Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat completed three years on September 24. It is really unprecedented for a PM of a country of India’s size to spare time to speak to the people every month. That reminds us of his predecessor Manmohan Singh who addressed the nation only on formal occasions. His silence was writ large that he earned the title of mauni baba (silent sage). Democracy demands ‘people-connect’. Modi has been able to address this demand well—to the BJP’s advantage.
While Modi has repeatedly been saying that he has kept Mann ki Baat away from politics, I think it is one of the most aggressive and smart political ideas executed by any PM since Independence. Once a prime minister gets going, he gets engrossed in governance and domestic and international problems that he hardly has any time for the people.
His constituency gets neglected, his presence across various states gets diminished and the ’people-connect’ gets reduced to formal occasions like Independence Day and Republic Day. Unless he is protected from the rough and tumble of popular elections, like Manmohan Singh who avoided contesting elections to the Lok Sabha and remained a member of the Rajya Sabha, he is exposed to the risk of facing the people’s wrath for neglecting the electorate, in general, and being indifferent to his constituency, in particular.
Modi has been careful. He has taken steps to remain connected to people. One, he has maintained regular contact with his constituency Varanasi. Since assuming office in 2014, he has visited Varanasi more than half-a-dozen times. That is rare for a PM. Two, he actively campaigned in all states that went to the polls. That connected him to the people at the state level. And every month, through Mann ki Baat, he maintained regular connect with the people all over India. Through this, he has reached out to people in both urban and remote rural areas. Surely, it has proved to be a simple, effective and economical way to reach out to the people.
This might have unnerved the opposition parties especially the Congress. In its latest allegation, the Congress called Mann ki Baat a ‘one-sided’ communication. Obviously, there is no mechanism that can create a better dialogue process between the PM and the people.
As if to anticipate Congress’ criticism, Modi, in the latest episode, said that while he talked to people for half-an-hour a month, people flooded the Narendra Modi app and other platforms through letters, audios, emails and phone calls with their suggestions. He added that the feedback helped him finalise the contents of his speech for Mann ki Baat. He has regularly been naming some outstanding people every month to recognise their service to the public or to appreciate their novel suggestions. One cannot underestimate the political impact of this tactic.
All this is smart politics. The opposition parties may have no idea about the bonding between the people and the PM through Mann ki Baat. It completely demolishes the allegation that Modi is going on a monologue. The fact is that they are not able to see the silent dialogue between the people and the PM. While one may say it has an electoral purpose, reaching out to the people and a regular connect between the government and the governed is the essence of democratic politics. That may take the Opposition completely off guard and may stump them in the next Lok Sabha polls.
While dissent and criticism remain essential and strong components of democratic governance, political parties must realise that stretching the people’s patience with unreasonable and irrational dissent and criticism could be counterproductive. The electors of India do not appreciate inflated criticism and they have the sagacity to see the truth. So, while pointing out the aberrations of Modi and his government may be the onerous and pious duty of the Opposition, they must, in their own best interest, neither hit below the belt nor commit any grave fouls.
Also, ridiculing all those who support Modi as bhakts may actually generate a permanent rage among electors against Modi’s opponents and can, in turn, greatly benefit Modi and the BJP. That is because in a democracy, people have the right to choose a party and a leader. When we ridicule their choice, people feel angry. Those who ridicule Modi supporters as bhakts, should ask themselves: Whose bhakts are they? Are they Sonia’s, Rahul’s or Congress’ or the bhakts of dying Leftists?
Modi and his government’s policy decisions are surely open to critical scrutiny. Criticism should strengthen the democratic functioning of the system. Let the government defend itself. But opposition parties should not get lost in anti-Modi and anti-BJP rhetoric and lose their own sense of direction and purpose. Isn’t it the best time for the Opposition to introspect and reinvent their ideologies, revamp their organisation and reformulate their policies when they are not burdened with national governance? Why fritter all this valuable time in bogus and unproductive criticism?
Isn’t it the responsibility of the Opposition to formulate a strategy for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls? Do the opposition parties realise that voters do not have any alternative to Modi and BJP/NDA for national governance right now? Modi’s staunch rival, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar already realised that, confessed it publicly and became friends with Modi. Isn’t that a warning signal? What is the Opposition’s responsibility? Just to criticise Modi or to engage in substantive politics to challenge Modi? What is their plan to reach out to the people? Why not formulate a smart move to challenge Modi’s smart politics?
Dr A K Verma
Director, Centre for the Study of Society and Politics, Kanpur
Email: akv1722@gmail.com