May 16, 2014. It may sound a shade exaggerated to some, but historians will recall May 16 as the day when the people of India affirmed a new politics of national renaissance and renewal as the world’s most populous democracy voted for change and rejected dead clichés that had strangled and stupefied the nation for decades.
The popular verdict in the 2014 elections is historic in many ways and underscores a tectonic transformation in India’s political landscape – this is the first time in three decades a political party has acquired an absolute majority in parliament, ensuring a stable government and decisive leadership. This is also the first time India saw a presidential-style campaign pivoted around the personality and persona of Narendra Modi, and his spectacular victory has responded to the collective yearning of millions of Indians for a strong leader who is his own master, and not hostage to sulks and tantrums of his allies in an exuberantly chaotic coalition. Most important, this is the first time that one big idea has resonated across India and that big idea was the primacy of development and national resurgence above the politics of identities, vote-banks and entitlements. The so-called development mantra could have been an empty slogan in the hands of a mere demagogue, but acquired magical powers in the hands of a man who crafted what is called the Gujarat model of development, and despite some of its limitations, managed to expertly market the Gujarat model as a possible mirror of what the whole of India could be – a vibrant developed country with an empowered citizenry and world-class infrastructure.
This is also the first time the fabled magic of the Nehru-Gandhis – the most dazzling and enduring dynasty of the subcontinent – has come unstuck, and brutally exposed to the harsh glare of the shifting landscape of popular aspirations in India, with the heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi bringing the grand old party to its most crushing humiliation in over six decades of India’s independence. For once, charisma, that much-abused word which was delusively linked with the famous Gandhi surname in India, found a new incarnation in Narendra Modi, a former tea-seller who is now the new prime minister of India, and rang true.
The sheer scale of the BJP’s victory in the country which had gotten used to messy coalitions for over two decades has stunned pundits and polemicists, who will be busy for at least next few weeks in trying to unscramble the meaning and message of the 2014 verdict. Surely, there will be many ingenious and innovative interpretations and the broader meaning of the mandate could take some time to crystallise, but one could safely make some broad-brush deductions from what is called the saffron tsunami.
Development Mantra: Let a hundred Singapore bloom
Firstly, the results of the 2014 elections have put the project of nation-building and constructive governance at the centre of politics in India. For the last decade, one heard the mild-mannered economist-prime minister Manmohan Singh saying countless times how India badly needed at least a trillion dollars in foreign investment to shore up the country’s creaky infrastructure. But at the end of a decade of partially exploited opportunities, India has miles to go before it resembles even a middle-income country. Modi’s development mantra has struck a powerful chord to people across the country simply because the so-called aam admi is tired of vacuous slogans and want real roads, bridges, electricity and basic civic amenities of civilised existence. Once Modi moves into the prime ministerial residence at 7 Race Course Road, the mission of nation-building should begin from the word go. The statistical wizardry and clockwork organisation genius that was deployed in winning the elections, especially in pulling off 70-plus seats in UP, should be replicated in making India a developed country by setting time-bound targets for infrastructure projects. A hundred Singapores are itching to bloom in India if only the leader of the country focuses his energies on national renewal.
Beyond secularism and minorityism
Secondly, the verdict of the 2014 elections should mark the end of politics of minorityism and programmatic secular fundamentalism. In retrospect, it’s simply scandalous that the Congress could rule the country for more than five decades and use the politics of minorityism to keep itself in business. If one looks at basic socio-economic development indicators of the Muslim community in India, they remain utterly dismal. The fact that the people were ready to move beyond the 2002 Gujarat riots that happened under Modi’s watch as Gujarat chief minister and vote overwhelmingly for him shows a new pragmatism about moving beyond the politics of secularism and communalism to all-too-real issues of daily sustenance and national development.
G
oodbye, dynasty?
Thirdly, the Modi victory underlines the declining appeal of dynasty and dynastic politics. It’s not just the party led by the mother-don duo of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that has been decisively rejected, but the family-centred political parties like the Akali Party led by the Badals and the National Conference led by the Abdullahs also got a drubbing in the 2014 elections.
