You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. These words from The Dark Knight hold relevance in any socioeconomic and political context. When I read about the US Presidential eligibility of getting reelected only once, it struck me as a bit empty-headed. However, upon reading Ruchir Sharma’s “Breakout Nations” and observing current geopolitical contexts, what struck me was the lack of originality after 2 tenures. Most leaders that have been reelected or have created the illusion of getting reelected for more than 2 tenures (Putin, Erdogan, and the like) have gone on to achieve absolutely nothing significant in their later tenures. And we are seeing this in practice in India as well. Nothing significant has changed between BJP’s election manifesto of 2019 and 2024, besides the deletion of some hyper-jingoistic schemes and the size and number of PM Modi’s picture increasing manifold.
The BJP manifesto for 2024 looks like a series of not thought through policies. Most policies are descriptive of very ambitious plans without a basic foundation. It talks about how India will be the Pharma, Green energy, electronics, automobile and semiconductor hub, legal hub, and commercial contracting hub. How does PM Modi talk about making India a superpower when he has to provide a free 5 kg ration to 80 crore people? What led to BJP’s election in the 2014 elections was a wave of irritation, mistrust, and loss of credibility for the Congress government and BJP’s simultaneous success in generating hope and thereby creating a wave. But things have changed significantly in the last 10 years. BJP has not been able to fulfill any of their major promises. There’s no data on the 2 crore job promises. How many were filled? CM Modi of 2013 is the biggest critic of PM Modi from 2024.
PM Modi claims that the BJP government will be building infrastructure projects along border areas of Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. Looks like he has hired the Chinese Communist Party to do the job on his behalf. It is time we achieve anti-incumbency. The country should vote for a dynamic leader who has greater accountability and is open to greater scrutiny instead of buying all media houses and arresting opposition leaders.