• P A Chacko SJ

Narendra Damodar Das Modi, the man who harboured ambition to preside over the demolition of the Indian Constitution and the creation of the Hindu Rashtra has had to bite down the horror and anger he felt when the 2024 Election results showed up. It indicates that the glamour of the Modi Era is dipping and the aura of personality cult he built around himself is waning. Some political wit rightly said that this election proved that ‘no one lost, and no one won, but Modi was defeated.’ His ‘400 par’ clarion call spilled over the duck’s back, leaving him with below the 272 mark and he has had to use the Naidu-Nitish crutch to limp forward.

Though the results did not come up to the expectation of most Indians, especially the Mahagadbandhan guys, they have amply proved that Indian democracy is still alive and kicking and cannot be hijacked by even a divine avatar. The Hindu Rashtravadi ambition of Modi-RSS-Sang Parivar for setting up India as a Hindu nation in Modi’s third term, which coincides with the upcoming RSS centenary year celebrations, crumbled like a house of cards when Ayodhya, the nucleus centre of the Rashtravadi cult, made the BJP candidate bite the dust in the just concluded Lok Sabha election.

During the last ten years of Modi’s rule, his acolytes and devotees had the dubious courage of declaring that, in the new dispensation, India’s secular and democratic constitution would be changed to usher in a Vedic constitution. Now, after having tasted the sour election grapes, they will not dare to make even a whimper of such a claim, given the presence of the NDA colleagues and the general public.

There was much talk in the public domain that, the way Modi conducted himself, leading to a crescendo of a divine birth claim, he would turn an autocrat and torpedo the Constitution to make himself an autocratic ruler. Such a hope remains dashed to the ground, because the citizens, believing in a secular and democratic India, would not allow him to do so by any means.

“We the citizens have the fundamental right to
conduct our lives in a peaceful atmosphere.
We look for a government and a captain
at the helm to promote harmony and
human fellowship, justice and fair play.
“Into that heaven of freedom my father,
let my country awake!” we pray with Tagore!”

Now that he has to depend on the crutches of Nitish and Naidu, he has to be doubly careful about any move he makes. A wrong move can make his head spin, sending his government down the cliff. Given the fence-jumping history of Nitish and Naidu, Modi can no more afford to say: ‘My way, or the Highway!’ There is the fear that Nitish, known as ‘Paltu Chacha’ (reverse gear uncle), can pull the chain any time during the precarious NDA journey. Symbolically, he seemed to have asked for the Railway portfolio. Naidu too is known for his opportunistic floor crossings. He will want to show that the weak BJP cannot function solo in the new dispensation and, therefore, he will bleed Modi by demanding his pound of flesh. With these two guys on Modi’s both sides, Modi’s 18/7 working hours may be extended to 24/7, leaving him high and dry, dreamless and sleepless. Internal resistances and hidden suspicions may surface and rock the boat.

The citizens expect Modi as a third term Prime Minister of the largest democracy to climb down from his high-profile pedestal to the ground realities of the common man’s expectations, agonies and anxieties. If he thinks that the poor can be fed with cheap ‘feed’ under the poverty alleviation programme, he will be mistaken. After allowing high profile loan defaulters to leave the country, after waiving loans of cronies and business tycoons, and after draining the nation’s exchequer, he cannot bluff the poor by telling them that our resources are meagre and so should be satisfied with the humble dole. Modi should realize that poverty is not a choice but an avoidable situation thrust on some so that a few others may thrive. Hence, poverty eradication should be on the agenda weather Sitaraman or Kangana be the finance minister!

The myths built around the ‘undefeatable Modi’ like the humble chaiwala (at some non-existent railway station), the crocodile fighter, the wandering monk, divine birth minus the umbilical cord, and what have you, have to be replaced by the images of an intelligent statesman, devoid of any cunning and conspiracy. The nation stands in need of a tall national leader who can carry all its citizens along on a common secular and democratic plank. But the problem is, can the tiger change its mantle after having donned it for so long?

