Modi Govt’s Feel-good Balloon Bursts At Last

When it rains, it pours. That may be true of the sudden difficulties Prime Minister Narendra Modi finds himself in, unaware of where he is being led.

These are not normal times for the PM. Another top award from a foreign country, followed by much orchestrated acclaim back home, has made no difference.

What should be joyous times amid the backdrop of the Brics summit in New Delhi, the Prime Minister is worried about politically, economically, domestically and internationally, as nothing is going as per the script.

Students have become the chief tormenters, with the Prime Minister unable to fathom how they have not been swayed by his huge persona.

Despite being seen by his loyalists as the best communicator India has produced in recent times, the PM has not been able to establish a dialogue with the Gen Z crowd after the Jantar Mantar protests that have changed the complexion of politics in the country.

The talk of “forgiving” the students neither gels with the situation nor helps the ruling party. On the other hand, it gives a boost to the pro-student narrative.

Consistently deriding the detractors as “Dimagi Naxals” has not only complicated matters but has also shown the frustration of a leader used to having people eat out of his hands.

Confusion has become another major tormentor for the PM, who has failed to have a single soul to rely on. Home minister Amit Shah, known as a troubleshooter, is himself in the dock over the pellet gun controversy.

The new BJP boss Nitin Nabin is proving to be a dead duck so far, with the growing impression that he was a proxy of the top two who wanted a younger leader to don the mantle on their behalf. His failure to retain his Assembly seat of Bankipur in Bihar for the party has sent the message that he is an “also ran”.

Strange things are happening. A former bureaucrat has splashed the alleged rift between the Home minister and the Home secretary over the handling of the student protests on social media, sparking debate in political circles. The detention of the bureaucrat for 10 hours for questioning by the Delhi Police last week has only deepened the mystery. Control over Social media had once helped rise of Mr Modi as the leader.

Interestingly, the high-profile Home minister, who has kept a relatively low profile for the past month, has also become a talking point, as has the one-year extension to the Home secretary.

Though Teachers’ Day passed peacefully with the Cockroach Janta Party cancelling its India Gate to Delhi Police Headquarters march, credit has gone to the Supreme Court for quashing cases against the student agitators at Jantar Mantar.

For the first time in 12 years, the strongman of yesterday is facing strong counter-currents, much to the dismay of the world’s largest party, which was riding on a “feel good” balloon. The feeling has proved treacherous.

One week is a long time in politics. But for Mr Modi, the past year is proving more than challenging. It has confounded his diehard loyalists as to where their leader had lost the plot when everything was going his way, and the opposition had been shown its place.

Mr Modi has been forced to abandon, for the time being, the “my way or the highway” philosophy by the way he has bought peace with the Cockroach Janata Party. The virtual sacking of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has so much rattled the ruling party that the aftereffects are still being felt.

But Mr Modi’s apologists are giving a different spin. They are insisting that after a long time, the PM sees no wrong, giving in once in a while.

We are living in interesting times. At a time when the PM’s tormenters are growing, he wants nothing but peace and brotherhood ahead of the summit of the world leaders to show that he has been the undisputed leader whose writ runs large.

It does not happen this way. Operation Sindoor, which was supposed to be the zenith of the road ahead for the 2029 elections, has turned out counterproductive, with the unpredictable US President Donald Trump declaring umpteen times that he has brought peace between the two nuclear neighbours.

Since then, India has not been able to finalise its trade deal with the US as Mr Trump is throwing tantrums, and New Delhi has been forced to bide its time amid growing pressures from Washington. US ambassador Sergio Gor’s light comments about Piyush Goyal showed how Washington is taking the commerce minister casually.

The PM is baffled by the turn of events even after the BJP has handsomely won West Bengal and Bihar, packing home Mamata Banerjee and “persuading” Nitish Kumar to quit the CMship.

The flare-up in international oil prices in the wake of the Iran war has raised major concerns and has come at the worst possible time for the Modi dispensation.

Adding to the trouble, the latest GDP figures are under controversy, with the Opposition asking in unison if it was so, then why is there so much inflation? Where are the jobs? Former finance secretary S.C. Garg, too, has questioned the government's claim.

Has India painted itself into a corner in the Middle East with the growing closeness with Israel? The question is often being asked after the much-talked-about Mecca Pact that has succeeded in projecting Pakistan’s growing profile in the region.

The Cockroach Janta Party has made a strange charge. The Prime Minister’s much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle is not happening due to an “open rebellion” in the BJP, as seven ministers have apparently refused to resign to make way for what are being called “turncoats”.

Right or wrong, the failure of the government to clarify matters is making things messier and more mysterious for a dispensation that relied on the cult of a strong leader.

Attempts at alleged censorship of Sonia Gandhi’s forthcoming memoirs by a leading publisher are also showing the Modi administration in a poor light.

The puncturing of the “feel good” balloon way back in May 2004 during the Vajpayee-Advani rule had led to the BJP falling on bad days. That time, the BJP had failed to project what it has to offer to people whose aspirations are growing. The Gen Z movement reflects the same faultline. Mr Modi has hardly anything new to offer when a new generation is becoming restless and assertive.