Across the aisle by P Chidambaram: Why should a ‘strong’ leader lie?

Hon’ble Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, is a self-declared ‘strong’ leader. He often boasted of a 56” chest. His followers point to the taming of the Khan Market clique, uprooting the urban Naxals, decimating the tukde-tukde gang, teaching-a-lesson to Pakistan, virtually abolishing English as an associate official language, subjugating the mainstream media, and India’s assumed status as Vishwaguru.

With a strong leader, 303 seats under the belt and 12 chief ministers spearheading the campaign in their respective states, the march toward 370 for the BJP alone (and 400+ for the NDA) should have been a cakewalk. However, as BJP leaders admit privately, 370 or 400+ is no longer achievable and they would be happy if the BJP won a simple majority.

Why change gears?

Mr Modi started his campaign confidently and stridently. The Congress’s manifesto was released on April 5, 2024; Mr Modi contemptuously ignored it. The BJP’s manifesto was released on April 14 but there was no celebration or effort to propagate its contents. The manifesto was titled Modi Ki Guarantee. By-passing its contents, whenever Mr Modi made a statement at a rally he signed off with the announcement, ‘This is Modi’s guarantee’. I have lost count of the number of Modi guarantees. However, what stands out is that Mr Modi gave no guarantee about creating jobs for the unemployed or containing rising inflation, the two topmost concerns of the common people. Mr Modi also deliberately did not speak — like a prime minister should during an election — about communal harmony, development, agricultural distress, industrial sickness, multi-dimensional poverty, financial stability, national debt, household debt, educational standards, healthcare, Chinese occupation of Indian territory or a hundred other serious concerns.

On April 19, the first phase of polling in 102 seats was completed. Presumably, the penny dropped on April 21, and Mr Modi launched a full scale assault on the Congress at public rallies in Jalore and Banswara in Rajasthan. Mr Modi said: “Congress is trapped in the clutches of the Leftists and urban naxals. What Congress has said in its manifesto is serious and worrying. They have said that if they form a government then a survey of property belonging to every person will be done. It will be checked how much gold our sisters own, how much money government employees have. They have also said that gold owned by our sisters would be equally distributed. Does government have the right to take your property?” We can only guess that between April 19 and 21 Mr Modi received some information (intelligence?) that forced him to change gears.

Why lies and more lies?

Every allegation in the passage extracted above is a lie. As the days passed, the lies became bigger and more outrageous. From property to gold to mangalsutra to Streedhan to houses, Mr Modi alleged that the Congress will seize them and distribute them to musalmano, infiltrators and people who have more children. In another rally, Mr Modi jumped to religion-based quotas and inheritance tax. There was no end to the lies. Mr Modi even threw up an economic gem like ‘inheritance tax on buffaloes’ and said that if a person owned two buffaloes one will be taken away.

The immediate objective was clear. It was to tar Indian Muslims with black paint and to polarise the electorate, and consolidate the Hindu voters.

What are the lies uttered by the Prime Minister is important, but the more important question is why is the Prime Minister uttering such lies. Be it noted, it is not one lie, it is a string of lies, and the lying continues. A prime minister who was confident of winning 370 or 400+ seats will not recklessly throw lies about his adversaries. He will challenge the Opposition parties to engage in a debate on his record. Mr Modi’s choice of lies — not his record — as the main battle tank is a mystery that has to be unraveled.

Why self-doubt?

Suppose Mr Modi knew the secrets locked in the EVMs. He may have reasons to worry because the conditions on the ground are very different from the situation in 2019. In the first place, Mr Modi is not able to set the narrative of the election. He is not initiating the debate, he is reacting to the Congress’s manifesto, albeit an imaginary one. Secondly, he is not able to match his promise with Congress’s promise and capture the attention of the electorate. Thirdly, the people resent the BJP’s tiresome slogans but Mr Modi is not able to coin a new slogan like achche din aanewale hai. Fourthly, the lower voting percentage may have unnerved him because it could be an indication that his loyal voters did not turn up at the polling booths. Finally, the absence of RSS volunteers at the booths and the silence of the RSS’s top brass may have rung alarm bells in the BJP camp.

It is likely that Congress and other Opposition parties will make significant gains. Whether such ‘gains’ will amount to a ‘net loss’ for the BJP is the million dollar question. It is possible that Mr Modi also shares the more realistic view that the 2024 election is not a winner-take-all election in any state (with the possible exception of Gujarat). Mr Modi may have concluded that he should not count the elusive gains but the likely net losses. That thought may have caused him worry and the worry is translating into lies.

I cannot predict the way in which the people will vote, but I am convinced that the people can see through Mr Modi’s lies. And the people wonder why a ‘strong’ leader should lie.