Modi-fied India? No, thank you!
The BJP’s USP, or so they think, is Brand Modi. In the absence of an election manifesto so far, with a slogan that says “Abki baar Modi Sarkaar,” (This time it’s Modi government) and a party anthem that basically revolves around their prime ministerial candidate, it is no wonder then that any attack on Modi would be taken head on by the BJP’s foot soldiers.
While describing Modi as clean when compared to the “tainted” coalition of Rahul Gandhi, the editorial says: “Despite that, this newspaper cannot bring itself to back Mr. Modi for India’s highest office.”
The reason, it says, is Modi’s long-standing association with sectarian hatred. His defenders, who ignore the fact that The Economist enjoys a readership comprising highly educated readers and influential executives and policy-makers who can distinguish truth from hype, say one cannot keep forever pointing fingers at Modi. They claim he is a changed man, whose focus is largely on boosting the economy of his state and development issues. How much of that change, or lack of it, has really transpired is apparent from his daily election speeches.
For instance, in Bihar last week, Modi accused the Congress-led government of starting a ‘pink revolution,’ implying the union government’s promotion of slaughterhouses and the export of meat through subsidies and tax breaks.
His remarks insinuate a heavy-handed emphasis on Hindutva — the guiding ideology of the RSS. In the past, Modi, a vegetarian himself, has spoken against government policies that he says led to the killing of cows, considered sacred among Hindus. The comments were bound to unnerve the country’s Muslims, who are meat eaters.
Countering his allegation, the self-described loose cannon of the Congress, Digvijaya Singh, tweeted: Modi talks against meat export but maximum meat factories came up in NDA regime. What has Gujarat govt done for protection of Gau Mata (mother cow)?
Indeed, it is in the online world where Modi has been nicknamed ‘Feku,’ meaning bluffmaster. A Facebook page titled ‘Bluffmaster Modi’ has over 134,000 followers.
An over the top rabble rouser, aggressive in public rhetorics, whose arrogance and sneer increases by the day, who thrives on making personal jibes at his rivals, uttering cheap and wild allegations against them, what is Modi but a contempt-spewing wanna-be prime minister? Surely, not just Indians, the highest office of the country deserves someone better.
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