FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The year 2023 was not a happy one for the world. The global economic slowdown showed scant signs of leaving us, amid two major wars and the long shadow of Covid. Navigating India through this tumultuous phase was not a trifling job. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not one to focus solely on immediate exigency: in a crisis, he sees the opportunity to reach for far horizons. He put his government on steroids. For instance, he went for the “multiplier effect” of boosting India’s infrastructure in Budget 2023 with a Rs 10 lakh crore capital investment, a five-fold jump from what it was in 2013-14. That approach saw the Indian economy buck global trends and grow at an average rate of 6.2 per cent, retaining its status as the world’s fastest growing major economy. In September, Modi steered the historic women’s reservation bill that ordains 33 per cent of our legislatures will be female. In December, his government overhauled India’s colonialera criminal law, including the Indian Penal Code of 1860. There’s a touch of architectural grandness to his vision. Literally so with the new Parliament building, which is less brick and mortar and more an idea with the Modi imprimatur. He put its construction on the fast track, had it completed in a mere 28 months and inaugurated it in May 2023.
Leading the rest who left their mark on 2023 is Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, a rare judge who dares often to be a contrarian visa-vis the government. This year, he presided over a host of landmark cases: the Hindenburg-Adani controversy, the tussle over Delhi’s administration, Maharashtra’s political crisis, Manipur’s human rights nightmare, same-sex marriage rights and the abrogation of Article 370. His twin priorities are to uphold constitutional morality and personal liberties: these remain steadfast even as he takes pains not to ingress into the executive’s domain. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too had an eventful year, dog-eared by the Bharat Jodo Yatra that culminated in a surge of popular interest as 2023 dawned. Its new edition, the east-to-west Bharat Nyay Yatra, takes off in January 2024, hoping to build up to another crescendo around the general elections. He also had the rare record of being expelled from Parliament and being reinstated in the same year.
The other nine Newsmakers form an eclectic bunch, all with dramatic or transformational moments to their credit, lesser or greater, good or bad. We catch four politicians in the thick of battle. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was the canny sutradhar of the INDIA alliance. He also put Mandal 2.0 front and centre of the discourse with his proposal for a national caste census and by completing one in his own state. Ajit Pawar, no less wily, splintered his uncle Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party and thus tilted the axis of power in Maharashtra. He pitchforked himself to the deputy CM’s chair, but his real battle lies ahead: creating a political space of his own and delivering numbers to the NDA in Lok Sabha and assembly elections in 2024. Political skills were taken to a darker level by Manipur CM N. Biren Singh, who presided over a dystopian landscape during a months-long ethnic conflict. Mahua Moitra of the TMC is of a different ilk, taking on the Modi government with a pugnacity all her own through a long-running drama that saw another controversial disqualification from Parliament.
The star wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat fought too, becoming iconic faces of the protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, formerly the master of their destiny at the Wrestling Federation of India and BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, who faces multiple charges of sexual harassment. The other sports heroes on our list shone within their domain. Virat Kohli, by becoming the first to score 50 ODI tons and the fastest to reach 25,000 international runs, both times going past the record of childhood idol Sachin Tendulkar. We also have SatChi, the name fans have given to the infectious bundle of energy formed by badminton duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who had a year of happy hunting: trophies include Asian Games gold at Hangzhou, and World No. 1 ranking. The previously beleaguered film star Shah Rukh Khan too reclaimed his top position with two record-breaking films, Pathaan and Jawan. A different kind of star rose from the labs of space body ISRO: Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, who as chairman helmed a team that put India on the moon and is now aiming for the sun. We round off with another set who went in the opposite direction, burrowing into the earth: the team of rat-hole miners who pulled off a dramatic rescue of 41 labourers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel.
But it was Modi who dominated the headlines with his virtuoso performance on the domestic and global stage, making him a unanimous choice for Newsmaker of the Year 2023. There have been leaders who have attempted to bring about change with some success, but they pale in comparison with what Modi has done and plans to do. He has a grand vision and is on a mission to realise it. Also, unlike others, he single-handedly possesses the political heft to deliver. His thinking came through with clarity in an hour-long interview he granted india today at his residence on December 26. The answer that struck me the most, and symbolised why Modi remains such a dominant force on our political landscape, was this, “Makkhan par lakir to sab karte hain. Karni hai to pathhar par lakir karo (Anyone can draw a line in butter. If you have to, cut a line on stone). This is what I believe in.” That is what really defines this unique leader who is going about with determination and conviction redefining Bharat.
Happy reading and best wishes for the New Year.
(Aroon Purie)