Narendra Modi: The nation builder
Prime minister’s schemes to empower the poor are endorsed resoundingly by people across the country
the modi govt’s pro-poor schemes aim to shatter the old entitlement mindset
Narendra Modi took the tide at the flood in May 2014 to become Prime Minister. Since then, the country’s most talked-about leader since Indira Gandhi has taken ‘the current when it serves’, connecting with an enthusiastic public in a manner unheard of for decades in Indian politics. If A. B. Vajpayee was a fine orator in the old style, Modi has a silver tongue that he uses to optimum effect to engage his audience. Using a personalised colloquial style, he treats listeners as equal stakeholders in the issues he raises. He doesn’t preach or aim at evoking intellectual awe like politicians of an earlier time, most of whom were members of the country’s social elite. He establishes an instant rapport with the audience. He is the man, the method, the message and the magic.
The narrative that Narendra Modi lays out at public gatherings is punctuated with local idioms, aphorisms, jokes, anecdotes and historical facts. He weaves these effortlessly into what then becomes a powerful tapestry, one that holds a telling vision of a new India in which the status quo is replaced with a new paradigm. Modi’s public rallies in Uttar Pradesh (UP) were bursting with people jostling one another for a better view of him. Not of pradhan mantri or
netaji. Just Modi. Communication experts say Modi is a natural. His early years as a grassroots RSS worker have honed an inclination to connect with ordinary people into an impressive skill. At every rally, he energises his listeners and they in turn energise and spur him on by chanting his name in unison. “Culturally, Indians have a deep appreciation and an instinctive comfort level with oral folk traditions of communication, and local narratives,” observes an image manager.
Ever since Modi’s ascent to national level power, it has been evident that his aim is not to be just another footnote in history, but to transform the country with positively disruptive policy decisions that would reach way beyond the dry arithmetic of politics. He wants to lay the foundation of a new nation, tapping into the aspirations and nationalistic fervour of its people, 60 per cent of whom are below 35. Time and again, he has asserted that millions of citizens born after independence are eager to do something for the country.
In his first address to Parliament as prime minister, Modi had said, “Victory has taught us a lot, including humility.” Post- demonetisation, righteousness has been the overarching sentiment in his public addresses. The significance of the UP results had barely begun to sink in when, at his pre-Holi victory march on a Sunday, Modi unveiled his core vision of a new Hindustan. The use of ‘Hindustan’ was deliberate and alluded to the Prime Minister’s mission of fostering a
Ever since Modi’s ascent to national level power, it has been evident that his aim is not to be just another footnote in history, but to transform the country with disruptive policy decisions
national ethos that would brook no special concessions to any particular caste or community, but would empower all Indians equally. The modus operandi for this, he made clear, was to broad base the stakeholders in the country’s socio-economic progress.
The prime minister’s Mudra scheme, focussing on self-reliant job creation, has found enthusiastic takers ever since its inception. In 2015-16, almost 3.4 million people got access to a total of Rs122.8 billion worth of collateral-free small loans. In 2016-17 thus far, another Rs107.6 billion has been disbursed, with the money credited directly to Jan Dhan accounts, thus ensuring no leaks along the way. The bank outreach in itself has given tens of millions of people access to modern financial services for the first time.
The Ujjwala scheme, a pet initiative of the prime minister, was another roaring success among thousands of economically disadvantaged women in the key electoral battlegrounds of eastern and central UP. In a state where a gas cylinder is a status symbol among the poor (and often part of a newly wed’s dowry), subsidised gas connections granted to poor women not only saves them time and money but also shields them against sexual harassment while gathering wood. So well received was this scheme, which rested on Modi’s campaign asking the well-off to give up their subsidies, its target of 15 million new LPG connections countrywide was met three months before the deadline. For 2018-19, the Centre has set a target of 20 million. The biggest beneficiaries of the scheme have been poverty-stricken women in UP, many of whom, according to the WHO, had been inhaling smoke that’s the equivalent of 400 cigarettes an hour by using fire-wood stoves.
Modi’s schemes to empower the poor that were endorsed so resoundingly by UP’s electorate are part of a larger vision to co-opt the country’s massive informal sector into the comparatively small formal sector of the economy, both boosting the GDP (informal sector activity is not captured by official figures) and altering the life circumstances of millions. While Indira Gandhi may be remembered for nationalising banks in 1969 and pushing them to open branches far and wide, analysts say that it is the Jan Dhan Yojana—popularly called the ‘Modi khaata’ in UP—that is likely to go down in history as the single most important financial inclusion initiative since independence. It has sought to allow the poor direct access to banking services and keep middlemen and politicians from dipping into money that is rightfully theirs. Over time, it’s expected to draw the poor into the formal economy of the country.
The irony of Modi’s approach is that his agenda is closer to the ideals of Socialist icon Ram Manohar Lohia, who envisioned a country free of casteism, than the political formations that claim to uphold his legacy. Non-Jatav Dalit voters across UP have joined Modi juggernaut, as have thousands of non-Yadav OBCs disenchanted with the SP brand of politics.
The vast reservoirs of goodwill generated among the masses by Modi’s initiatives are being credited to his political khaata and could enlarge his stature way beyond 2019. Little wonder, he invoked the 75th year of India’s independence as an appropriate time to take stock of the nation’s progress in wiping out inequity. He prefers the long haul of history. P. R. Ramesh is the managing director
of the Open magazine.