Modi takes recourse to use of invectives to bypass real issues

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never been known to be a sophisticated communicator. There are many occasions on which he abused his political rivals and invoked regional and religious sentiments during election rallies. But in the state assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, even by his own standards, Modi’s political speeches seem to have hit the nadir.

In the past, Modi referred to the Congress president as a ‘jersey cow’ and the Congress vice-president as a ‘hybrid calf’. His jibe at Shashi Tharoor’s former wife as a ‘50 crore girlfriend’ and at Nitish Kumar’s ‘political DNA’ were quite blunt as well. His abuses directed at former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, calling him the ‘night watchman’ of the Gandhi family and Singh as someone who liked to have his bath while clad in a raincoat etc. are probably deemed as smart quips by him and his party.

During an election rally in March 2014, Modi slammed his detractors, from the Union Defence Minister AK Antony to the Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, for “helping the country’s enemy (Pakistan).” He said that Pakistan’s AK-47 rifle, Antony and Kejriwal, were enough to destabilise peace in Kashmir and rest of the country.

Of late, addressing a rally at Kangra, Himachal Pradesh on November 2, Modi accused Congress of leaving Virbhadra Singh in the lurch. “At this age, Congress has not only abandoned Virbhadra Singh but left him hanging from his fate,” Modi said, sarcastically.

One is remined of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate raids conducted on various properties owned by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, when he was busy with his daughter’s wedding function in September 2015.

Invoking his make believe stories, he went on to ask the gathering during his speech: “Tell me if the entire world is hailing India or not? America is hailing India or not? Canada is hailing India or not? Germany is hailing India or not? London is hailing India or not?” And then he asked the gathering, “do you want India to hail Himachal Pradesh?”

Speaking in Una on November 5, Modi claimed that demonitisation had eradicated black money in the country. “Day in and day out, stones were thrown at soldiers, they were attacked. Children would come in, throw stones on the broad chested valiant soldiers of Himachal stationed in Kashmir,” he said, claiming that it (cycle of protests) had stopped after demonetisation.

Even though PM Modi himself reiterated on several occasions that the issues of national security should not be politicised, going by his speeches in Himachal, it seems, he himself doesn’t believes his own word. Many Kashmir observers pointed out that it’s not only the security personnel from Himachal Pradesh who are fighting insurgency in Kashmir. PM Modi mentioned Army men from Himachal in his speech for political gains, they felt.

Not surprisingly, his party during the electoral campaigns in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur had milked the military success after ‘surgical strikes’ across the Line of Control. The election posters of the party featured soldiers with the picture of PM Modi showing his clenched fist, threatening Pakistan: “We’ll kill you and kill you for sure.”

Notably, the number of security personnel killed in terrorist violence has increased 72 per cent from 111 in the last three years of UPA-II to 191 in the BJP-led NDA’s rule of three years under Narendra Modi, an IndiaSpend analysis of data compiled, as on May 24, 2017, by the South Asia Terrorism Portal, run by New Delhi-based non-profit Institute for Conflict Management, shows.

While repeatedly patting his back for demonetisation during his recent election speeches, saying that his government would observe November 8, 2017 as Anti-Black Money Day, he trivialised the debate on merits and demerits of demonetisation. At Sunder Nagar in Mandi, he said sarcastically: “Congress is going to beat chest, and collectively mourn the day and shed tears besides burning my effigies on the same day.”

Pertinently, about ten months after demonetisation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had stated that 99 per cent of the old Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes were returned to the banking system. One wonders if demonetisation has really broken the back of hawala transactions, what was the need to appoint former director of the Intelligence Bureau, Dineshwar Sharma, as an interlocutor.

Revenge pollical jibes aside, on Anti-Black Money Day on November 8, will the demonetisation deaths be remembered amid the din of celebrations by the government? And what about those who lost their livelihoods and are still struggling to come to grips with the life. Will they ever enjoy the “success” of demonetisation?

A Prime Minister is supposed to set the moral tone of a country. Questions are being asked if this would be the quality of political discourse in the country where a Prime Minister, instead of taking complete view of issues, remains morbidly obsessed with his own political prejudices.