Decoding Prime Minister Narendra Modi As A Political Leader On His 75th Birthday

/India Press Agency/

By Nitya Chakraborty

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stepped into his 75th year on Wednesday, September 17.His birthday is being celebrated by the BJP nationally. The significance is much more as PM’s 75th birthday celebrations have coincided with the centenary programmes on the founding of the RSS in 1925.On October 2 this year, Vijaya Dasami day, RSS celebrations will reach its peak with the address by the RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat.

On this birthday, Narendra Modi’s second in command Home Minister Amit Shah has paid his tribute to PM by writing in The Times of India “Having worked alongside PM Modi for decades, I have deeply felt that his personality is beyond that of a politician – it embodies a mission driven leader dedicated to the nation’s welfare. For him, India’s rise and India’s well being are not just ideals, but guiding principles”

Swapan Dasgupta, the official intellectual of the BJP writing in the ToI says “The biggest transformation brought about by Modi since he assumed charge is to convert the underpinning of mental submissiveness that defied India into self confidence”. Dasgupta says” Modi is in the tradition of India’s great resistance heroes from Maharana Pratap and Chhatrapati Shivaji to Swami Vivekananda and Subhash Chandra Bose. All these stalwarts, in their own distinctive ways, tried to create an authentic India, proud, creative and able to look at the world with the pride that should behove the inheritor and upholder of one of the world’s greatest civilisations”

Interestingly, there was no mention of Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhai Patel or Jawaharlal Nehru. This may be the BJP’s latest way of looking at Narendra Modi’s role.. Both Amit Shah and Swapan Dasgupta have judged Narendra Modi from their Party perspective, but how is Modi as a PM and a political visionary to lead the nation of 1.44 billion people in 2025 when India is facing such turbulence both in domestic and global sphere?

First let us have a small recap of the rise of Narendra Modi. Modi was born in a comparatively poor family in Vadnagar town of Mehsana district of Gujarat. He started taking interest in RSS activities from his school years and by 1972, when he was 22, he became a RSS pracharak as a full time worker. In 1985, he was transferred to the BJP organisation as the RSS leadership saw his potential. In the next16 years it was a rise and rise for Modi in leadership.

Finally, in 2001, he was named Gujarat Chief Minister replacing Keshubhai Patel. From then on, he led the BJP three more times to election victory in Gujarat and finally moved to the national capital after he took power as the Prime Minister after 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Since then, he led the BJP to victory in 2019 and 2014 elections. Narendra Modi has completed more than eleven years of tenure as PM now. He will be completing 15 years when the term of present Lok Sabha ends in May 2029.

From the perspective of the BJP, RSS and the right wing forces of the country, Modi is an asset. He is the most charismatic and adored political leader in the country right now who can take on the Congress led opposition. During his tenure, the RSS has expanded in a big way nationally and BJP is claiming itself as the biggest political party of the world with a membership of 14 crore and active workers totalling 2 crore. Under Narendra Modi’s tenure, the BJP along with its allies are in power in 21 states limiting the Congress rule to only three states. RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat may be suspicious about Narendra Modi’s burgeoning power and authoritarian style, but he will continue to support Modi to rule as RSS has never in its long history enjoyed so much powers in influencing the policies at the centre and the states.,

RSS is getting all help from the Prime Minister in their mission of founding the base of Hindu Rashtra. Step by step, the measures have been taken to erode the role of the constitutional bodies. The central agencies like the ED, CBI and the IT department have been converted into handmaids of the political objectives of the centre and the ruling party. The Election Commission of India, the constitutional body, is acting at the bidding of the Home Ministry on the issue of implementing the SIR. As of now, the Supreme Court is the only constitutional body which is still fighting to defend the core values of our constitution against the attacks by the Modi government.

In the third term of Narendra Modi government, there are concerted moves to make the federalism redundant and convert the governance into one party rule. In the proceedings of Parliament also, the same intolerance is being shown by the ruling party members. Prime Minister is backing it. PM Modi is talking of Sabka Vikash but in reality, the minorities are getting no protection from the BJP led state governments. India, the largest democracy functioning in the world has been identified by the global press bodies as one of the countries having lowest level of press freedom.

As regards economy, PM Modi has not done too badly. The economy is expected to record 6.5 per cent growth or more in the fiscal year 2025-26, but the problem is the fruits of growth are not being properly distributed. The MSME sector has been affected adversely as a result of imposition of 50 per cent tariff by the Trump administration. The sector is yet to get the needed relief. The inequality in earnings is on the rise and this creating social tensions.

Narendra Modi has a high tech mind and he has done well in bringing about digitization in a large number of services in the government and the business systems. This has been a commendable step. Certainly, there has been a resurgence of Indian spirit of innovation. Start ups are going through trial and error method but there has been a revival of animal spirit among the young entrepreneurs. This is sure to pay dividends in the coming years.

Narendra Modi is an authoritarian, he loves power. He has his unilateral style of functioning. He is a 24×7 politician. Since he has no family, he can keep out of family corruption. But under his patronage, a powerful Hindutva-corporate nexus has grown which is helping BJP with funds before the elections. This nexus gets substantial part of the government contracts. So the corruption has got a sophisticated dimension — it is not on the old style of lobbying in ministries. The all out funding by the big corporates to the BJP for the elections has eroded the level playing field in the Indian politics. The Congress and the other opposition parties are no match to the BJP in terms of financial resources. This is one of the biggest threats to the proper functioning of Indian democracy.

Narendra Modi has three years eight months more to complete his present third terms. The fate of Indian democracy and the institutions will depend on how he deals with them in the coming months. The opposition parties led by the INDIA bloc has to do their best to function as the guardian of Indian constitution and democratic functioning in the coming days. The authoritarianism of the present PM can only be challenged by the united mobilization of the anti-BJP political forces. For both PM and the opposition, the task is set. (IPA Service)