Can an Autocratic Modi Become a Team Player?
The DiplomatPrime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have returned to power for a third straight term at the helm in New Delhi. Despite leading the BJP to a “historic” third term in government, the results of India’s 18th general election are a humiliating comedown for Modi. Since Muslims comprise an important support base of two key allies, the Janata Dal or JD and the Telugu Desam Party, Modi would have to moderate his aggressive anti-Muslim positions, perhaps even abandon key items on the BJP’s Hindutva agenda, analysts said. In an article in Scroll, political analyst Ramachandra Guha argued that unlike his predecessors, who were “wired, both by experience and temperament, to effectively run a government with support from other people and other parties, Modi is not.” Except in the 1990s, when as an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s ideological mentor, Modi would have taken orders while engaging in mobilization and organization of campaigns, marches, and rallies, he has never worked under anyone. Modi’s tendency to centralize power and reluctance to consult in the past suggest that the NDA allies will remain junior members of the coalition, not equal partners of the BJP in government.