Modi becomes more popular in pandemic

HE MAY EMERGE STRONGER WHEN BJP PRESSES HINDU-CENTRIC POLICIES

Just before the coronavirus arrived in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced serious challenges, perhaps the biggest of his tenure.

Anti-government protests roiled the country. Hindu-Muslim riots exploded in the capital just as President Donald Trump was visiting. And India’s oncehot economy was slumping, shedding millions of jobs.

Since then, as the world has been walloped by the coronavirus pandemic, many of these problems in India, especially the economic ones, have only gotten worse. But once again, India has rallied around Modi.

Recent opinion polls show that in the past few months Modi’s already high approval ratings have soared even higher, touching 80 per cent, even 90 per cent.

The result, some analysts say, is that if India continues to ride out the coronavirus in decent form, he may emerge with an even stronger hand when he and his party press their Hindu-centric policies.

In times of national crisis, people tend to rally around the flag. Leaders across the world have enjoyed a coronavirus boost, although for many, it’s not expected to last. Modi’s success, analysts say, may be more durable.

Still, it has not been a spotless performance. Modi’s government was caught off guard by the epic exodus of migrant workers pouring out of India’s cities, making long, desperate and sometimes fatal journeys. And many economists believe that the $260 billion relief package will hardly be enough.

Working well with states

But he never downplayed the virus threat or said India had capabilities it didn’t. And unlike in the US, where partisan politics have gummed up the response and created great discord and even chaos, analysts say Modi has worked well with state-level officials across India, regardless of ideology.

The result is that the political landscape Modi, 69, has shaped over the past six years, since a surge in Hindu nationalism brought him to the top job in the world’s largest democracy, has only been shored up. The political opposition is practically invisible.

“Modi is faring better than many peers because he acted decisively, preemptively and relatively early by going for the world’s most stringent lockdown when corona cases were few in India,” said Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs, outside New Delhi.