2 DOWN. 3 to GO.

2 Down 

As the Modi Government braces itself for another 3 years in power, the celebrations of the second anniversary are supported by a qualitative survey  from none other than IPSOS the global research firm in collaboration with Times of Inda, making the evaluation of the government more objective rather than subjective. And silencing their critics effectively. The Narendra Modi government has been rated by 62% of metropolitanIndians as having donea good or very good job.

Int terms of overall performance the government seemed to have done well.

Most people either thought the government's performance was very good or at least somewhat good which should indicate a reasonable top box score.

I found Q5 the most telling:

While there is a strong affinity and belief in Modi himself, I found it interesting that the strongest response was that  47% people said that Modi is a strong Leader with intent, but people around him are making it difficult to deliver.

Who could these people be who are making it difficult for Modi to deliver?

1) Indian National Congress

Certainly one of the factors that weigh heavily against the Modi Government is the Congress itself.  Sometimes it is better to have a strong opponent, than a weak one.  Because a weak opponent just spoils the game.  Any of you who have played any sport know this well.   The INC's single minded objective to make things difficult for the Modi government, shows that they are selfish and not interested in what's good for the country. More important to them seems to be how they can oppose the government in power. Which is both petty and foolish. Opposition to the GST bill has been one of their most fooling attempts at spoiling the game.

2 ) The Cultural Bias

While the economic scorecard done by IPSOS is favourable on most economic parameters the research does not delve into other qualitative aspects. But one can't help but feel that talk of nationalism, patriotism, intolerance, etc have harmed the party's image  over the last 2 years and have made people uncomfortable and fearful.

An article on the BJP website actually says 'Hindus are at last free.' Suggesting that they have been imprisoned for the last 68 years after independence. The cultural inflection comes from thoughts like these about Hinduism that are expressed in  public forums. Somehow one can't help feeling that statements like these will only drag the party down.

When I recently wrote an article that had implications for the current government, a number of friends called me and asked me to take it off, because the 'bhakts' as they called it would get me. I casually typed 'bhakts' in Google and was alarmed to see this definition.

Bhakt (Hindi: , meaning devotee) is a controversial term used to describe people on social media who subscribe to the right wing ideology in India and support Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, having close ideological and organisational links to the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak ...

3 ) Rogue members

Unfortunately the party is not able to control its rogue members nor are they able to refrain them from speaking to the press.  Every time a rogue BJP member makes a stupid statement that is embarrassing for the party, it drags the party down.  These include comments on social issues, political issues an economic issues.  F or example take Subramanian Swamy's comment on the RBI Governor. 

“If Rajan gets one more term you can safely say bye to all investment and therefore high growth in this country … he’s from [University of] Chicago so he is not fit for this country … there they believe that more free market the better but in India market failures take place and you’ve got to correct for that.” 

"The sooner he is sent back to Chicago, the better it would be" he said.

That statement may have done more damage to the BJP than the damage it would done to the reputation of Raghuram Rajan.

3 to Go

If the Modi Government has to move forward in the next 3 years  it has to remove all the impediments and hurdles in the way.  Some are directly under their control, some like the INC are not.

There are very few examples of a nation of making it to the top with a strong cultural bias. 

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