World USA speaks on Arvind Kejriwal again, mentions Congress' frozen accounts

[Bagheera0084]

@Bagheera0084, Do not post Kejriwal posts all over this forum in unrelated threads. I just moved another post to here. You have never replied once to any posts, and you have kept posting ever since you joined. Please reply here to prove that you are not spamming.

I don't remember posting Kejriwal stuff in unrelated thread. Perhaps by mistake.

 

[Old School]

Thanks for your opinion.

So seem like this is all political drama then.

Kejriwal will be cut down to size.

Yes. It is called political downsizing. It even happened to much bigger leader than Kejriwal, which is Rahul Gandhi himself.

 

[Bagheera0084]

Encourage fair transparent legal proceedings US on Kejriwal's arrest

PTI
Updated: March 28, 2024 00:11 IST

By Yoshita Singh

New York, Mar 27 (PTI) After India summoned a senior US diplomat to lodge a protest over remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Washington on Wednesday stressed that it encourages fair, transparent, timely legal processes and “we don't think anyone should object to that".

“We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal,” US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Miller was responding to a question during the State Department briefing over India summoning Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena in New Delhi earlier in the day as well as on freezing of Congress party’s bank accounts.

“We are also aware of the Congress party's allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections. And we encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes for each of these issues.

“With respect to your first question, I'm not going to talk about any private diplomatic conversations, but of course, what we have said publicly is what I just said from here, that we encourage fair, transparent, timely legal processes. We don't think anyone should object to that. We’ll make the same thing clear privately,” Miller said.

Ministry of External Affairs officials summoned the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena at its office in South Block in Delhi and lodged a strong protest against a US State Department official’s remarks on Kejriwal’s arrest.

The meeting lasted for more than 30 minutes.

Reports suggested that a US State Department official had said that Washington “encouraged a fair, transparent and timely legal process for chief minister Kejriwal”.

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the excise policy ‘scam’.

The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 which was later scrapped.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs said Delhi takes strong objection to the remarks of the spokesperson of the US State Department about certain legal proceedings in India.

“In diplomacy, states are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others. This responsibility is even more so in the case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents," the ministry said.

"India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted,” the MEA said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)

Encourage fair transparent legal proceedings US on Kejriwal's arrest - The Week

 

[Old School]

I don't remember posting Kejriwal stuff in unrelated thread. Perhaps by mistake.

Thank you for the reply.

 

[Bagheera0084]

We Encourage A Fair, Transparent And Timely Legal Process for Chief Minister Kejriwal: U.S.

Author: The Wire Staff
Mar 26, 2024

Earlier, Germany also underlined that the Delhi chief minister is “entitled to a fair, unbiased trial” which “includes the right to make use of all existing legal remedies without restriction”.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Photo: Screengrab from video

New Delhi: As Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal remains in the Enforcement Directorate’s custody, the US on Monday, March 25 commented on the issue encouraging a “fair, transparent, and timely legal process” for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, Reuters reported.

“We encourage a fair, transparent, and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal,” a State Department spokesperson said in response to an emailed query, the new report mentioned.

Speaking on India objecting to Germany’s remark on the arrest, the spokesperson said, “We would refer you to the German Foreign Ministry for comment on their discussions with the Indian government.”

On March 22, Sebastian Fischer, a spokesperson for Germany’s foreign ministry had answered a question on how the German federal government assessed Kejriwal’s arrest, he said, “We have taken note of the case. India is a democratic country. We assume and expect that the standards relating to the independence of the judiciary and fundamental democratic principles will also apply in this case.”

Fischer added that Kejriwal is “entitled to a fair, unbiased trial”, which he said “includes the right to make use of all existing legal remedies without restriction”.

“The presumption of innocence is a central element of the rule of law and must apply to it [Kejriwal’s case],” Fischer mentioned.

On March 23, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said in a press statement that the German deputy chief of mission in New Delhi was “summoned today” and that it “conveyed India’s strong protest on their Foreign Office Spokesperson’s comments on our internal affairs”.

Further, the MEA mentioned that it perceived “such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary”.

