Mr. Modi's 100 Days: A Reality Check

"One hundred days of Modi Sarkar and the feedback from much of the thinking class has been gushing. Nothing extraordinary here because governments have traditionally been allowed a grace period when they are not judged. And there is bound to be more than the usual euphoria when the government in question comes in with a full majority, interpreted as a clear mandate to break free from the past.

The pro-Narendra Modi mood today is reminiscent of 1984-’85, when adoring fans and equally many critics of the Congress, transformed into cheerleaders for Rajiv Gandhi, who had become the metaphor for a new, dynamic and modern India. Rajiv arrived like a breath of fresh air; he was of the First Family and yet without its Machiavellian traits or trademark arrogance. In the public perception, he was charming and sincere, which together with his passion for cutting-edge technology, made him the natural leader of an aspirationally rising India.

Rajiv’s 1985 speech, made in Bombay [now Mumbai] to mark the centenary celebrations of the Indian National Congress (INC), tugged at the hearts of the young and the old alike: “India is an old country but a young nation; and like the young everywhere, we are impatient. I am young and I too have a dream. I dream of an India, strong, independent, self-reliant and in the forefront of the front ranks of the nations of the world...”

Rajiv’s honest admission that only 25 paisa of every Rupee spent on welfare reached the intended beneficiaries added to his charisma and appeal, and there was possibly almost none left who had not been won over. Even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed to have been inspired by his speech.

But the biggest surprise was Ramnath Goenka, proprietor of the Indian Express group and a towering figure in the media world. Goenka, who had been a bitter critic of the Congress and Indira Gandhi, was so taken with the youthful Prime Minister that he said he could die in peace, knowing the country was in Rajiv Gandhi’s hands. Goenka’s incredible volte-face was captured for posterity by syndicated journalist Jack Anderson in his 1985 documentary, “Rajiv’s India”.

It is a different matter that post the Bofors revelations, the media baron, who was aligned with the right wing, focussed all his energies on bringing down Rajiv, playing a big part in his defeat in the 1989 General Election. By the end of his term, the rest of the media too had trained their guns on the Gandhi-Nehru scion.

So the intelligentsia are doing the expected thing in uninhibitedly applauding Mr. Modi, as he unveils his blueprint for the country, and embarks on steps that they hail as visionary and unprecedented.

But are opinion-makers prevented by the grace period from even minimally fact-checking the claims of a new Prime Minister and his government? Assuming the answer to this is in the affirmative, it would simply mean that interrogation of any kind would ritually take a holiday each time there is a regime change. Can any exigency justify a moratorium on critical analysis? The absurdity of the question ought to be self-evident, and more so in the Information Age, when the explosion in the digital and informal media has made thought-control a redundant idea. The social media is criticised for fostering collective worship but it is also the place where an ordinary individual with no clout can voice her dissent..." (Continue reading.)