Modi’s new avatar?

Who would have guessed that well into his third term, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would launch a charm offensive toward India's poverty-stricken Muslims?

Well, it has begun as 32,000 young BJP members were assigned the duties of distributing packages of ‘Saugat-e-Modi’ to 3200,000 deserving Muslims families via their area mosques on the occasion of Eidul Fitr.

Modi is no different from other rulers who love to paste their portraits on every welfare package no matter whether those are paid for by taxpayers. Let us nonetheless admit that for someone whose slogan was: “India does not need Muslims” Modi seems to have come a long way. Who knows what other measures he has in mind to achieve the status of a national leader rather than remaining committed to his own religious community alone?

Arguably, all this is part of the lessons drawn by the BJP after the 2024 elections when it failed to win a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. The main reason for this setback was the government's failure to fulfil its tall promises of economic progress for the masses.

India's GDP indeed rose in ten years from $2 trillion to $4 trillion, overtaking the UK and destined to surpass Japan and Germany in a couple of years. Yet, there is no comparison between the per capita income of India and the aforementioned countries. To go a little further, India expects to become an advanced nation by 2047. That sounds optimistic and sobering at the same time.

Going by the BJP’s narrative, the rapid economic progress was made possible under Modi's leadership if not ‘Modi's guarantee’. These claims need scrutiny and that is what his opponents are busy doing now. They question Modi's claims of Vishwa guru whereby the world at large could learn from India's knowledge when China has emerged as the beacon of phenomenal economic growth. More ominously, critics claim that large chunks of the economy are owned by a small group of billionaires while the rest has to meet the basic needs of 1.4 billion Indians.

Having overtaken China as the world's most populous nation, it would be normal for India's economy to emerge as the world's third-largest in terms of GDP. However, the quality of life in India is in no way comparable to the countries it has overtaken in terms of size. Modi cannot go on pretending that India is a teacher to the world and that he is its global guru while in terms of industrial growth and hi-tech achievements, India is well behind China, the real leader of the 21st century.

Some in India and its neighbourhood remember how Modi as Gujarat’s chief minister rode to greater popularity by spreading hatred against Pakistan and Indian Muslims. The election results of 2024 showed that the mantra of hate had at last met with the law of diminishing returns.

It is not clear if Modi has learnt any lessons. His hateful mantra came out when he accused Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism when the opposite is true. The world cannot overlook the recurrence of horrendous acts of terror in Pakistan by organisations backed by India, acts which have been cheered by the Indian media.

India's hubris received a rude shock when its puppet Sheikh Hasina had to flee in the face of a popular uprising last year. As a result, India comes all guns blazing against Dhaka and Modi plays hardball with Dr Yunus, head of the interim administration in Bangladesh. He may look at the developments in Bangladesh as another reason for grudging Pakistan. Having flaunted India's role in the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent country and strangulating it fully in the claws of Indian hegemony, the setback is indeed devastating for New Delhi.

It is about time Modi & Co accepted the turn of events in that neighbouring country as divine justice. Modi can also start introspecting over his methods of governance notably his virtual one-man show and penchant for self-glorification. To put it frankly, the rich got richer under his long rule. His closeness to billionaires may have annoyed the common man. An example is his legislation favouring corporate agriculture which brought a long and vigorous protest from the farmers.

The BJP government did take a series of steps to improve the lot of the poor. As it often happens in these matters, a little help does not satisfy needs and raises further expectations which are hard to meet. The ruling party's tendency to spew hatred against Pakistan and India's minorities which helped it win a clear majority in two elections appears to have misfired in the 2024 elections. The RSS which has acted as the BJP’s fountainhead too looked wary of the party having overplayed the Hindutva card.

Modi has reasons to be satisfied as the leader of the world's most populous country, now on its way to becoming its third-largest economy behind the US and China. He is highly reliant on the personality cult as seen in labelling the Eid package for three million poor Muslim families as ‘Saugat-e-Modi. Back in 2014, Modi had expressed the desire to retire at the age of 75. Considering that he will reach that mark in September next, he seems to have revised that assessment. His potential successor Amit Shah has stated that Modi is going nowhere and would be there to lead the party in 2029 after his third term.

The writer can be reached at: saeed.saeedk@gmail.com