PM Modi’s lying spree; “Personality disorder” or symptom of “manic episode”

In a blog, 6 Reasons why People Lie when they don’t need to, on Psychology Today by American psychologist David J Ley, the author notes, “Pathological lying isn’t a clinical diagnosis, though it can sometimes be a symptom of other issues, such as a personality disorder or a manic episode.” Four years into his tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name has become synonymous with peddling lies to the voters.

While his promises at the time of 2014 Lok Sabha elections, be it depositing ₹15 lakh into the bank account of every Indian or ensuring two crore jobs a year among others, have turned out to be mere election rhetoric, as often pointed out by his critics and opposition parties, that hasn’t deterred the highest elected leader of India.

An analysis of what the Prime Minister has been saying of late indicates that he has lied on at least three occasions since May this year, starting from the campaign for Karnataka state elections.

An unverified video of PM’s speech at an election rally in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh, on November 16 is a glaring case in point.

The PM allegedly claimed that his government had managed to open 33 crore bank accounts in the state at an election rally, apparently oblivious to the fact that the population of the mineral-rich state stood at 2.55 crore, as per 2013 Census.

At the same election meeting, PM Modi also challenged the Congress party to have a party president who didn’t hail from the Nehru-Gandhi family. The challenge was rebutted by former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram who cited a number of Congress leaders who have headed the party.

“To jog PM Modi’s memory: among the Congress Presidents since 1947 were Acharya Kripalani, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Purushottamdas Tandon, UN Dhebar, Sanjiva Reddy, Sanjivaiah, Kamaraj, Nijalingappa, C Subramanian, Jagjivan Ram, Shankar Dayal Sharma, DK Barooah, Brahmananda Reddy, PV Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri,” Chidambaram said in a tweet.

Similarly, in May, at the time of the Karnataka state elections, another major falsehood peddled by the Prime Minister was called out, after he had claimed that General Thimayya, an Army veteran of the 1948 India-Pakistan War, was insulted by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

“But after that victory, the saviour of Kashmir, General Thimayya, was repeatedly insulted by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then defence minister Krishna Menon and it was for that very reason that General Thimayya had to resign from his post,” the Prime Minister had said at an election meeting in Gulbarga.

To begin with, it was pointed out to the PM, General Thimayya wasn’t the Chief of the Army in 1948, which was at the time headed by one General Roy Bucher.

Secondly, it was Sardar Baldev Singh, and not Krishna Menon, who was the Defence Minister of the country back then. Lastly, as far as allegations of being insulted by Nehru go, the first Prime Minister got Thimayya honoured with a Padma Bhushan.

Several psychologists contacted by the NH refused to delve into the medical aspect of the lying ways of PM Modi.

According to Ley, there are six reasons that make people lie:

1. The lie does matter to them

2. Telling the truth feels like giving up control

3. They don’t want to disappoint you

4. Lies snowball

5. It’s not a lie to them

6. They want it to be true

Veteran political theorist Neera Chandhoke laments the political rhetoric of the Prime Minister and the BJP leadership, stating that we truly are living in a “post truth era.”

“In the absence of credible figures like the ones that the Planning Commission used to come out with, we really don’t have credible information to check all the tall claims he has been making,” she tells NH.

However, the former Delhi University professor also believes that the falsehoods and tall claims PM Modi has been making are catching up with the BJP. “Voters are not fools. They get it. The BJP, for a matter of fact, didn’t do as well as it was expected to do in both Karnataka and Gujarat.”