Japan media revisits ‘Après moi, le déluge’ in report over Narendra Modi
PM Narendra Modi at Bastar election rally (Image credit X @narendramodi)
Nikkei Asia zeroes on 4 likely Modi successors
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, April 9: Authorship of ‘Après moi, le déluge’ is with French King Louis XV. This also is said to have the ‘Battle of Rossbach’ of 1757 as the backdrop. The prophetic phrase also is spoken in the context of the French Revolution.
The King is believed to have said: “After me, flood”. In 1757, the Battle of Plassey also changed the fate of India. One set of rulers passed on to imperialist British Rule. The flood indeed came to France.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third straight term in the Lok Sabha elections. He gave the slogan of ‘abki baar 400 paar’. For the BJP, Modi has set a target of winning 370 Lok Sabha seats.
Election consultant, Prashant Kishor, has DNA of the BJP. His popular familiarity owes to Modi and his ‘Chai pe Charcha’. Kishor launched a carpet-bombing to numb the opinion makers in New Delhi to believe that ‘abki bar, 400 paar’ is a fait accompli.
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Japan keeps a close watch on elections in India. In the past, several of its officials from the embassy have been known to have travelled to all parts of the country in times of elections. They check the pulse of the people themselves. Indeed, they also solicit views of some leading political journalists.
The western media is currently flooded with commentaries on the impact of Modi winning the third term. They suggest that Modi’s third term is now a certainty. The likes of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, and others have largely depicted a grim picture of India in Modi’s third term.
But Nikkei Asia, a Tokyo-based media outlet, in a report has probed the leadership complexity within the Bharatiya Janata Party. It follows the commentariat class in foreign media that there is no contest in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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But Nikkei Asia in a report authored by Go Yamada predicts an ensuing political battle to succeed Modi. Yamada believes that Modi, 73, will demit the office of the prime minister when he turns 75 years old. The Japanese media outlet grabs a telescope to examine the succession line within the BJP.
Yamada spotlights the likely contest between Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah (59) and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (51). The media outlet predictably shares the SWOT analysis of both the heavyweights within the BJP.
The report drops down to examine others in the BJP. It limits scope of the report to two more likely choices — Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The media outlet gives positive attributes to both Gadkari and Fadnavis. The dropdown choices in some way reveals wishful thinking for business-friendly leaders.
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Indeed, Nikkei Asia admits that there is no documented rule within the BJP for retirement at 75. Yet, it leans on the possibility of certainty that Modi will demit office when he turns 75. The milestone will come in 2026.
It builds the case of Modi demitting office on Modi’s speech from the Red Fort last year. The prime minister had given a guarantee that “India will be the third largest economy in the next five years”.
The gravitational forces of the economy may make India a third largest economy around 2026. But the Japanese media outlet could not get anyone, from within the BJP or even outside, to speak on the possibility of Modi indeed demitting the office in 2026.
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