The New Modi Moment

Congress president Rahul Gandhi must now accept that he has not only failed the nation at large but also his own party. The Congress – especially its Dynasty politics – has been fully decimated this time. The election results yesterday have confirmed that the biggest liability for the Congress is Rahul Gandhi, who has been proved to be incapable of leading the party, and that the greatest asset for the BJP is Narendra Modi. There lies the difference. And the difference is striking.

The Congress, which has now to bear the huge ignominy of it being defeated so disgracefully, must ponder on three vital points. One, Modi has succeeded because he has proved himself to be decisive – the ability to take decisions, very strong ones, at the right time in the right direction. Whether it is Uri or Pulwama aftermath, the right kind of lessons has been sent to Pakistan – though it is another matter whether Pakistan has learnt the right lessons or not. Two, Modi has proved himself to be a leader who can take risks. Take the case of demonetization. That was a huge decision. True, many a poor men and women had to face problems due to that drastic step. But, at the end of the day, the initiative to launch a full-fledged drive against stashing of cash – all black money – yielded full dividends. And three, there is a youth factor at play. The youth of the country have reposed faith in the BJP led by the Amit Shah-Narendra Modi duo. As has been reported, the young voters in large numbers have voted for the BJP because they have seen in the party a promise – a huge one – of them being taken towards the right direction of higher education, skills development, and employment avenues. In fact, there is a fourth factor too – that of Muslim women in large numbers choosing to mandate the Modi regime for its take on the triple talaaq issue.

Well, the mandate is out, and it is Modi who will set the agenda for the country to grow and prosper in the next five years. Nonetheless, as a functioning democracy, one would rue the sad demise of the Opposition, led by an incompetent leader of the oldest political party, when the need of the hour is a strong Opposition steered by a leader who has both vision and hindsight to back him or her. At the moment, Rahul Gandhi has no signs of all these at all. In fact, many political analysts are saying that Rahul Gandhi should simply walk out of his party and let others – more effective and competent leaders – to be behind the wheels of a party that once boasted of such stalwarts as his own great-grandfather Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It is now incumbent on the new Modi government to steer the wheels of the country so that issues like national security, education, health, agriculture, science and technology, and infrastructure development are taken to the fore and so focussed and resolved that by 2020 all the sustainable development goals as marked by the United Nations are met fully. This, the new government can achieve, provided it focuses on development beyond the rhetoric of politics based on caste and religion. India must come out as a very strong nation – this is now the biggest responsibility of the new Modi dispensation. What is also imperative is an absolute crackdown on bigots and zealots bent on destroying the very idea of India as the most tolerant nation on earth. Kudos, Mr Narendra Modi. You deserved it. Now it is your turn to prove your mettle further.