The Modi Effect: Change in Political Discourse

Abhishek Dwivedi

After and even before, Mr. Narendrabhai Modi was declared as Prime Ministerial candidate of NDA, the heated debate around his personality has been focused on his ambitions and chances of becoming PM. There is no doubt at all that Mr. Modi’s personality gives rise to a lot of conflicting yet powerful emotions among his supporters and detractors. There is no neutral ground when it comes to Modi. He is either loved fiercely or hated badly. His ambitions, which may or may not exist, are irrelevant now after the formal declaration. And what matters is the contribution of Modi towards the political discourse. His political fortunes may have changed dramatically in last three-four years but he has changed the political discourse of the country since last 10 years. His detractors may dismiss him as an arrogant fascist who refuses to come clean to media but they know that, slowly and silently, Modi has come clean to his voters in Gujarat.Before I proceed with my points regarding his role in revolutionizing the political intellectualism present in the country, it is my duty to put the caveat that I do not care and it doesn't matter what his role in Gujarat 2002 was as subsequent petitions against him have been dismissed or have exonerated him. Till Supreme Court declares otherwise, he shall be presumed and taken as innocent.The biggest contribution of Mr. Modi is that he has brought the responsibility to the doors of Gandhi’s. The first family is no more sacred. It’s not protected by the implied censorship of Media. The congress, after 2003, has banked heavily on censorship of Media, generally through allowances but sometimes through force also. With active assistance of media houses, almost every incident which fixed the Gandhi’s was suppressed or was sidelined. To debate serious issues regarding the responsibility of Gandhi, third rung BJP leaders who had no clue to debate, were called to these channels and were pitted against expert and arrogantly smart spokespersons of Congress. Every debate about Gandhi was brought to 2002 riots and the BJP spokespersons were brilliantly forced to concede or portrayed as conceding. Modi, after emerging as a national level leader of BJP, changed this attitude of BJP. The implied understanding of Delhi BJP with Congress was reversed. Aggressive and confident spokespersons of BJP were sent to media houses to debate and attack the Gandhi’s. Just like every issue about BJP was forced to revolve around Modi’s culpability in 2002 riots, every scam, every issue of accountability was brought to the Gandhi’s by BJP. The pressers of BJP were now targeting Gandhi’s and PM rather than individual ministers. Meenakshi lekhi, Smriti Irani and Nirmala Sitaraman took on, not only on Congress and Gandhi's, but on Media Moguls aligned with Gandhi’s also. The media was forced to change its stance vis-à-vis Gandhi's. Today, Gandhi’s are no more sacred. Gandhi’s are not India’s natural choice anymore. They are being questioned about Rahul’s degrees, Sonia’s relationship with Bofors and as Modi said in Jaipur, Daamad ka Karobar.Another point is about addressing the masses. Mr. Modi is known for his calculated and customized speeches. His speech in SRCC was focused on development story and HRD investment in Gujarat. In Hyderabad, he gave the slogan of jai Seemandhra and Jai Telangana. He invited TDP to NDA. In Rewari, he literally shredded the congress for its apathy towards armed forces. He has changed the notion of speeches and has developed the concept of impromptu dialogues with masses. He has taken the initiative of addressing masses rather than communities. He addressed his rallies in 2012 assembly elections to Six Crore Guajaratis’. He has made Rahul’s reading habit took like a sin in politics. He has made Rahul speak about development more than what his father or grandmother did. He has brilliantly stolen the Congress stalwarts, not belong to Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, and have used them brilliantly in his speeches to target the “Parivaarvaad” of congress. His speeches are focused on balancing his achievements in Gujarat and shredding the Congress regime.Third and one of the most interesting points about Modi’s political discourse is that he never ran after the media, especially English media for any coverage. He once said and I quote “it is not my job to run their channel”. He ensured, though, through his effective media management that he remains in news somehow, without directly interacting with the media. He eagerly watched and decided the course of media about his actions. The over negativism of media about Modi and selective journalism regarding Gujarat saturated the people all across the nation. Their shows about communalism in Gujarat was refuted by almost every person who visited Gujarat and did not subscribe to pseudo-secularist self proclaimed intellectuals. The obsession of Media regarding Modi proved to be a boon for Modi. The negative discourse on Modi forced people to understand his side of story. And when people tried to learn about him through internet and social media, they were easily convinced about the paid and selective journalism of Main stream Media. Modi never tried to convince anyone of anything. He just determined the agenda of Media and rest followed.   He was the first, yes the first politician, to identify the potential and power of social media. He started interacting and actively responding to his followers in twitter. Today, he tweets in several different languages. He has forced BJP leaders to come on twitter and interact with people. BJP, with this initiative, has consolidated its base among young and urban class. There is a self-organized organic force of volunteers who sitting from different cities of the country, actively take part in and contribute to his online hangouts, interactive sessions, convincing others and fiercely fighting his detractors. This has forced the congress to adopt this social media or in better words, social media has been pushed down the throat of congress by Modi. And the eNREGA volunteers, as Modi fans call congress workers on internet, are not as tech friendly and experienced as the organic workforce. Every day or two, there is a debacle of Congress on social media. Recently, Rajasthan CM Gehlot was caught buying likes from Istanbul while a trend against Sushma Swaraj was traced to be originating from Bangladesh. This sudden desperation of congress to become or prove its popularity in Social Media is turning out to be a liability on congress rather than a positive step.Modi has given a platform to his detractors and supporters to interact and debate on several issues. With social media, Modi has brought out the argumentative Indian in us. The sanest debates take place on twitter and not in the staged theaters of TV studios. We question everything now; every action has a conspiracy behind it. Rumors don’t hold anymore. I acknowledge that crediting Modi for the triumph and features of social media may be overstating but Mr. Modi has ensured that most of debates on TV now originates on his tweets or trend related to him via twitter.Modi may lose badly in 2014. It may be the last electoral election for him. He may remain the PM-in-waiting for BJP for elections to come. He may be all hype but no substance. But he has done what no other leader could. He has ended the hysteria around brand Gandhi. He has challenged the authority of Gandhi’s as the central theme of Indian politics.