In his long speech in parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modis oratory skills were in full display. He once again showed how accomplished a campaigner he was. Despite his government facing flak for failing to deliver on its promises, Modi aggressively pushed and defended his own narrative. His attack on Congress was both on development and ideological front. More so on the latter, as it is due chiefly to the BJPs overarching ideological narrative that Modi owes his power to. And Modis distinction lies in that he is by far the best proponent of his partys ideology. Not only that, his own political journey can be cited as the best translation of this ideology into action. And his Lok Sabha speech was a cunning blend of ideology and development. The same politics that effortlessly flits between hardcore Hindutva which promotes atrocities in Muslims and a model of development which promises sab ka saath, sab ka vikaas. And at its shallowest, this politics can deftly juggle between Love Jihad and Love Development.
But this hardly takes away from Modis intrinsic role as a leader. In works for over a decade as an engaging media story, variously for his role in 2001 Gujarat riots, his strident nationalism and his development in Gujarat, Modi incarnated an all-encompassing persona that spoke to the prejudices, grievances and the aspirations of the majority community. He has projected power and strength – ironically a part of this image burnished by his failure to protect Muslims in 2001 riots. And his image was also, in part, set off by his predecessor Manmohan Singh. Singhs passive approach created a mass need for a new leader to speak, to interact and articulate the major public concerns, moods and feelings and respond to them. More so, for a country which now reveled in imagining itself as a rising global power and thus wanted a leader who radiated this confidence. Modi easily fit the bill.
And on Wednesday in his speech in Lok Sabha, Modi the PM and the Hindtuva champion was in his element. He took the battle into Congress territory, blaming the party for partition and Kashmir problem, the two standard saffron tropes. Kashmir, according to him, would have entirely been of Indias had Patel been the first Prime Minister of India. He even put the lack of development in the country at Congress door. He invoked Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel respectively to push his argument and seemed to excel in doing that. By the end of the speech he seemed too convincing for Congress to respond credibly. Congress president Rahul rather chose to ignore the PMs attack and instead underlined the latters diversion from the burning issues of the day like unemployment and failure in delivering on the promise of development. But Congress response has left a lot to desire. If anything, Modis consummate performance in the parliament has yet again underscored how difficult it will be to defeat him in 2019. Congress and the extended opposition will have to create a credible alternative political narrative to make it happen.
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