Wednesday, May 29, 2019

The Post-election Trauma


On 23rd of May,  in the wake of the election results, when my world lay shattered, then alone did I realize how brittle it was, and how precariously it was placed twixt unfounded idealism and gross reality. No, not for a moment, all along this election frenzy, did I ever doubt Modi’s victory. I had foreseen the direction towards which the whole campaign machinery was set in motion. Targeted at the masses, there was a sinister deliberateness to it, as it groaned, and clanked, and whirred....and when one had least expected it, took off like the controversial, yet-to-manifest Rafale itself, riding on Pulwama, Balakot and Wing Commander Abhinandan. The country echoed with the shouts of Vande Mataram, and Bharat Mata ki Jai. There was no looking back. Having stirred the patriotic hearts of the unemployed, the down-trodden, the day-labourers with anti-Pakistan sentiments, Modi had succeeded in flexing his muscle power, and thrusting himself as the pragmatic leader India needs.

It wasn’t the sober, reasonable Modi we had seen in 2014, who had consistently fought on a platform of `sustainable development’, but a maniac, whose incoherent spastic speeches were randomly punctuated with nationalistic slogans, which the crowd reiterated with bigoted fervour. So, while I was more than prepared for the results of the 2019 elections leaning in his favour, it was the unrealistic landslide by which the PM swept the nation that came as a shock wave. The results did not just translate into `pro’ and `anti’, but were a frightening reflection of the national consciousness.

The forgiving children of Bharat Mata did not judge the sitting incumbent  based on the unsuccessful implementation of demonetisation, nor on the shaky outcome of the GST bill, nor on the helpless cries of the distressed farmers...nor on his silence which followed the many lynchings of innocent people. Against a weak and crumbling opposition, they applauded his 56” wide chest, and exclaimed, ‘Lo, and behold, Our Saviour has arrived! Our Deliverer from Foes!”

3 comments:

  1. Here, I totally disagree with your perspective. You only see what you want to believe and seem to be going all out to prove a predetermined assumption that Modi is a maniac. while I see him not as a Saviour but as a hard working leader who is trying to shake us out of our resigned stagnation and bring about a progressive change. The demonatisaton and GST were not popular moves but he still went ahead with it because he thought it was in the interest of the nation, the distress of the farmers has been as acute if not more, during the Congress rule. He did speak up against the lynchings. No transition is smooth, especially when you have to steer a population of 1.4 billion.
    The children of Bharat Mata are not all uneducated fools; at least not foolish enough to elect a Trump by being unsuspectingly manoeuvred by Russian machinery.

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  3. Voltaire once said, "I may not agree with you, but I will defend to death your right to free speech". So, there you are!

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