As the election has now become a comparative issue of Mr. Modi as a person with that of other opposition leaders, the opposition leaders, who lead family-controlled and dynastic parties, seem to have lost the race conclusively.
by N.S.Venkataraman
As India is now passing through a parliamentary election with more than 950 million citizens having the right to exercise their franchise, what is unique about this election is the widely believed foregone conclusion that Mr. Narendra Modi would win the election. As a matter of fact, most people do not say that the BJP, the party that Mr. Modi belongs to, would win the election but restrict themselves to say that Mr. Modi would win the election.
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| India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to his supporters as he arrives to attend a rally in Guwahati, India, February 4, 2024. [ Photo: REUTERS/Anuwar Hazarika/File Photo] |
What is the reason for this situation?
Several discerning observers are of the view that Mr. Modi himself has created such a situation by naming his party’s election manifesto as “Modi Guarantee.” The opposition parties (said to be 26 or more) appear to have fallen into the trap and have carried out their election campaign largely focusing on Mr. Modi as a person. In other words, the theme of the election seems to have become “vote for Mr. Modi or vote against Mr. Modi.” This theme has provided an overwhelming advantage for Mr. Modi over others, both within his own party and in the opposition parties.
Mr. Modi’s performance
The fact is that even the most bitter critic of Mr. Modi cannot deny in the heart of their hearts that Mr. Modi’s performance as Prime Minister of India for the last ten years has been consistent in style, tone, and action and has been, by and large, positive governance.
While India is a vast country with multiple languages, religions, and habits, priorities, and traditional practices amongst people, it is not possible for any Prime Minister to satisfy everyone in one stroke. Over the last ten years, Mr. Modi has earnestly attempted to achieve this impossible task.
The policy measures initiated by Mr. Modi have been focused not only on the growth of the economy and industry but Mr. Modi has also attempted to focus on the individual lifestyle of people by launching a nationwide yoga program, a clean India campaign, and so on. Several schemes initiated by Mr. Modi to empower those below the poverty line by constructing millions of toilets, initiating free house schemes, zero balance accounts for the poor, etc. have been received well by the people.
Certainly, all the measures initiated by Mr. Modi in the last ten years have seen a reasonable level of success, though most of them are still in the work-in-progress stage but looking positive.
The leadership that Mr. Modi provided during the grave crisis due to Covid and his successful efforts to motivate Indian scientists to develop a vaccine to treat Covid have been applauded not only in India but around the world. Mr. Modi sent such a vaccine free of charge to several developing countries, indicating his global concern and vision.
In tackling the issues with China and Pakistan and keeping India’s head high in reacting to global events, Mr. Modi has created a sense of confidence amongst the Indians living in India and abroad.
Main concern:
The main concern of the people of India is the widespread corruption in the government and in the public and private sector institutions.
Mr. Modi did promise during the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections that he would wipe out corruption in India.
It is to the credit of Mr. Modi that he has ensured that his ministers and top bureaucrats in the central government have not been known to indulge in any corruption.
Obviously, Mr. Modi has thought that corruption in India could be wiped out only by promoting transparency in governance and he has taken several measures to promote digitalization and the transfer of welfare money to the people from government by bank transfer etc. Certainly, corruption is still prevalent in India and Mr. Modi still has a long way to go in keeping his promise to root out corruption in India. There are positive signals that Mr. Modi’s crusade against corruption would continue to the logical end.
Lack of positive campaign by opposition parties:
During the ongoing campaign by opposition parties in the parliamentary election, no worthwhile alternate policy measures that could be better than what Mr. Modi did have been convincingly announced. On the other hand, the opposition parties have reduced their standard of campaign by using abusive language against Mr. Modi such as liar, Hitler, dictator, thief and so on. Such abusive language used by the opposition parties seems to have decreased their credibility in the eyes of the people, as nobody doubts Mr. Modi’s personal integrity and sense of patriotism and courage of conviction.
Battle lost before it has begun:
At present, two phases of the poll have been completed and the remaining five phases would take place in the next one month. It appears that the opposition parties have lost the battle even before it has begun.
Mr. Modi has been traveling around the nook and corner of the country and constantly speaking about what he calls as Modi guarantee. In the last few weeks, several organizations abroad have issued statements about the so-called unemployment scenario in India, so-called human rights violation etc. But, such a campaign from abroad has not cut the ice with the people, as these issues have been highly exaggerated.
As the election has now become a comparative issue of Mr. Modi as a person with that of other opposition leaders, the opposition leaders, who lead family-controlled and dynastic parties, seem to have lost the race conclusively.
The election scenario is marked by rhetoric and noise but is conspicuous by the absence of excitement about results.
N. S. Venkataraman is a trustee with the "Nandini Voice for the Deprived," a not-for-profit organization that aims to highlight the problems of downtrodden and deprived people and support their cause and to promote probity and ethical values in private and public life and to deliberate on socio-economic issues in a dispassionate and objective manner.
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