What an agenda the opposition seems to have! Not the removal of poverty, not the eradication of unemployment, not even the removal of illegal immigrants sucking up the resources of India! Just one statement that says it all. So let’s examine why they would want the current unblemished Pradhan Sevak out of office.
Five years ago, a non descript but charismatic gentleman took charge of a country that was staggering from all the scams. You name it, they had faced it! It came to a point where the country was known, the world over, for political corruption. Enter Narendra Modi.
A charismatic leader with his very ordinary upbringing, he was what the dynasty was not! He had come with some baggage, some would claim. After all, they said, he was responsible for the Godhra carnage (he was acquitted of any wrong doing by the courts) forgetting that they were responsible for the ’84 massacre of of innocent Sikhs. The media, which had been, till then, provided with special privileges, quickly played this song.
For 50 years, or so, the relationships that the media had built up with the party in power had just been made ineffective! Political parties cried about the effect this new government would have on the “progress” the country had seen over the past few decades. India would be set back a few centuries, they claimed.
They shouted till their collective voice would go hoarse, that the country was seeing no development forgetting, once again, it takes more than just 5 years to set right a wrong that was perpetrated on the people for over 5 decades. People had, however, seen thro’ this. A new day had begun. Most of the country heaved a sigh of relief and were excited about the new possibilities. However, there were many states that were ruled by the previous regime. In the next few years, that number would dwindle down to around five.
Globally, this political change was seen with apprehension. In the next five years, this charismatic leader would change this perception and make a name for himself, as a global icon, as well as the country. Where India was once a silent partner in many global ventures, it now had become a leader to be reckoned with.
How does a person garner the kind of adoration and love that Mr Modi gets! While the political opposition is working day and night to discredit him, NaMo(an acronym given to him by his adoring followers) gets his strength from the millions of followers that campaign for him. Yes, you read it correctly. No bigwigs from the BJP can match the enthusiasm that is being shown by common middle class people like Sambit Patra, Chakravarty Sulibele, San Francisco based Ashwini Subban, Chicago based Nirmala Reddy and a veritable army of others. No they’re not paid to do this and have day jobs but take time out of their busy schedules to campaign hard for the person they revere! And why not? He has taken India to heights that Indians could never imagine previously.
The effect the main stream media now has on the population seems to be waning. The common people seem to be questioning the same journalists they had probably read previously. People are revolting against those that seemed to convey a negative message about this new leader. Yes, there were, and still are, skeptics but these are either disenfranchised people or people negatively affected by the the famous “demonetization” that took place.
This got me thinking about the various things these skeptics said about the “demo” exercise. “Where’s my 15lakhs?” Was one common line used by them. I’m not going to sit here and tell you how we got back our 15 lakhs, but would like to point out just point two of the many things demo did to the country.
Being a common person, I asked an economist friend of mine what the benefits were. He wrote back, and I quote “The return of almost all the demonetised currency to the banking system may create the false impression that the exercise was a failure, but the unseen benefits are the ability of income tax officials to track depositors and the ability to crack down suspicious transactions which could lead to long-term benefits such as better tax compliance. In addition, this move brings down inflation and rising prices of basic commodities. Economics 101 teaches us that the three most important things that dictate an economic situation are housing, clothing and food. If this is brought down, the demo is deemed successful.”
What amazes me is the timidity that critics seem to have when talking about the immediate predecessor government that showed no inclination to help the country’s teeming middle class! Grandiose plans are not counted if they are not implemented! Have all plans by the current government been successful? No but the implementation of these has to be lauded! Is NaMo never going to make a mistake? No but he has shown the humility to accept his mistakes and that’s something refreshing, given the penchant of his predecessors to make money from mistakes!!!
Let me close this out by asking you a simple question: Is the New India a country you’d like to live in or would you like to go back to 2014 and before?