With India entering the seventh and final phase of the ongoing general elections, matters have taken on a comic turn – the opposition alliance has taken umbrage to Prime Modi’s plan to meditate at the Vivekanand Rock Memorial in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari. By doing so, they are acknowledging that such actions undertaken by Modi have an impact on the people. Describing it as ‘silent campaigning’ during the day before voting when public campaigns are forbidden, they have demanded that photographers and videographers not be allowed to cover the event. Unfortunately for them, their vociferous opposition has drawn more attention to it than would have been the case otherwise.
The entire election campaign has witnessed the opposition trying to catch up with Modi in the perception game. Not only has he been well ahead of the curve, but he has also, so often, co-opted them in serving his purposes. The ongoing Rock Memorial ‘controversy’ is only the latest example. The timing of the visit coinciding with voting in areas of West Bengal connected closely to Swami Vivekanand is like the master baker putting the cherry on the cake.
Whichever way the elections turn out, aspiring politicians should learn some lessons from this top-class communicator. Essentially, he is not putting on a show – he is merely projecting his deeply felt value-system. It is rooted undoubtedly in the RSS and Sanatani ideology – it is not pretense. He did not get together with image managers to create a public persona that matches the requirements of surveys and algorithms. In contrast, Rahul Gandhi, who was the most high-profile campaigner for the opposition tried all the time to offer a sculpted version of their concept of an ideal person – it was so obviously not natural to him. He would have done much better if he had been seen as respectful towards religion but not much of a temple-goer. Just like so many young persons today. His attempts to seem close to the common person only turned out to be visibly condescending. There is nothing in his limited scholastic background that justifies any of the outlandish social and economic policies he has advocated. Yet, he comes up with a new gimmick every day – the latest being constitutionalism. The traditional anti-BJP vote base will back the opposition, but it is unlikely that such tactics will have attracted further support.
Modi as a role model for the opposition might seem preposterous to many, but there will likely be five more years available for them to learn.
