Brace for PM Modi
When an old pseudo-secularist like me says get ready for a Narendra Modi-led NDA government, you’d better believe it. Unless some divine agency intervenes, the Congress is heading for an electoral rout. The AAP, high on its initial success, seems unlikely to pose a serious challenge in the general election.
What kind of prime minister will Narendra Modi make? Even the most informed and insightful pundit has no answer to that riddle. If he behaves the way his critics expect him to, the country is in for big trouble. India is not Gujarat. Therefore, his autocratic style of governing, which worked well in his home state, will spell disaster for him when he moves into 7, Race Course Road. And if his cabinet team consists of cronies like Amit Shah, we can say goodbye to good governance.
Can Narendra Modi spring a surprise? I am certain he is aware of the challenges and pitfalls of ruling a vast, diverse, multi-religious country with a substantial Muslim population. Happily, there are some signs that our presumed future PM understands the prerequisites of prime ministership. The Gujarat CM needs to wear the Atal Behari Vajpayee mantle of a moderate centrist leader who knows when to keep his mouth shut and to avoid the kind of nasty rhetoric he has been spouting on the campaign trail. Since Mr Modi has an acute sense of self-preservation and is blessed, like a cat, with nine lives, pragmatism may triumph ideology. Bookies, as yet, are not taking bets on which of the two Modis will emerge.
Mr Modi moreover will be mindful of the various enemies inside his party waiting with daggers drawn and itching to plunge the knife in. On his part, Modi has scores to settle too with real and imagined adversaries. The Nehru-Gandhi family, for one, will be high on his list.
Someone should remind Mr Modi that revenge is a dish best served cold.
Media, Beware
One estate Mr Modi will be tempted to exact revenge on is the media, especially the English print and electronic media. Rightly or wrongly, he believes these snooty, liberal hacks have it in for him. I could be wrong but I believe he has fought with nearly every editor in the English media. Against some he has filed court cases. Because he is a man with a reputation for not forgetting or forgiving, all of us, including me, better watch out. Of course, here too, he might spring a surprise. We’ll have to wait and see. If it comes to Modi vs the English editors, the war could be bloody and counter-productive for the strongman of Gujarat.
There is possibly just one editor who might escape his wrath. That is my friend Chandan Mitra who edits The Pioneer, a paper I consider essential reading for those trying to understand the full range of Indian politics. I’m planning to send Chandan a bottle of Chivas Regal as a bribe so that he can put in a good word for me with you-know-who.
Aam Aadmi Cameron
Malcolm Muggeridge called public relations “organised lying”. For a prime minister or president, however, the lying is part of the job. Consider British prime minister David Cameron’s widely photographed, spontaneous halt in Calcutta to taste the city’s famous street food. It was made to appear that Mr Cameron made a spur-of-the-moment decision when he told his driver to stop. He then stepped out into Park Street for a walkabout before sighting a street vendor selling daalvada. Unable to resist, he ordered six, dipped them in pudina chutney and gulped the lot. “Loved the spicy lentil cakes of Calcutta,” he tweeted. For the delicacy, he paid Anurag Chauhan, the 23-year-old proprietor of the food cart, one 20-pound and one 10-pound note. While he was enjoying the vadas, the cameras were busy clicking away and the event received huge coverage in the press and on TV. Just an “ordinary bloke” was the verdict of the media, a man of the street in our parlance.
The truth is the lentil cake photo-op had been meticulously planned. A day before Cameron’s street food stunt, the British High Commission had officially organised it. Mr Chauhan was contacted, briefed about the PM’s visit and told to keep his cart and utensils clean. Chauhan, by the way, is also laughing his way to the bank: his business, since the Cameron visit, has gone up by 40 per cent.
A Collared Editor
Bad news. Editor is down in the dumps again. He is suffering from a host of ailments, mainly infection in the left ear and a nasty rash. The vet has put a big queen’s collar round his neck. He looks like Elizabeth I. Most of the time, he is glum and miserable (like a real editor?) and makes strange sounds pleading for the damned collar to be removed.
Last week in Lucknow
I ate Tunda’s galouti kebabs. Nothing more needs to be said.
Vinod Mehta is editorial chairman, Outlook, and its founding editor-in-chief; E-mail your diarist: vmehta AT outlookindia.com
