PM Narendra Modi’s ‘silence’ on controversial issues questioned

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on a range of controversial issues is “deafening” and “could eventually have an adverse impact” on the government and party, according to some BJP leaders and senior ministers.

Mr Modi maintained a stoic silence as comments flew thick and fast on a range of issues, from abrogation of Article 370, the Badaun rape horror, VHP leader Ashok Singhal’s comment that the “BJP victory was a blow to Muslims,” the Shiv Sena MPs’ alleged attempt to force a Muslim fasting on Ramzan to eat, and Telangana MLA K. Laxman opposing tennis ace Sania Mirza as the state’s brand ambassador as “she is Pakistan’s daughter-in-law.”

Even before the BJP could get over these remarks from fringe elements, Goa minister Dipak Dhavalikar waded into another controversy on Thursday, saying Mr Modi will develop India into a Hindu nation.

Sources said some top party leaders and ministers had sent feelers to the Prime Minister, asking him to put out a statement to assuage the feelings of the minorities and offer them some reassurance.

With saffron hawks and the Hindutva brigade unleashing an anti-minority campaign, moderate faces in the BJP feel this could boomerang as “secular minded Hindus who had voted for Modi’s development plank may turn against the party.”

Feathers are also ruffled in saffron circles over an article in the prestigious Washington Post in the US that said, “India’s Modi was an over-sharing politician. Now he’s a silent Prime Minister.”

The article virtually equated Mr Modi with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had become famous for his “silence.”

Questions are also being raised on whether Mr Modi is unable to contain those who seem to be rapidly replacing his development plank with aggressive Hindutva, that he had consciously evaded during the election campaign.

It is also felt that the PM’s silence on these issues may give a handle to the Opposition, particularly the Congress. A senior BJP leader said Mr Modi was pursuing his “Gujarat model of politics as the PM of the country.” In Gujarat, he hardly ever interacted with the media or talked about controversial issues. This leader argued that this “model might not work when it concerns the nation as a whole.”

The moderate faces in the BJP and the government also feel that the PM must “become somewhat proactive in matters of communication.”

It was pointed out that the BJP’s huge majority in the Lok Sabha was a clear signal that a section of the minorities had also voted for the party.