Narendra Modi: the leader who is bigger than his party
The HinduElection 2019 has smashed the assumption that India is a party-based parliamentary democracy. Yet, the BJP played little role in its own gigantic victory and stood by watching with stars in its eyes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi single-handedly pulverised the Opposition in large parts of the country. It is true that India’s most powerful Prime Minister since Indira Gandhi was expertly aided at every stage of the election campaign, and in the meticulous planning that preceded it, by BJP president Amit Shah. Travelling in Muzaffarnagar in western U.P., I ran into a group of labourers, their torn clothes attesting to their poverty, who argued that they were voting Mr. Modi because “ desh toh bach jayega ”. In some places, the majoritarian message was explicit; in a speech made in Wardha, the Prime Minister accused Rahul Gandhi of fleeing to Wayanad in Kerala to be able to contest from a constituency where “the majority was in a minority.” It would be unfair if due credit was not given to Mr. Modi for the welfare measures his government had speedily implemented on the ground, among them toilets, houses and gas connections for the poorest citizens.