Notably, Kejriwal is the second sitting chief minister to be arrested in less than two months. Kejriwal’s arrest came on the same day when the Congress’s top leadership accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “financially crippling” the grand old party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections by freezing its bank accounts.

https://m.thewire.in/article/diplom...al-process-for-chief-minister-kejriwal-us/amp

 

[Bagheera0084]

Opinion | CAA, Kejriwal, Action on Congress: US Sermon to India is Hypocrisy at its Best, Moral Imperialism at its Worst

Written By: Rahul Shivshankar News18.com
Last Updated: March 28, 2024, 19:29 IST

Anglo-Western powers, who were one-time imperialists, still, in the main, harbour illusions of moral superiority. This misplaced sense of moral duty makes the Anglo-Western bloc see the world in binaries: the liberal democratic West versus the uncivilised rest

This time the US State Department has let it be known to India that it “expects fair, transparent, timely legal process in the case of Kejriwal’s arrest and the freezing of the Congress party’s bank accounts.” (AP Photo)

Washington has lost imperium but that hasn’t made it less of a moral imperialist. In a gratuitous display of paternalism, the US has decided to stand in judgement of certain issues that are animating India’s politics.

It began a few days back with India notifying the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019. A law that has been designed to expedite the citizenship of religious minorities living in India who have fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Almost immediately after the CAA was notified, the US State Department preachily reminded the Indian government that “respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles".

The advice was ironic as the US itself had operationalised versions of the CAA on its soil. And thankfully the Indian government had the nous to say so as also the gumption to tell the US where to get off.

One would have thought that disgraced as a hypocrite and summarily reminded of the basic rule of international diplomacy (that you don’t poke your nose into another country’s internal affairs), Uncle Sam would have sheepishly tucked its misfiring gun back into its holster. But no. Here we are back again confronted by another demonstration of Washington’s gauche censoriousness.

This time the US State Department has let it be known to India that it “expects fair, transparent, timely legal process in the case of Kejriwal’s arrest and the freezing of the Congress party’s bank accounts." The US’ criticism is in line with the views of anti-Modi commentators who claim that the actions against Kejriwal and the Congress are denying the Opposition a level playing field ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. By roundaboutly echoing this view, it’s almost as if the pontiffs of the Potomac in Washington have bought into the propaganda that India has turned into a banana republic with a dysfunctional legal framework.

Once again India duly delivered a stern but sadly formulaic ticking off to the errant United States of America. It would have been infinitely better if India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had held the mirror up to Washington. After all, going by the logic America is seeking to apply to India, its own democracy must really be in the dumps too.

Remember the US is an essentially two-party system and it stands to reason that prosecuting cases against Trump effectively means that Biden’s only real opponent in the Presidential race scheduled for November this year starts on one leg. Surely, the Biden government “going after" its only political opponent doesn’t make for a level playing field either. But this fact is destined to be lost on the Biden administration.

The reason is that Anglo-Western powers, who were one-time imperialists, still, in the main, harbour illusions of moral superiority. That it is their burden to heroically take liberal democracy—with its added emphasis on individual freedom, self-determination, and property rights—to all the supposedly dark corners of the world. That only ‘Western values’ can illuminate the path to a rule-based global democratic order. This misplaced sense of moral duty makes the Anglo-Western bloc see the world in binaries: the liberal democratic West versus the uncivilised rest.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.

CAA, Kejriwal, Action on Congress: US Sermon to India is Hypocrisy at its Best, Moral Imperialism at its Worst - News18

Anglo-Western powers, who were one-time imperialists, still, in the main, harbour illusions of moral superiority. This misplaced sense of moral duty makes the Anglo-Western bloc see the world in binaries: the liberal democratic West versus the uncivilised rest

www.news18.com

 

[Bagheera0084]

India reacts sharply to U.S. criticism over democracy and rights

By Gerry Shih
March 29, 2024 at 10:55 a.m. EDT

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to supporters as he arrives to attend a Bharatiya Janata Party campaign meeting in Hyderabad on Nov. 7. (Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW DELHI — After the Indian government last week arrested opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal in a case of alleged corruption just weeks before a national election, U.S. and German officials issued public statements gently reminding India about the importance of the rule of law.

