Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Modi single-handedly pulverizes the Opposition' that was published in Newsband

Modi single-handedly pulverizes the Opposition

The BJP scored a gigantic victory in the Lok Sabha elections. PM Narendra Modi single-handedly pulverised the Opposition.

India is still notionally a multi-party system, but in the south, regional parties have held on to their supreme position. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) confounded admirers and critics alike by amassing a majority that surpassed its haul of 282 of 543 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. This is also because of meticulous planning by BJP president Amit Shah. But without Modi, there could be and would be no Shah. It was Mr. Modi’s unflagging, ever-present visage, beamed into homes.  

Shah had announced soon after the BJP’s 2014 victory that the Congress’s days were numbered. The slogan ‘Congress-mukt (Congress-free) Bharat’ seems like becoming a reality. The Congress did show its existence from time to time by registering victories here and there. But 2019 has proved that the externment will not be long in coming.

Notionally the Congress has improved on its pathetic 2014 tally of 44 Lok Sabha seats, but the defeat of party president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi is a warning of bigger catastrophes ahead. He was contesting from the bastion of the Nehru-Gandhi clan and he lost.

During the campaign it was proved that there was a distinction between Islamist and Hindutva terror: The first was a danger that had to be crushed with all the force possible. The second didn’t exist.  

Modi played nationalist hero to the hilt with a benevolent Election Commission watching. Previous Prime Ministers wanted to protect their minority vote banks. As the campaign progressed, nationalism inevitably got posited against the Opposition’s ‘Muslim appeasement’ politics. The Prime Minister accused Rahul Gandhi of fleeing to Wayanad in Kerala to be able to contest from a constituency where “the majority was in a minority.”

With his sharp nationalist-Hindutva messaging and towering presence, Modi is bigger than the party. The media is now accepting Modi's plus points after denigrating him in a sustained manner for a long time. If Congress comes up with talented leadership rather than Dynasty leadership then it will be very good for India so that it will have more choices to get Strong leadership.

Democracy has its own advantage and fallacy. There is a difference in perception of intellectuals and masses. Although former is part of latter but they feel themselves as superior. The intellectual community should not forget that any idea to succeed need masses. Rather than treating them as a crowd of fools it would be better if they could guide them in the right direction. Over simplification of things has also crept into media.

The phenomenon called Modi is a tsunami for bakths and a catastrophe for opposition. But Modi should never forget one thing - Lord Acton's famous quote: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. One has seen that happening with former PM Indira Gandhi. Modi should take care to see that it doesn’t happen with him.