India Takes Second Huge Step Towards Dictatorship

23^rd May, 2019 – Modi-led BJP government has emerged victorious in the general elections of India and oh what a win! They have garnered 300+ seats out of 542 and have crushed the opposition to such extent that recovery seems difficult. Here’s a revisit to what worked out for them that didn’t work out for the rest. Here I must mention that I’m no expert in this field and this is purely a layman point of view. But, to be fair, it’s been proven in the recent past that one doesn’t need to be a radar/cloud expert to give valuable advice to the Air Force, or, in the not so recent past that one doesn’t need to be an economics expert to take decisions that can financially cripple a country. All it takes is a degree in Entire Political Science and a chest that's 56 inches wide.

What worked in their Favor:

• The charisma of Modi or as the “numero uno” journalist of India likes to call it, Modi-Wave: Modi is an effective orator, period. Modi has the ability to stir crowds with his oration skills. He’s able to strike a chord with a person’s most basic instincts. He begins by stating a fact that is true, irrespective of its relevance. He repeatedly asks you if you believe it to be true or not until you agree with him with all your passion and might. He then passes a judgement based on the fact and then demands to know if he’s right or if he’s right. He chants his question again and again and then some more until you find yourself chiming in with him feeling one with his cause. A chord has been struck.
• Marketing and PR: One must agree that for a product to be successful, marketing is everything. Even the most useless of products can raise millions if it gets the right branding and campaign. This is something to invest in and BJP did. BJP may have provided Modi a platform initially but right now BJP is solely surviving on the face value of the brand that is Modi (literally, even selling merchandize). Modi was painted as the gareeb chaiwala who had been through many hardships to finally reach where he was and based on his discipline and ideals he was the ultimate Messiah, the upholder of the rights of the common man. As the product sales increased, others also wanted in. There came the media and via the joint venture Modi was painted as God and we all know what happens when a new God or new religion is introduced in the world – you either stand with them and prove your allegiance and purity of intentions or defy and take the path of the devil.
• The Cash Inflow: According to Broadcast Audience Research Council, in the run up to assembly elections BJP became the biggest advertiser on TV with the most number of ads played. They funded movies and series promoting Modi and schemes and decisions taken by Modi government. They utilized social media platforms to the fullest leaving all other political parties miles behind. Modi garnered the trust and support of business giants and by introducing electoral bonds, which enabled anonymous whitewashing of black money along with tax exemption – a perfect win-win scenario (detailed analysis coming soon).
• Weak and entitled Opposition: Congress has held the power position in the Lok Sabha elections multiple times since its inception and their terms have been jewelled with multiple scams and scandals. They developed a certain level of complacency thinking they were undefeatable. To top it all, the face of Congress is Rahul Gandhi. BJP’s marketing team did the phenomenal job of branding him as Pappu which became synonymous to an idiotic person. It caught on like fire after advertisements with tagline “Pappu pass ho gaya” and movie song “Pappu can’t dance”. Jokes, memes and clipped-looped videos of Rahul spread faster than an epidemic. AAP’s Kejriwal and TMC’s Mamata Banerji were among the others ridiculed in similar fashion. Hence the Pappu image along with general lack of morale among Congress party workers, not just Congress, but no party stood a chance against God Modi.
• Lack of Education and Basic Instinct of Voter: Our system of education doesn’t usually encourage questioning the authority. From a young age we’re expected to blindly mug up text material and replicate that at the time of an exam and this habit is difficult to break out from. It’s difficult to question your government or to hold them accountable for their actions even though the fourth pillar of democracy is dependent on it. Also, as sad as it sounds, it’s much easier to hate than to love and a large portion of Indians hate Muslims, Dalits and Pakistanis. Hatred towards a common enemy is an easier (maybe even stronger) binding force than love for a common friend. With a little brain-washing (or sometimes even without) if you hit the right nerve, you can make brothers murder each other and that sentiment was exploited by our Divider-in-Chief.

What didn’t work for the Opposition/s:

• Inability to unite even in the face of Danger: The 2019 elections required a sacrifice. The parties that believed that the democracy was at stake could have let go of their personal aspirations and instead could have tried to unite their forces. Some tried while others fell short. Easier said than done but not impossible to achieve if it really mattered.
• Inactivity of Opposition: No matter the number of seats secured, Congress is considered the prime opposition to BJP and it remained mostly dormant throughout the previous assembly term. Criticising the government is not enough; they needed to propose solutions to the issues they raised. Congress couldn’t form the opposition last term and they weren’t even prepared for this term either.
• Entered the pit a bit too late: Priyanka Gandhi charmed us with her dynamic personality this campaign season but it was too late considering the BJP PR mechanism didn’t take a break even after their victory in 2014. Priyanka Gandhi joined Congress towards the end of January 2019 after being relatively invisible from the public eye for the first four and half years of Modi government. As for Rahul Gandhi, two weeks back had a bhakt asked me, “If not Modi, then who – Rahul Gandhi?”, I would have been tongue tied for the lack of an answer as he seemed to have accepted and agreed upon his Pappu identity. However, two weeks back when Rahul let Ravish Kumar interview him, it surprised everyone. In the two final weeks of the election 2019, Rahul amazed the onlookers with his ready grasp on facts, his adherence to procedure and his refusal to budge from the path of non-violence. So, if the Kill ‘em with Kindness persona was in him all this while, why didn’t he break his silence two years ago or at least two months ago when there was still time to campaign?
• Lack of Exposure due to Death of Media: Indian prime time news has been reduced to a circus where limelight is hogged by loud hosts who do not provide stage time to guests but are busy pushing their own agenda. Irrelevant controversies, yellow journalism and fake information was diligently propagated to remove focus from real issues and it thrived.
• Inability of voter to see beyond campaign agenda: At some point or the other we all have been a victim of vigorous marketing campaigns. But when it concerns the governance of our country, as a citizen it’s our duty to question the governments’ actions even if to confirm that we haven’t been captured in a make believe alternate reality like the lotus eaters in Greek mythology. We should have stepped out of our comfort zones and held the government accountable for their actions.

 Things that could have mattered but unfortunately didn't:

• Highest unemployment rate, worst value of Indian Rupee, Negative GDP growth, Death of public sector units, Suicide of Farmers, Rise of Communal Violence and many more should have mattered, but they didn’t.
• Independent and remaining few unbiased media houses continued to do their job and tried to spread awareness about the current state of affairs as did the political comedians and analysts, but they couldn’t.
• Modi’s inability to answer unscripted politically relevant questions and his exaggerated lies combined with the uber-narcissistic third person reference to himself raised some eyebrows and provided content to artists but couldn’t unveil his undeserving candidature.

If you're reading this then you've reached the end of this post and I thank you for giving me your invaluable time. I'm hoping to touch these issues in depth in the upcoming weeks and try to simplify them for my readers. In conclusion, I’d like to add a quote:

Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.