Leader’s silence is an indictment
NEW DELHI: Amid the clamour of unrest sweeping the state of Haryana near New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided on a strategy which risks emboldening political opponents: silence is golden.
In recent weeks, students have protested across the country over the arrest of a student leader for alleged sedition, while anger among the Jat community over caste-based job quotas spilled into deadly clashes in Haryana.
“Modi believes his popularity comes from being seen as a serious politician who gets on with his work,” said a leader of Modi’s ruling party, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He does not believe in giving a running commentary.”
An adviser said Modi, 65, would instead give an assessment of recent unrest to parliament, which convened this week for its budget session in a climate of confrontation likely to further stall his ambitious economic reform agenda.
Modi’s reticence has undermined the image of a decisive leader who swept to power in May, 2014. A new opinion poll showed Modi’s popularity holding up, while Congress has bounced back from its dire election showing of 2014, validating a strategy of blocking reforms and latching on to protests as they flare up.
But in more than a week of protests 19 people have died and 170 have been injured.
At the weekend, rather than intervening, Modi blamed unnamed outside conspirators for “hatching conspiracies every day to finish and defame me”.
”When Modi starts seeing a conspiracy in everything… he is in serious trouble,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of The Man, The Times, a biography of Modi. “It is an admission he is not able to manage the thrust of his government. So he has to apportion the blame to someone.” – Reuters