The response from New Delhi was anything but gentle. Instead, it reflected the tough new brand of diplomacy embraced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cheered by his nationalist supporters.

The Indian Foreign Ministry immediately summoned German and U.S. diplomats for a dressing-down in New Delhi. It lashed out at Washington for “casting aspersions” and making “completely unacceptable” comments about India’s internal affairs after the State Department reiterated its concerns about Kejriwal’s arrest and the freezing of an opposition party’s campaign funds.

On Thursday, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar raised a complaint frequently heard among Modi’s supporters: that the United States is moralizing, overbearing and prone to interfering.

“There are people in the world who want to lecture us on our judicial behavior,” Dhankhar told the American Bar Association at a conference in New Delhi. Dhankhar went on to dismiss U.S. officials’ recent comments about a controversial new Indian citizenship law as “ignorant.”

“We are not a nation to get scriptures from others,” Dhankhar said. “We are a nation with a civilizational ethos of more than 5,000 years.”

Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man's Party, leaves in a car after a court extended his custody for four more days, in New Delhi on Thursday. (Dinesh Joshi/AP)

The shift in tone is one facet of India’s changing face as it grows into global power under Modi. While the Biden administration has assiduously wooed the Indian prime minister as a geopolitical partner and invested heavily in deepening technology cooperation with the world’s fifth-largest economy, it has been met with a Modi government that pushes back with a prickliness that has drawn occasional comparisons to China’s “Wolf Warriors” or officials from other, more adversarial nations.

“This seems to be a trend the last few years with the foreign minister very vocally articulating a sense that India will also push back unlike in the past, when India would absorb some of these challenges,” said Harsh V. Pant, vice president of studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation, a think tank that has ties with the Indian Foreign Ministry. “This is a more self-assured government that says, ‘Look, we’re doing well, we’re coming back to power, we’re very comfortable politically, and we represent a wide swath of opinion that wants us to reflect that confidence.’”

While analysts and diplomats say the spats are just that — verbal clashes that are unlikely to derail the fundamental trajectory of deepening bilateral relations — they reflect the many serious differences between the two countries on subjects ranging from India’s relationship with Russia to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s treatment of religious minorities and its suppression of political opponents.

This month, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, who often goes viral on Indian social media when he delivers one of his trademark ripostes to Western critics, pointedly defended India’s friendship with Russia and accused the West of “cherry-picking principles” on Ukraine.

Jaishankar and other officials have also hit back at the West for harboring Sikh terrorists following U.S. and Canadian allegations that the Indian government may have been involved in a campaign of targeted killings of Sikhs abroad. After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly claimed in September that he had credible allegations tying Indian officials to the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil, India responded with fury — and then raised the ante by expelling 41 Canadian diplomats.

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar arrives at the office of Japan's prime minister in Tokyo on March 8. (Hiro Komae/Pool/Reuters)

As a result, Western diplomats in New Delhi often say they struggle to calibrate their messaging with the Indian government, because even mild criticism in public can provoke a verbal lashing from the Hindu nationalist BJP government. In recent weeks, after India passed a law that fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslims fleeing persecution from Muslim-majority neighbors, U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti and other American officials spoke in public about the principle of equal treatment of different religious communities under law — drawing condemnation in India. Other U.S. allies chose to deliver their concerns in private.

C. Raja Mohan, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said U.S. and Indian leaders were in the midst of reelection campaigns. “The U.S. has to do its democracy-promotion bit, and India has to make its sovereignty argument for the home audience,” he said. “It’s theater.”

Indeed, the tough diplomatic rhetoric has fit neatly with Modi’s domestic brand. Backed by a pliant media and a vast social media messaging machine, he has cultivated an image as a leader who is more respected by world powers and more feared by India’s enemies than any Indian before him.

This week, television channels showed footage of U.S. and German diplomats being summoned as anchors explained to their audiences how India used “very strong words” to reprimand the Americans. “You will remember that this did not happen until very recently,” noted Sudhir Chaudhury, a prominent personality on the Hindi Aaj Tak channel.

“The meeting lasted 40 minutes. I’m sure the Indian side had a lot to say,” said Palki Sharma, another anchor popular on the Indian right. She added that today, the United States and Germany needed India, and “India’s message to both countries is: ‘Stay in your lane.’”

