Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Diplomatist July 19 Edition .

COVER STORY he is unattached, he is not associated with any family. So, it is hard to pin any sort of corruption charge to someone. Modi also beneﬁ ted tremendously from the fallout of a suicide attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 40 Indian soldiers in February 2019. Although responsibility for the attack was claimed by a Pakistani terrorist group, it was carried out by a local Kashmiri. One reading of this could have been that Modi’s policies in the Kashmir valley, such as the increase in the use of pellet guns, blinding hundreds and killing at least 14, had led to the attack. But Modi swiftly turned it to his advantage. Not only did he pursue an aggressive course of action with air-strikes against militants on Pakistani territory, but he also successfully sold it as a huge success, despite some evidence that the ﬁ ghters had missed their target. The national security narrative took Centre stage in the 2019 election, something that the opposition parties were unable to counter. No Alternative (TINA factor) The other notable factor was the Opposition & the Congress campaign. Undoubtedly the party’s leader, Rahul Gandhi, has come a long way since his debut in a national election in 2014. But the Congress campaign failed on two fronts. The ﬁ rst was the messaging: it was a mistake campaign. Modi successfully portrayed the campaign as Modi v Rahul. Such a framing beneﬁ ted Modi – a fantastic campaigner. He built on the national security narrative by framing himself as a Chowkidaar or a watchman, who would protect India. This built on his reputation as someone who would make India great – something that played extremely well in the campaign. Helpful Media Modi’s proﬁ le in India is huge. He takes personal credit for all initiatives, and his picture appears multiple times in the same editions of the daily newspapers when government initiatives are ﬂ agged. The BJP has had an extraordinary control of the political narrative during this election, aided by its extremely large war chest which has helped it penetrate even deeper into traditional and social media. While only a quarter of Indians use WhatsApp, still 300m people, the creation of promotional material speciﬁ cally targeted at diﬀ erent segments of society has played a huge role in advancing a particular political narrative. In addition, the Election Commission has been criticised for clearing BJP leaders of many alleged election code violations, and only belatedly banning the showing of a biopic about Modi on the eve of the elections. It also allowed The BJP has had an extraordinary control of the political narrative during this election, aided by its extremely large war chest which has helped it penetrate even deeper into traditional and social media. to try and attack Modi on allegations of corruption rather than focusing on the economic failures of his ﬁ rst term. Focusing on corruption only served to remind the electorate of the Congress party’s involvement in previous (very large) corruption scandals. Yet, even had Congress focused solely on the economy, this may not have led to a very diﬀ erent result. The BJP swept the board in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh state elections, held only a few months after Modi’s disastrous demonetization policy which saw the withdrawal of 86 percent of India’s currency. The second failure was the high-handedness with which Congress approached the formation of its own political alliances. The BJP was extremely accommodating of its alliance partners in states such as Bihar and Maharashtra, but Congress did not manage to agree on a deal with its potential partners in Delhi and in Uttar Pradesh. the BJP’s TV channel, NaMo TV, to run without challenge throughout the campaign. It has now gone oﬀ the air. Modi’s Charm Oﬀ ensive The third factor was the presidential nature of the * Author is CEO & Editor-in-Chief at The Day After Magazine Polarizing campaign The last nail in opposition’s coﬃ n was the exceedingly negative & vicious polarizing campaign by BJP. In 2014, 51 percent of those who responded to India’s national election studies said they believed that democracy meant that the will of the majority community should prevail; a steep rise from 2009. This demonstrates a move towards the right and an acceptance of Hindu majoritarianism in Indian politics; a position that questions whether religious minorities, particularly Muslims, should have special rights within India. This trend of Hindu majoritarianism is higher among the young – a growing demographic within India, who have grown up in an era in which the BJP has been a national player.  Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 7 • July 2019, Noida • 11

Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Diplomatist July 19 Edition . | Page 11