Be strong like a tiger to defend the nation against external aggressors, but do not treat the citizens as asses. Do not consider or devalue the opposition parties and members of other political parties as chattel. They have their identity and worth. The unparliamentary scenes in the last Parliament showed how the ruling party had dragged itself to the muck of hateful behaviour, revengeful acts of throwing out the people’s representatives belonging to opposition parties and indulging in below the belt language.

If Modi’s newly constituted government takes off without a hitch, we will not want Modi to utter words and phrases that will demean his status as the head of the government. Your fabrics and fashions may be your choice, Mr. Prime Minister, if you can afford to do so, but remember at the same time that the nation has far many poor people who cannot afford a change of clothes. Their poverty should stare you in the face before you think of changing your dress umpteen times. Dress does not make the man, but character does. In a recent post-election write up, Sowmya Rajendran, writer, has an apt statement: “You see, you can change the definition of poverty and claim you’ve annihilated it, but you can’t annihilate what it means to be poor.”

Prime Minister Modi should remember that he is heading and representing 1.44 billion people, not his saffron Parivar, that the citizens belong to a secular and democratic nation with the contours of diverse cultures and communities, eating and dressing habits, prayer and worshipping habits, languages and living modes. That is where the nation will not tolerate, by any means, the lynching and terrorizing mobs killing people, destroying places of worship, attacking educational institutions or attacking people on the pretext of fake love jihad. Your bhakts and acolytes have to think twice before they barge into our places of worship and holy of holies or gatecrash into our homes and enact their ‘thandav’. Remind them that, under our sacred Constitution, there is a fundamental right to defence. Our lives are as precious as that of yours. Our precincts and properties are lawfully acquired and their safety and protection are our Constitutional right and duty.

Modi has to refrain from his favourite minority bashing game. Visceral verbal attacks against the Muslim minority community calling them child producing machines are unbecoming of a statesman. Verbal display may be a charismatic gift for you. But that does not mean that you can use it to any elastic extent to devalue others and demean yourself.

Please do not subject the nation to another demonetization where even senior citizens had to face the heat of the government’s irrationality. Nor will we expect to be dragged into the quagmire of superstition and unscientific exercises like beating pots and pans to ward off Corona-like viral diseases. Remember, we are living in a progressive and technological world, automated human shapes, robots, drones, ChatGPT and the like. Scatterbrained ideas and mythological stories and agendas have to be dumped to let sanity prevail. Even the ‘temperamental’ teleprompters may need upgrading or overhauling or, if need be, dumped into wastebins. The ‘man-ki bat’ may need to be replaced by open Janata durbars to gauge and vibrate with the live wire issues of the citizens.

There have been reports that the central agencies, functioning under the Constitution, have been made tools and agents of harassment and power promotion. If such reports have any validity, it is high time to get the derailed institutions back to the rail. These institutions should never be made subservient lackeys of the Executive or power-hungry politicians who want to harass and demolish or destroy critics and politicians.

The disgusting way the media personnel have been made to crawl and fall for crumbs has been rooftop stories with substance and flesh. Such a mode of operation needs a sea-change. Remember, the media is the fourth pillar of our democracy. To destroy this institution by making it to toe the government line is undemocratic and unconstitutional.

The Judiciary, under the requirements of the Constitution, needs to function independently and impartially. Any innuendos from the Executive or Legislature or any pressure tactics to arm-twist this institution will not be tolerated by the citizens. The Judiciary, the last resort of the citizens for justice and fair play cannot be made a plaything of the judicial officers, nor of any outside forces either.

We the citizens have the fundamental right to conduct our lives in a peaceful atmosphere. We look for a government and a captain at the helm to promote harmony and human fellowship, justice and fair play. “Into that heaven of freedom my father, let my country awake!” we pray with Tagore!