The BJP’s tough diplomacy has also set alight its grass-roots supporters. After the U.S.-India spat exploded on Indian social media, some right-wing accounts dug up information about the Washington-based journalist who had asked the State Department about Kejriwal’s arrest and began to troll him as an agent backed by George Soros and the Ford Foundation.

Others, like Gujarat-based social media influencer Raushan Sinha, 35, celebrated India’s newfound swagger.

In January, he gained online notoriety by calling the Maldives’ new pro-China administration a “puppet government,” feuding with Maldivian ministers on X and leading a call for Indians to boycott the popular holiday destination.

This week, Sinha was again cheering the Modi government. In an X post to his 247,000 followers, Sinha posted a video of a U.S. diplomat being summoned and said, “The New India doesn’t give a damn about you.” He garnered 6,700 retweets.

In a telephone interview, Sinha said that many Indians of his generation support Modi precisely because he fills them with self-confidence and pride.

“Under the Modi government in the past 10 years, we have done great work; you can see things improving, so why should we tolerate such stuff?” Sinha said. “We, India, are not a third-class country. We are as important as you now. So start treating us the same way.”

By Gerry Shih
Gerry Shih is the India Bureau Chief for the Washington Post, covering India and neighboring countries.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/29/india-us-criticism-kejriwal/

 

[Bagheera0084]

 

[Bagheera0084]

 

[Bagheera0084]

 

[Bagheera0084]

‘Why only vocal on Arvind Kejriwal's arrest?’: US questioned for ‘silence’ on Pakistan opposition arrests

By HT News Desk
Apr 04, 2024 11:33 AM IST

A journalist questioned the US on its silence on the treatment of opposition in Pakistan while being vocal on the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Mathew Miller, the US department of state spokesperson, was put on the spot during a press briefing on Wednesday when a journalist questioned him on the country taking a stand on the arrest of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal but not doing the same on arrests of Pakistani opposition leaders.

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller.(Youtube)

At a press briefing, the journalist said the US department of state issued daily statements on the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the freezing of assets of the Congress party. He questioned why the US has such a strong stance for Indian opposition, but maintained its silence on the political prisoners in Pakistan.

Mathew Miller refused to categorise both cases into one and said that the US wanted to see everyone in Pakistan treated with consistent rule of law and human rights.



Miller said, “I would not agree with that characterisation. We have made clear on a number of occasions that we want to see everyone in Pakistan treated consistent with the rule of law, treated with respect for human rights, as is our position with respect to any country in the world.”

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. He is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, his judicial custody is expected to end on April 15.

EAM S Jaishankar's rebuttal to US

On Tuesday, responding to the US, Germany and the UN remarks over Indian politics, after Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, external affairs minister S Jaishankar used the word “Maryada”, saying that “we are sovereign countries and should not be interfering in each other's internal affairs”.

“These are old habits. These are bad habits...The word I use is 'Maryada' among countries, we are sovereign countries. We should not be interfering in each other's internal affairs. We should not be passing comments about each other's politics,” Jaishankar said at a press conference.

Stating that other countries don't hold a right to comment on India's politics, the external affairs minister said, “Because once, if this becomes a rule, where do you stop? So we have been, in the cases where it has happened, we have told the diplomats of that country very clearly that we take very strong objection to it.”

(With inputs from PTI)

https://www.hindustantimes.com/worl...istan-opposition-arrests-101712205520741.html

 

[Bagheera0084]

US reacts to PM Modi's 'ghar mein ghus kar....' statement on terrorism

By HT News Desk
Apr 17, 2024 08:33 AM IST

The US responded to a question on PM Modi's statement on “killing terrorists by entering their homes”. It said the country will “not get in the middle” of this.

The United States reacted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh's recent statements where the two leaders claimed that India won't hesitate to kill terrorists in their homes. The Joe Biden administration said that while the US has encouraged India and Pakistan to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue, it would not get involved in the matter.

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller.(Youtube)

When questioned about Modi's “ghar mai ghus ke maarenge” statement on terrorism, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller, while addressing a press briefing, said, “As I have said before, the United States is not going to get into the middle of this. But we do encourage both India and Pakistan to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue.”

