Akbar becomes the father of Indian nationalism. And the economic growth in socialist environment was masterfully concealed and the blame was squarely placed at Hindus again – “The Hindu Rate of Growth”. The inherent feeling is that everything that fails in India is because of its culture – predominantly Hindu. If ills ail the West, it because they didn’t adhere to their ideals; but if anything fails in India it’s because of its ideals (inherently sick).

The Neta-Babu-Bania nexus harshly contained the masses. This nexus had to the broken for the empowerment of people. This showed signs of relenting with the advent of LK Advani who stormed a non-entity like BJP to national prominence and essentially gave Indian democracy a bipolar structure, democratic relevance and meaning. Otherwise for a better part of first 40 years of independent India, Congress as a unipolar power ruled India like a personal property which reached a penultimate climax when Emergency was called on in 1975. After Advani, Congress never achieved single-party majority again. The economic stagnancy was halted by PV Narasimha Rao who threw open the closed trade to globe and private ownership.

Votebank Politics Vs Development Politics

With the failure of Chandrababu Naidu to win based wholly on development plank, people were deeply skeptical if votebank based populist politics is here to stay and the change was a mere flash of pan. (in passing, I think people of AP didn’t reject CBN development plank, he performed well in 2004. But TRS encashed the Telangana sentiment well and this loss unseated him. In 2009, he appeared poised for a comeback when Chiranjeevi’s PRP divided the anti-incumbency vote and this loss was enough to reinstate Congress back)

Narendra Modi reversed that opinion for good. Of course, in this he is aided by the economically better-off Gujarat populace who had always been good businesspeople. Usually, middle-class is the most reviled section in India. Despite being the only ones who pay taxes on time, they’re labeled “callous”, “indifferent” and sometimes “communal” too (for denying rent houses to other communities etc & more so when you vote Modi.)

Come to think of it, reasonably educated people can easily see through the pretense of socialist redistribution and handouts. Only the illiterate would fall for identity-politics and populist policies. The poor educational outreach in India ensures that the majority voteblock are still vulnerable to baseless propaganda. By indulging in License Raj, the Indians were deliberately contained economically. As said, the policies distributed poverty, not wealth. Vested interests exist for politicians to keep the equations thus, so that they could continue to the massive loot in the name of social justice.

The poor vote in exchange of cash, benefits or charity-handouts aimed at them as a person or community rather than electing the ones with good policies or development track. The rot had penetrated deep into India which cannot be healed in a shorter time – the reason NDA failed to retain power despite excellent development record.

The Idea of Modi

As discussed earlier, Gandhiji was a son-of-soil in truest terms. While he appreciated other cultures, he was proud of his country’s native culture and heritage and never accepted other ideologies/culture as superior to ours. In parallel, he earned the anger of few conservative Hindus by criticizing some outdated practices of Hindus.

The polluted atmosphere so far had never allowed our leaders to think about harnessing our civilizational strengths (to them, none exist). Modi showed the path ahead allowing the entrepreneurial spirit and community support a free run without undue interference from the bureaucracy. The growth he demonstrated is the true Hindu rate of growth.

In sharp contrast to smug & conceited Nehru born with silver spoon, Modi rose from humble origins to become the CM of Gujarat and may well be on his way to become the PM too.

Modi using 3D Hologram tech for campaign

The Modi phenomenon is reflective of the rise of aspirational neo-middle class who are no longer prepared to buy the Congress argument of perpetual victimhood,  barely care for divisive votebank politics and want to break free of the left-liberal academic/media stronghold while forming their own indigenous narrative. All they desire is corruption-free business environment with modern infrastructural facilities, freedom from red-tape bureaucracy & labour unrest.

Modi has forced the politicians to set the bar high and focus on development instead of the worn-out identity politics. When the whole media in collusion with certain politicians & rogue elements connived to damage his image in a relentless campaign, he tackled the situation by ignoring them altogether and reaching out the masses directly through latest technologies. He brilliantly sought help from internet (Google Hangout) and 3D technology to overcome his budgetary constraints without sacrificing his effectiveness.

Modi is symbolic of the rise of a new class – self-confident, forward-thinking and aspiring.

I sincerely wish that Advani declares Modi as BJP’s Prime Ministerial Candidate, which will fortify their preparation and help the masses make a clear choice in favour of development. In fact, I’ve met many people who do not have much faith in BJP but are keenly looking forward to see Modi as PM. That is the image he has built assiduously over a decade.

India is not an emerging economy. India is a re-emerging economy which is on its way to find its rightful place again after a hiatus of 200 years. Modi is the just the kind of leader India needs to rebuild itself. Jai Ho!