Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Diplomatist July 19 Edition . | Page 8

MODI 2.0
BHARATA OVER INDIA
BY SUDHIR K SINGH*
P
osterity may well look upon the 2019 Lok Sabha
polls as one which set in motion the transformation
of India into Bharat, in right earnest. Though the so
called Nehruvian consensus represented by the three pillars
of secularism, socialism and non-alignment had long been
under siege over the last three decades, the dynastic and
eff ete Congress had somehow managed to keep alive the
notion, howsoever tenuous, that it was still the default party
of governance. Power may occasionally slip out of hand,
but the eventual comeback of the Grand Old Party, heading
a coalition or otherwise, was only a matter of time. It is this
hypothesis which Narendra Modi’s re-election has smashed
to smithereens. Permanently.
Emphatic as it was the 2014 victory of the Bhartiya Janata
Party (BJP) was widely ascribed to anti-incumbency as much
as the Modi wave. It was not an independent phenomenon.
Establishing its credibility as a precursor to the onset of
“acche din” (good days) was thus imperative for the new
regime. Which is why the government’s focus in the last fi ve
years was confi ned to ushering seminal economic reforms
like the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code, and other policy initiatives primarily aimed
at attacking systemic corruption at the core.
The crusade against graft topped the agenda, and rightly.
The demonetisation shocker fi rmly drove home the message
despite widespread criticism from economists and the
commentariat. By Modi’s own volition it was done in the
national interest. It let loose pent up anger against anti-
nationals and other internal enemies since curbing terror
fi nancing with fake currency along the border was among
the main objectives. The political impact was immediate:
the BJP swept to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 with a huge
majority. The masses were convinced that the corrupt rich
had been taken to the cleaners, and that they did not mind
the temporary suff erance and disruption caused by the move.
Radical political changes which have long been at the
heart of the BJP’s ideology were allowed to fester on the
back-burner to avoid ruffl ing too many feathers at once. Long
8 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 7 • July 2019, Noida