He was responding to a question on alleged operations by India in other countries to eliminate terrorists.

When asked if Modi and Singh’s comments can be seen as “confessions” on the alleged “assassination of (Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh) Nijjar in Canada, (designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh) Pannun's murder-for-hire plot in New York, and killings in Pakistan”, Miller said the US will not get involved in the matter.

The state department spokesperson was also questioned on why the US has not imposed any sanctions on India over the alleged plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Miller replied, “I am never going to preview any sanctions actions, which is not to say that there are any coming. But when you ask me to talk about sanctions, it's something that we don't discuss openly.”

Earlier this month, Rajnath Singh issued a strong statement on India's approach to counter terrorism across the borders saying that if terrorists try to disturb peace in India or carry out terror activities, a befitting response will be given. Singh further said that if these terrorists run away to Pakistan, India will enter the neighbouring country to kill them.

Echoing Rajnath Singh's words at an election rally in Uttarakhand recently, Modi said, “Whenever we have had a weak government in the country, our enemies have taken advantage. Under this strong government, atankwaadiyon ko ghar mein ghus ke mara jata hai (our forces are killing terrorists on their own turf).”

(With inputs from PTI)

https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...atement-on-terrorism-101713312781667-amp.html

 

[Bagheera0084]

West, particularly USA, has not stopped speaking on Indian elections 2024. The author of below article, published in an American news magazine, is apparently Indian but it was obviously ghost-written by an American.

Is Narendra Modi Losing Ground in India’s General Election?

Despite a serious resource crunch and a lack of cohesive election strategy, the INDIA coalition is gaining traction. Where is the Modi magic?

By Ashutosh
May 09, 2024

Credit: X/BJP

The battle for 2024 is turning out to be the most audacious election in India’s electoral history, even more daring than the 1977 elections, when opposition forces in India were up against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s authoritarian regime. Back then, the opposition was led by people who had participated in the Indian freedom struggle and were willing to make sacrifices as they had during the independence movement.

It is 47 years since that historic election. India is a changed country today. The Narendra Modi regime has been reconfiguring India’s morals and values, and attempting to hijack its history and transform the civilizational moorings of its society. India is heading toward an ideological dictatorship if it does not course-correct in this election.

The battle of 2024 is not an ordinary battle. It is a battle between David and Goliath. It is a battle between an ideology that harbors luxuries of cult, communication, and capital, ferociously supported by a utopia and the “ordinariness of the other.” No party in the memory of this country has been hallowed with so much cunningness and killer instinct to win an election, so much power in terms of resources, and willingness to resort to any course, with no compunction if the line between the moral and the immoral is blurred. For the BJP, victory is the only value and power is the only currency.

On the other hand, its opponents are cursed with fracture and disintegration. Fragility is their only attire. Without resources and capital, they are united by a survival instinct, knowing full well that if they lose this time then there will be no second chance.

This election is not between the two political formations or between the two leaders and thought processes. It is between two instincts, one representing the “fight back of the original” and the other pretending to be the “real” successor of history.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Narendra Modi are at the cusp of history. If not stopped today, India will lose whatever it has been proud of. It is no accident of history that suddenly, a “save the constitution” campaign has gained unprecedented momentum.

The fight has taken an interesting turn. The marginalized of society have sensed rather rightly that the BJP’s slogan “Ab ki baar, 400 paar“(This time, [BJP] will cross 400 seats) to win more than 400 seats in the elections to the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of Parliament, is not a campaign to gain extra power to take the country onto the expressway of development and make it a Vishvaguru (world teacher). Instead, it is a bid to throw the constitution into the dustbin of history and write and thrust a new one on the country, one that would pretend to imbibe Indianness, discarding the foreign-ness.

It is not to be forgotten that when the constitution was adopted in 1950, RSS leaders had trashed it as foreign, claiming that there was nothing Indian in it. In the name of Indianness, their leaders have always advocated going back to Manu Smriti, the legal code ordained by upper-caste Hindus, which treats women and shudras (the labor caste) with contempt, and embraces inequality.

