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The spectacle of the great Indian elections is over. At the end of the count, there is one man standing. An Incredible Indian, riding on the crest of a majestic wave named NaMo, has changed the course of history, and with it, ushered in an era of new hope and expectation.
He’s India’s new Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi.
Not since the 1984 elections has a single party secured an absolute majority in the Lower House of Parliament—the Lok Sabha. Those who watched the countdown, were witness to history being made. The Congress under Sonia and Rahul Gandhi was reduced to a mere 44 seats, its lowest ever tally.
One son had fallen, and with few words left to say on the debacle, returned home quietly with his mother. The world had slipped away from under his feet.
Another son had risen. Having campaigned tirelessly and having ensured victory, he returned home to his mother. Blessed by 90-year-old Hiraben, Narendra Modi prepared to embrace his new responsibility, his new role, and his new opportunities. The world was at his feet.
Given the shrill political hyperbole, the media’s 24/7 high-decibel razzmatazz, and the enormous scale of voting that took place, this was by far the mother of all political battles India had witnessed. Nearly 553.8 million people had black ink to show on their left index fingers, which means 66.48 per cent of the 833 million electorate had turned up to cast its vote, an all-time national record.
1984, and now 2014
Back in 1984 it needed the assassination of his mother for Rajiv Gandhi of the Congress Party to completely sweep the general elections in India that immediately followed. Thirty years down the line, it needed another assassination—that of the rule of law under the regime of the Congress-led UPA coalition—for Narendra Modi to make the 2014 Indian general elections his own. In an India that had become somewhat too accustomed to the perils and shenanigans of decades of coalition politics, the results of May 16 was quite clear—absolute majority to the BJP, and to the National Democratic Alliance. People voted for change. They wanted stability for five years. They received it.
Modi stands head and shoulders above everyone else. Most of his opponents had been swiftly punched out by the electorate. Several of them lay in ruins, completely routed from the very turf they had made their own. Narendra Modi may have majorly played the development card during the elections, but the backing of the RSS from whose cadres he once rose to political stardom, certainly helped. Purveyors of appeasement and caste were the biggest losers. Narendra Modi had altered the rules of the game, perhaps forever.
Yet, no efforts had been spared, sometimes collectively, to decimate Modi. Almost no conceivable political sword had been left undrawn from its scabbard, no verbal rock had remained too heavy to be left unhurled, and no bold accusation had ever been tempered with euphemisms in these elections to keep Modi from taking wings. All that the Election Commission which was tasked to manage the most bitterly contested and talked about elections in the world’s largest democracy could do was to fire salvo upon disciplinary salvo upon the accusers, but to no avail.
THE CHALLENGES
All through the period that he campaigned, Modi addressed the crowds like a leader-in-waiting. He was part of the crowd, its centre of attention, and yet managed to rise above it time and time again, practicing perhaps what former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously said, “Being prime minister is a lonely job…you cannot lead from the crowd.” He was preparing for the aloneness to follow at the top, something he has not been unused to in his earlier role as chief minister of Gujarat.
With his historic win, 1.3 billion expectations have gone up in the air. From now on, questions will be repeatedly asked about whether he will lead India into a new, glorious dawn? Whether he will create more jobs? Will India become the toast of the world and regain its glory of a thousand years ago? Can the country shed its corrupt tag, and find its place once again as an ethical superpower? Will India find more time for Spirituality and less for hatred? Suggestions and advise will pour in copiously, some of which cannot be ignored. Modi’s job is cut out, but he needs to be careful at every step. Amid the expectations, he has to keep delivering on all that he has promised during his 1,000 plus rallies. “A prime minister must not promise things that can’t be fulfilled,” said former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Or as Japanese PM, Shinzo Abe, says, “What is important, I believe, is that I really act on promises that I make, and leave results.”
Promises are something that Narendra Modi has learnt to fulfill and deliver upon during his stint as chief minister of Gujarat. But Gujarat would have been a walk in the park, compared to the enormity of what lies before him—the task of being prime minister of the nation. India is a diverse country, and there are states that have rulers from opposition parties. Some of them like U.P., Bihar and Bengal, will bitterly try and stave off Modi’s growing influence, and will not play along with his policies. But eventually, he will have to carry everyone along, if India is to move forward. He has to keep the ball rolling much like what Goh Chok Tong, Singapore’s former PM said: “My main mission when I became Prime Minister was to keep Singapore going. And Singapore has been kept going.” There is no other way but for India to keep going.
One of the greatest concerns that Narendra Modi will have to address and continuously deal with is both India’s external and internal security. Only a secure people can work towards progress, and a climate of security can pull in the best brains from across the globe to propel India forward. Modi knows that there are many anti-national elements that will do their best to destroy the country’s tolerant fabric, and they are not necessarily sitting within the boundaries of India. Olmert of Israel knew a thing or two about security. “Every prime minister … has the responsibility to provide security for his people… also he has to keep a balance when dealing with sensitive issues.”
The challenges ahead are vast: ensuring economic security, food security and internal security will take up much of Modi’s first five years as Prime Minister. But then as his track record shows he has never been the one to shy away from challenges. In the man with the self-confessed 56-inch chest, India may well have found its 21st century
hero.
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