Promise And Action: India Yet To See The Prime Minister It Voted  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a smart man. He was an early adopter of technology, and one of the earliest leaders in India who took to Twitter and used it brilliantly to his advantage – first in the 2012 Gujarat Assembly elections and then in the 2014 General Elections. He has, perhaps, been one of the most hated by the mainstream media, but he used the severe hatred towards him to his advantage and led the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to a thumping victory in May 2014.

Yet, after Modi shifted base to Delhi, things seem to have gone a bit off course. Now, almost two years down the line, there is a disconnect between the leader who put forth intelligent views on issues and the Prime Minister whom people elected based on those views.

What is worse is that, apart from there being no official stance from the Prime Minister’s Office on various issues and on controversies which should have been nipped in the bud, there are people with extremist views dishing out statements to the media, which the media has lapped up and showcased as the government’s official stance.

This is surprising for a master micromanaging leader.

Prime Minister Modi is still in ‘Chief Minister mode’ to some extent. Running a nation is different from running a state which has historically been your support base. The BJP has been in power in Gujarat since 1995. The 2012 Gujarat Assembly elections saw a voter turnout of 71.32%, the highest since 1980. The national media is sure to be harsher on the Prime Minister of a billion Indians than on the Chief Minister of 60 million Gujaratis.

India voted for Modi just as Gujarat had, but we have not seen the ‘Modi’ India voted for, in the last two years. How is it that, under his powerful watch, a BJP youth leader is able to announce a reward for cutting off someone’s tongue, even if that person is accused of sedition? How is it that, under his powerful watch, a BJP MLA is able to dish out absurd statements, asking how many used condoms were found in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)? How is it that, under his powerful watch, the social media head of his party uses Twitter hashtags like “#PappuJokes” and makes fun of other politicians as an internet troll would?

Yes, people like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders have used abusive language even for a democratically elected Prime Minister. Kejriwal called Modi “a coward and a psycopath(sic)” and AAP’s entire social media team has always been derogatory and disrespectful. A Congress spokesperson once promoted the use of the term ‘hate hags’ for Modi’s women supporters. But the BJP wasn’t elected because its supporters were expecting its leaders to use the same tactics. The BJP was supposed to be different.

The BJP must counter its opponents with facts, not with whataboutery. Leave the jokes to the common folk. The BJP is the ruling political party, not a fringe party that with loonies representing it on social media.

Dear Mr Prime Minister, please up your game. You have a lot of hopes riding on you. Please do not let us down.