Modi ‘bestrides like colossus’; BJP kicks off psywar on Opposition
PM Narendra Modi at council of ministers meeting (Image credit PMO)
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, March 9: Even the ardent of the critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi vocally admit that a third term for the sole mascot of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is now a fait accompli. Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah asked a television anchor to not think of a Modi alterative, at least for the next 10 years.
Historian Ram Chandra Guha wrote in Foreign Affairs last week that “a third term in office and the very likely triumph will further underline Modi’s singular stature”. Guha further wrote that Modi “bestrides the country like a colossus” in an admission that the prime minister has bloated a cult worship in politics which has not been seen for decades.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is at best in ridiculing his former alma mater, the Congress. He told a gleeful television anchor that he envisions that Congress to win about 11-12 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming general elections. Sarma said: “The Congress in my assessment should be like a cricket team with 11 players and a few extra. But I sense that the Congress may win 30-40 Lok Sabha seats.”
Modi is in Assam for his two days long visit and he has posted picturesque photographs from Kaziranga Forest Reserve. The prime minister is on a 360 degree tour of all parts of the country, unveiling projects and laying foundation stones for projects worth thousands of crores. The scale and size of the projects suggest that the national exchequer is bloating with river of revenue.
Hogging the media limelight 24X7, the Opposition is clearly struggling to find space. The accompanying prostrating by the fence sitters in the regional politics adds to the BJP’s bid to project the Opposition as persona non grata in the upcoming elections. From Janata Dal (United) to Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), there is a suggestion at all wants to board the mothership of the BJP to partake in the saffron voyage.
Guha wrote in the Foreign Affairs that the “Left-wing intellectuals” commit grave mistakes by dismissing Modi “as a mere demagogue”, arguing that the prime minister is “incredibly hardworking and politically astute” while he able to read the pulse of the people and adjust his rhetoric accordingly. He argues that “Modi is far superior in intelligence” than his populist counterparts such as Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil), Donald Trump (the US), and Boris Johnson (the UK).
On the political chessboard, Modi has led the BJP to play the first move by announcing a list of 195 candidates in one go to assert that he rejects any claims of anti-incumbency by repeating a majority of the incumbent MPs. With children in advertisements reminding the elders that they are in safe care because of ‘Modi ki Guarantee’, the Opposition is evidently faced with the challenge to respond to the scale of the campaign even before the poll dates are announced.
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