Modi at Mid-Term: From a Reluctant Unifier to a Tough Polariser

From a unifier, PM Modi has now embraced divisive politics and an economic narrative of rich versus poor.

When PM Modi was elected, he was seen as the quintessential unifier. But two and a half years into his term, he has embraced divisive politics and created an economic narrative of rich versus poor. (Photo: The Quint)

1. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected, he was seen as a quintessential unifier. But after his loss in Delhi Assembly elections and the Bihar election, his perch on his pedestal didn’t last long.

2. Once PM Modi embraced divisive politics in Bihar Assembly election campaign, the Us versus Them line was being drawn on all issues – nationalism, Pakistan-bashing, and demonetisation.

3. Demonetisation’s most immediate fallout is the government’s omnipresence in our lives.

4. Through the currency ban, PM Modi is pitting the poor against the rich. It’s a construct in which the rich are getting poorer, but the poor are not getting any richer.

The day Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister, it rained in parts of north Bihar, bringing some respite from the scorching summer heat. For Modi’s supporters, it was a good omen. “If the beginning is so auspicious (shubh), the next five years are going to be great for the country,” one of Modi’s supporters told us.

The beginning indeed was promising. If inviting leaders of neighbouring countries, including Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif, was a bold gesture, the launch of the mygov.in website a few months later was a step forward in realising the long-cherished dream of ushering in participative democracy.

Also Read: At Mid-Term, Modi Faces Same Pakistan Reality as Others Before Him

If the Jan Dhan scheme was meant to bring banks to the unbanked, Swachh Bharat, if implemented in earnest, had the potential to alter conflictual class relations in the countryside.

A few months into his term, the prime minister came across as a breath of fresh air in the wheeling and dealing world of Lutyen’s Delhi, a quintessential unifier determined to change the chalta hai culture. Victories in assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, which followed the Lok Sabha elections, catapulted Modi to a high pedestal. But it was too good to last for long.

From Delhi to Bihar: Modi Embraces Divisive Politics

The first jolt was the crushing defeat in the Delhi assembly polls as 2015 began. It was a clear signal that the time for slogans were over and actual implementation must accompany bombast. But Modi and his team perhaps read the signals wrong. Instead of following up on messages of unity and inclusion, they decided to abandon them altogether.

Posters from Narendra Modi’s 2014 general election campaign alongside Nitish Kumar’s campaign in Bihar. In the Bihar Assembly elections, PM Modi shed even the facade of being a unifier. (Photo: Reuters/Utpal Pathak) 

What followed was shrill noise around so-called love jihad, ghar wapsi and a ban on beef. While the PM himself never joined the chorus, his refusal to silence the voices that polarised was perhaps a signal that they had his tacit support.

Also Read: Tharoor on Modi’s Mid-Term: Parivar Haunts PM’s Sabka Vikas Agenda

The Bihar assembly election, however, marked a clear departure. Even the façade of being a unifier was jettisoned. Modi made statements that were interpreted by analysts as amounting to pitting one religious community against another.

He is reported to have exhorted in election rallies:

What do Lalu and Nitish want to do with the OBC and EBC? They want to snatch 5 percent reservations. Five percent from the Dalits, 5 percent from the Mahadalits, 5 percent from the OBC and 5 percent from the EBC. They are conspiring to give it to a religious community.

Once the path of unity and inclusion was wilfully abandoned, the embrace of a divisive agenda was swift. The Us versus Them line was being drawn on all issues – from nationalism to Pakistan-bashing and now on demonetisation.

The issues that have the potential to polarise are considered politically rewarding as there are no implementation challenges, no execution hiccups and almost no responsibility. You just have to weather the perception game. But what about the consequences?

Note Ban: Government’s Shadow in Daily Life

Take the case of demonetisation. Forget the direct costs of demonetisation, which will run into several hundred thousand crores, even by a conservative estimate. What about the debilitating impact it will have on the economy and the intrinsic human behaviour to spend for years to come?

Customers wait patiently in a queue outside an HDFC Bank branch. Apart from the economic fallout, the most important immediate consequence of demonetisation is the presence of the state in citizen’s lives. (Photo: AP)

Also Read: Modi’s Mid-Term: Efforts to Usurp Nehru’s Legacy and Copy Indira

The most immediate fallout is going to be the omnipresence of the state in our lives. From frequently setting and resetting withdrawal and deposit limits, to the ever-growing threat of Income Tax notices, the government has not sneaked but bashed its ways into our lives in a big way.

Since the government machinery is considered monopolistic, dealing with it is always dreaded by ordinary law-abiding citizens. And babus cash in on this dread factor. So our simple supposition is that the current demonetisation means more government in our lives and therefore more corruption.

A Narrative of Poor VS Rich

Modi’s demonetisation drive has pitted the poor against the rich. As a theoretical construct, there is nothing wrong with that. But the fact that the poor are reportedly rejoicing, not because they are going to get anything concrete out of this muddled move, but because rich are being made to suffer, is not a healthy sign.

Also Read: Demonetisation & Foreign Trips: Bharatiya Janata Sings for Modi

It is like telling the poor “Since I cannot make you rich, let me make the rich poor.” Imagine the consequences. What will happen to the eternal question on upward mobility? Who would want to invest in such a hostile environment? Isn’t the situation tailor-made for breeding crony capitalism?

Today, as Modi completes two-and-a-half years in power, we are reminded of a school textbook poem, ‘The Muddlehead’ by Ogden Nash, in which a couple of stanzas sum up the prime minister’s state of mind:

“He walked upto a tram one day,
And climbed in very sprightly;
Conductor thought that he would pay,
Instead he said politely:

‘Pardon your beggon Kister Monductor,
I’m off for a week’s vacation
I stop you to beg your cramway tar
As soon as we reach the station’
Conductor got a fright
And didn’t sleep that night

What a muddle head was he
That man who lived in Petushkee!”