Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s counter to Bharat Jodo Yatra-return Rahul Gandhi’s allegations on the Gautam Adani issue may not have succeeded at brushing aside the controversy but did offer a glimpse of how the BJP may shape its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
The storm that the Hindenburg Research report kicked off late January reverberated in Parliament on Tuesday as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged a direct link between the Prime Minister and the steep rise in the fortunes of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani-controlled conglomerate.
Seeking to blunt the Opposition’s allegations against him, Modi painted the Congress as a bunch of sore losers levelling unworthy allegations against him angered by the mandate of the people. “Nirasha mein doobe hue log,” Modi said, referring to the Congress, and contrasted it with a wave of “positivity” running through the nation under his watch.
Watch: PM Modi full speech in Parliament
Turning “every opportunity into crisis”, “policy paralysis”, the “lost decade”, corruption, and terror strikes were what Modi used to refer to the UPA rule between 2004 and 2014. In contrast, the PM highlighted stability enabled by electoral majority, reforms under the BJP government’s development agenda that touches upon all areas and sections of society.
In a nutshell, one could find cues of the line that Prime Minister Modi would undertake going into elections. Evading any direct reference to the Adani issue, the PM referred to the scams under UPA rule to highlight the then government’s support to “crony capitalism”, and said the trust and support of crores of people of the country that shield him from baseless allegations against him.
Taking the attack to the Opposition, the Prime Minister said 140 crore people of the country formed his “Suraksha Kavach” against the lies and attacks by the Opposition. “The people’s support to Modi is based on their trust. It is based on something that is beyond the capabilities of the thinking or understanding of the Opposition,” the Prime Minister said in Parliament.
Electorally speaking, the trust that the PM speaks of — and even enumerated in his speech — is perhaps the biggest hurdle that the Opposition has struggled to surmount.
Here are the 8 support areas highlighted by the PM:
- The trust people have in Modi is higher than their understanding and thinking limits. Will the 80 crores poor of my country, who get free ration, believe the people who make false allegations?
- One nation one ration card enables the poor to get ration anywhere in the country. How will that poor man believe in your false talks and dirty allegations?
- Will the 11 crore farmers who get PM Kisan Samman Nidhi thrice a year directly in their bank accounts believe your abuses and allegations?
- 3 crore people who were forced to live a life on a footpath, or in slums got pucca houses under PM Awas Yojana. Why would they believe in your false promises, abuses, and dirty talk?
- 9 crore people received a free gas connection. How will these people accept your lies?
- 11 crore women now have a toilet in their house. How will they accept your lies?
- 8 crore families got a tap water connection after 75 years of Independence. How will those mothers and sisters accept your lies?
- 2 crore families benefitted from the Ayushman Bharat scheme. Their lives have been saved. Modi came to their help in their hour of need. How will these people tolerate your abuses?
The people that PM mentions in this list are what have come to form Modi’s core support base that continues to expand. This is the vote base that has resulted in the BJP’s mammoth victories in UP despite the trail of destruction that the second phase of the Covid-19 pandemic left behind.
While Rahul Gandhi’s pointed attack against Modi spelt out the biggest issue that the Congress is likely to base its campaign on, the narrative that the PM has articulated in Parliament will echo in the BJP’s pitch as Modi seeks mandate for his third successive term in office in 2024.