Connect to Young India
Fourthly, the mandate for Modi has apparently got an overwhelming endorsement from the young and the restless. It’s odd that the 63-year-old man will resonate better with millions of young people cutting across geographies and demographics than a 43-year-old man – a fact that shows that any leader of India has to be in sync with surging aspirations of the youth.
Decisive Governance
Fifth, decisive governance is the crying need of the hour. The UPA was routed not only because it was found to be embroiled in massive big-ticked scams involving some of its leading figures, but because it dismally failed to govern. The policy paralysis that afflicted the Manmohan Singh administration in the eyes of the business elite, the young and the international community at large led to mass frustration with the way the country was governed. The massive mandate for Modi was moored in the growing perception that here is a man who can act and get business done.
It’s economy, stupid!
Sixth, the economy badly needs fixing and the India Story must regain its lost lustre. In the reign of the UPA II, India became a butt of sneers in the international investor community, but with a clear majority for the BJP, global investors are now again betting big time on India in the hope that he will have the courage to take tough decisions and deliver on the long-delayed second generation reforms.
Seventh, the mandate for Modi was a resounding endorsement of the idea of strong leader who can lead and inspire. Compared to the taciturn Manmohan Singh, the accented Hindi of Sonia Gandhi and bland delivery of Rahul Gandhi, Modi galvanised the crowds with his oratory and projected the picture of a man who could match his words with action. In countless interviews, he expounded his idea and vision of India and came across as a leader who could connect with masses and classes alike. The personality-centric presidential-style campaign has come in for criticism, but in the end it proved to be his winning card, specially when there was no comparable personality in the Congress or the rival camp.
Politics of Hope
Eight, the vote for Modi and the BJP is a vote for the politics of hope and renewal. Modi’s message that “better days are ahead” kindled optimism among the populace who were reeling under a spate of debilitating problems like soaring inflation, the diminishment of opportunities and jobs that was made much worse by the festering economic recession. Hope is an elixir in times of recession, and Modi leveraged this mass yearning for better life and better times.
‘India has won’
P
artisan polemics aside, the unambiguous verdict in the 2014 elections should be a matter of national rejoicing because it’s not the victory of a party or ideology, but a vote for scripting the nation’s destiny afresh. Instead of fragmented verdicts and messy coalitions with competing agendas and overpowering personal ambitions that held back the country for more than two decades, the ruling dispensation in India now needn’t worry about the antics of its pugnacious partners, and can take strong decisions without looking over its shoulder as to who is conspiring or sulking.
Another reason for celebrating the 2014 mandate is that it has shown that the famous pedigreed surname is no longer a guarantee of political success, and an aspiring leader should work hard to earn his moment under the national sun. There is something exhilarating about the life-story of a man who once sold tea rising to helm then world’s most vibrant and cacophonous democracy. The facts speak for themselves: the 63-year-old BJP leader worked virtually 24×7 and unleashed a massive tech-savvy campaign blitzkrieg that included broadcasting speeches through 3D holographs, addressing 477 rallies and attending over 5,000 poll-related events. Over the last few months, he traversed more than 300,000 kilometres from literally Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Compared to that, Rahul Gandhi looked defensive and jaded, and looked like a man who had accepted the defeat much before the votes were counted.
JUST DO IT
India has won – Modi tweeted soon after his blockbuster victory sparked off frenzied hysteria among his supporters and a thousand learned commentaries. Yes, India has won, at least for the time being, by voting for change and for a man who has come to embody the collective longing for national rejuvenation and renascence. But this new narrative of politics of hope has to be backed by concrete results in the next five years. Let’s not forget Modi is a four-letter word; all the love and adulation he is getting in his moment of glory can easily turn into hate and mass disillusion if he does not deliver. Don’t talk, JUST DO IT – this is the overarching message of the 2014 Modi mandate.
(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network, www.indiawrites.org, an e-magazine and journal focused on international affairs and the India Story. Follow him on his twitter handle scepticcryptic).
Author Profile
- Manish Chand is Founder-CEO and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO/Director of TGII Media Private Limited, an India-based media, publishing, research and consultancy company.
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