As he campaigned across India election Starting Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of his insatiable ambitions for the dinner table.
A roof over your head, a water system, cooking gas bottles – Mr Modi read from a menu of what he said was a rich menu of “development” for India’s poor. But he didn’t stop there. “What Modi has done so far is just the appetizer,” he said, pausing, referring to himself in the third person, as he often does. “The main course hasn’t been served yet.”
For Modi’s legions of supporters, a third term would bring more of what they find attractive about him. He is one of those rare strong men who always pays attention to the actual situation. He was a charismatic figure and a powerful speaker. He established an image as a tireless, incorruptible worker for a nation on the rise.
But to his critics, Modi’s remarks about the “main course” were a wake-up call for the future of the world’s largest democracy.
Modi, 73, has surged in popularity in a general election that has seen his party’s grip on India’s more populous northern and central hinterlands grow stronger than ever, while the opposition’s strength in equally decisive geography is even more weakened. Yet while his status as India’s unparalleled leader appears to have been secured, his crackdown on dissent has only increased.
On the eve of voting, Run for six weeks Ahead of the announcement of the results on June 4, institutions under Mr Modi’s control have Freeze bank account One of the largest opposition parties. The leaders of two opposition-controlled countries have been jailed in cases they say are politically motivated. (The capital region of New Delhi is currently run by a chief minister who issues orders from prison.)
Modi’s critics say all this demonstrates his disapproval of fully control This became increasingly evident during his decade as prime minister. They believe Modi will not rest until he transforms Indian democracy into one-party rule. Yamini Aiyar, a policy analyst in New Delhi, said power was being aggressively consolidated “around a cult of personality for leaders.”
“The deep concentration of power has severely undermined the institutional checks and balances in India’s democratic fabric,” Ms. Aiyar said.
Many Indians seem willing to accept this. Even as Modi becomes more authoritarian, he remains deeply popular. He has paid little and even received support for his efforts to reshape India into what analysts say is an illiberal democracy.
He exploits contradictions. In a country where democracy offers protection in troubled regions, the right to vote is considered sacrosanct.But polls also show that large numbers of Indians willing to give up civil liberties Supporting a strong ruler they believed was getting things done.
Another seeming incongruity: People talking about their own economic strife also often express confidence in Mr. Modi’s stewardship of the country, a testament to the powerful narrative he has weaved.
Indians also have more tangible reasons to support him. Mr. Modi has worked tirelessly to maintain his broad base of support through generosity across society: delivering favorable deals for the business elite in a growing economy, strong welfare programs for India’s poor, and everything in between. of people offering strong Hindu nationalism.
This month’s election campaign in the party’s stronghold of Uttar Pradesh is evidence of that winning formula.
Modi stood in the back of a saffron-colored truck as it drove slowly along a shopping street dotted with global brands and jewelry stores, a scene that illustrated the new wealth that has propelled millions of Indians into the middle class.
Overhead, billboards bearing Modi’s photo – his face is ubiquitous across India – recounted achievements such as installing more than 100 million toilets for the poor and India’s rising status.
At the end of the “road show”, a stage equipped with loudspeakers was set up at the intersection where Modi’s vehicle turned right to return to Delhi. As Hindu nationalist songs played, actors dressed as gods Rama and Sita posed for photos with the crowd.
Mr Modi’s January inauguration A huge temple dedicated to Ram has been built on the controversial site of a mosque that was razed to the ground by Hindu mobs three decades ago, a major election-year offering by him to his Hindu base.
“We are Hindus, we are Hindus, we only talk about Rama,” goes one song. “Those who bring Ram, we will put them in power.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Modi was founded in 1980 as an urban middle-class organization with the Hindu majority at its core. Analysts say that under Modi, the party has reinvented itself as the party of poor people and villages in northern India.
Some in India believe poorer people are simply fascinated by Modi. Nalin Mehta, author of “The New Bharatiya Janata Party”, calls this approach fundamentally wrong.
“The fact that the BJP continues to win these victories reflects how successful it is in attracting new voters who have never voted for the BJP before and who may not even be followers of Hindu nationalism,” he said.
Mehta attributes much of this success to the expansion and branding of the party’s welfare programs, as well as the party’s efforts to promote itself as pan-Hindu and proactively reach out to India’s marginalized castes.
By prioritizing direct digital welfare payments, the BJP cut out the middleman and ensured the relief payments were seen as coming directly from Mr Modi.
Technology also allows the party to follow suit, with BJP workers armed with data knocking on the door of anyone who gets a tap, a gas cylinder or a government grant to build a house.
Data generates multiple layers of feedback that help parties select candidates and dump large numbers of incumbents before each election. “This BJP is very ruthless about winning,” Mr. Mehta said.
It’s all brought together by Modi’s immense appeal and his political and technological acumen.
He has placed his personal story at the center of his narrative of India’s rise, a key pillar of his campaign. He said if the low-caste son of a milk tea seller could become one of the most powerful people in the world, then other ordinary Indians could also dream.
While inequality is growing and 800 million Indians struggle to survive on their monthly rations, many are focusing on the belief that Mr Modi is not a thief. He casts himself as a descendant-less bachelor who works only for the people of India, unlike what he calls the corrupt political dynasty of the opposition.
“Modi was not born into a royal family to be prime minister,” he told tens of thousands of people in Maharashtra state. “You’re the one who got him to this point.”
The political opposition has been severely weakened by infighting, a leadership crisis and a struggle to provide an ideological alternative to the BJP
But it also faces a playing field that Mr. Modi has tilted in his favor.
He terrified the broadcast media. Independent journalists who have questioned his policies have been jailed or legally harassed. India leads the world in internet shutdowns, masking unrest that is damaging to the government. Officials under Modi have also forced social media platforms to crawl critical content.
Investigative agencies have launched probes into Modi’s political opponents – More than 90% Many of the cases involving politicians over the past decade have involved the opposition. Many languish in prison or in the court system. Those who switched allegiance to the BJP saw their cases disappear.
On the campaign trail in West Bengal, opposition candidate Mahua Moitra spoke of saving democracy from the authoritarianism she said led to her own expulsion from parliament — —This case involves a former lover, a Rottweiler named Henry and corruption charges.
Dictatorship and Modi’s cozy ties with billionaires have been the opposition’s two main lines of attack. During the campaign, Moitra told a group of women that they were still waiting for government funds to build houses because Modi was “busy building palaces for his friends”.
Analysts doubt that either issue will resonate broadly. Many Indians, especially in his strongholds in the north, have as decisive a say in how New Delhi governs as they do from Modi.
“He is the prime minister. If he is not strong enough, what good is it?” Anjali Vishwakarma, a 37-year-old interior designer, spent a recent day with her family in Modi’s Varanasi constituency. Said while walking along the Ganges.
Suhasini Raj Contributing reporting from Varanasi, Samir Yasir From Krishna Nagar and Hari Kumar From Ghaziabad, India.
