Modi’s global impact is clear, but all is not well in his court
This suspicion of a major plot to dismantle the Modi juggernaut will intensify as more skeletons spill out
For the millions in India who have no particular affection for either the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Congress and other opposition parties and are not blinded by unwavering faith, the current unfolding of events are hugely disturbing. At the outset, the clumsy almost B grade spy vs spy fashion in which the video tape of the September 16, 2016 surgical strikes across the LOC has been leaked now is indicative that nothing is sacred in the political war of attrition, not even matters of security.
Although there have been several interpretations given to this leak (so labelled because there is no official call on it) if the armed forces are this easily breached, then what price for other sensitive areas. In this great effort to derail Modi, and by that attempt the bogeys of his BJP train, nothing is now sacred. And who are those within the walls of the fort who are playing the role of moles?
It is bad enough that in this crusade to make the prime minister into a monster, the Opposition has successfully obscured real issues with scurrilous accusations, but the Modi coterie must grasp the possibility of having traitors within its midst. Someone is strumming their fate with his fingers and they are not so sure who.
This suspicion of a major plot to dismantle the Modi juggernaut will intensify by the day as more skeletons, real and concocted, spill out of the cupboard. Now, you might term it paranoia and you may even be right, but when a highly confidential military issue that could have been used effectively when it was hot and valid to offset Pakistan’s claims of denial of these strikes is brought out of cold storage and placed on a social platform with no real damaging reason except to underscore the ability to access top secret material it is cause to worry. What next and how was it possible?
Between the delight in certain parts of the world at any destabilisation in India, the fractious Kashmir issue worsening by the hour and the numbing effect of military initiatives floating around like they were Marvel comics on video the Indian government needs to investigate who is doing this and what other confidential material they can access.
Just because the tapes are cold and pretty irrelevant does not mitigate the fact they saw the light of day, with
no explanation from the Defence Ministry.
If the pattern continues what with cleverly timed foreign surveys and assessments indicting the nation’s fabric frontally, the rupee free falling against the dollar and the ‘villainy’ of Modi being showcased in callow fashion by the Congress leaders, then why can we not assume that all these strands put together make a pretty dangerous hemp rope to use against Modi.
We can now expect an expose of some financial skullduggery which will sow more seeds, likely over the clumsy application of GST on its first anniversary, a survey or two from the IMF or
World Bank indicating the failure of the demonetisation exercises and probably some sort of a flank attack on the 50 per cent increase in Swiss accounts held by Indians. The need to frogmarch the likes of Vijay Mallya in extradition for the optics will become paramount as a priority as Modi’s frontline seeks traction with the voting public. Already, his most well-liked minister, Sushma Swaraj is under the cosh as a troll victim and little is being done to offer her salvation lending credence to the suspicion that Modi likes to keep his team from becoming competitively popular or high profile. It is indeed a sobering thought that she is the only Foreign Minister who has never accompanied Modi on a foreign trip. And he has made 42 of them since 2014.
All the negative scenarios listed above will filter into the public domain against strategically stressed acts of gratuitous violence, most likely against Dalits and minorities and a few gross and grotesque takes against women.
In other sundry assaults, the fight with Donald Trump over tariffs will also be exaggerated and if there is a loss of seats in the tryst with the hustings in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh in the coming months these will be attributed to the diminishing returns of the Modi allure. India can also expect the Congress party to pick up every little incident to generate another mudsling at Modi to the point where it becomes personal and counter-productive.
None of this is rocket science but if it does continue to pan out according to plan then what is sinister is the unknown factor: who is yanking the strings and are 1.2 billion Indians being manipulated by a force they haven’t registered where even military intelligence is up for grabs.
Whether the upgraded threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s life is genuine or not, the singular fact is that it cannot be ignored or taken lightly. The stakes are very high in the run up to the 2019 general elections and the plots and ploys will thicken over the next few months. It would not be paranoia to suggest that the much-used phrase of a ‘foreign hand’ being involved in creating chaos might well turn into a multiple showing of hands because no individual has been loved, loathed and loved to be hated as has Modi.
For or against, the person is a formidable entity and he has made an extraordinary impact not just in the country but across the globe. You can rake him over the coals on issues and indict his team for acts of omission and commission but never has India been so squarely on the international scene and recognised as a nation to reckon with. Indians count.
But out there (or perhaps within) is a heck of a powerful force working against him and there is a great need to be recognise its existence before the manipulation of the Indian psyche becomes a fact.
Bikram Vohra is former Editor of Khaleej Times