The Indian Constitution is a unique document in the annals of world history that, with one stroke, made all Indians equal in the eyes of the law. It provides for universal suffrage. No one can be discriminated based on their caste, creed, religion, region, and gender, and the richest and the poorest all have the same voting rights.

In the Indian context, equality assumes more importance as India was never an equal society. Inequality was proudly upheld and enforced with strict caste hierarchy and severe punishment for transgressors. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, who belonged to the untouchable community, is credited with giving us the constitution. Dalits, Backward Castes, and the marginalized firmly aligned with him and believe that any attempt to tinker with Baba Saheb’s constitution would take them back to the civilizational ghettos in which they were treated worse than animals. They believe (with good reason) that affirmative action like reservations will be removed from the constitution if the BJP is back with a large majority.

The BJP has realized that its campaign for 400-plus seats has boomeranged and will cost the party dearly. The opposition led by Rahul Gandhi has sensed that on the issue of the constitution, there is a strong undercurrent against the Modi government and the BJP, and that if it is channeled well then Modi will find it difficult to regain power.

Gandhi and other leaders of the opposition, having come together under an umbrella coalition called INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), now carry a pocket-size copy of the constitution and wave it at election rallies to remind voters why they should not be voting for BJP if they want to save the constitution.

The BJP under Modi has made certain inroads amongst Dalits, the Backward Castes, and other marginalized sections of society, which comprise over 65 percent of India’s population. If a crack develops in this section of voters, as it seems to be happening now, the BJP will be in deep trouble. No wonder the prime minister and his deputy Amit Shah have categorically stated that what the opposition is saying about changing the constitution and revoking reservations is a canard. Modi has even said that even if Ambedkar were to be reborn and wanted to change the constitution, he wouldn’t be able to do so.

In this campaign, Modi looks like a pale shadow of himself. He lacks confidence. He has miserably failed to weave a national narrative in these elections. If, after winning the assembly elections in December 2023 he believed that the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya would make these elections a formality, and thought of himself as invincible, then after the announcement of these elections and the beginning of the campaign in April he seems to have received a rude shock.

Voters were happy with the construction of the Ram Temple, but other pressing livelihood issues gained importance. Unemployment, price rise, and corruption are now gaining importance in the election campaign. People are asking tough questions and Modi and his party have no credible answers. Rather, they are trying to change the goalpost.

Modi is a polarizing figure, who unhesitatingly uses communal issues to consolidate Hindu voters. In the 2014 and 2019 general elections, he did play the Hindu-Muslim card, but sparingly. This time he has crossed all limits. Modi is rattled. He has sensed that his defeat can’t be discounted. Whenever the BJP is in doubt, it goes back to its communal agenda. For the party, hate-mongering for the consolidation of Hindu voters is the main crisis management tool during elections.

From one rally to another, Modi is only spewing venom on communal lines. He has gone to the extent of saying that if the Congress comes back to power, then “locks would be put on Ram Mandir” and “only Muslims would be selected to play for India in cricket.” Home Minister Amit Shah is saying that if Congress wins then “Sharia law will be implemented.” Another Hindu icon, Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is seen as a potential prime minister by Hindutva forces, has been provoking Hindu voters by saying that “if the Congress forms the government after the elections, then cows will be slaughtered for Muslims.”

It is apparent that despite being in disarray, the opposition is very much in the race. Despite a serious resource crunch and a lack of cohesive election strategy and coordination between the INDIA coalition partners, the opposition is gaining traction. Voters across the country are showing their unhappiness with the ruling party. Modi magic has disappeared into thin air.

Instead of setting the agenda, Goliath is only reacting and trying to take the campaign to an absurd level, without realizing that people can be fooled once or twice but not all the time. David is valiantly fighting as the urge from the ground is strong that if democracy is mortgaged in the name of cult and ideology then India as an idea will not survive.

This election is a test of India’s resilience as a nation and as a civilization. The attempt to divorce the country from its original moorings has shaken Goliath. Now David has to unleash the final assault.

Is Narendra Modi Losing Ground in India’s General Election?

Despite a serious resource crunch and a lack of cohesive election strategy, the INDIA coalition is gaining traction. Where is the Modi magic?

thediplomat.com