Then came the swearing in of the new Prime Minister of India on the 26th of May 2014; the swearing in of Narendra Modi as the 16th Prime Minister of this country which symbolically can be looked upon as the birth of the Second Republic of India.

“I do not treat citizens as minority or majority. I treat them as equal citizens of a modern state with equal rights and equal opportunities

The ferocity with which the champions of Secular, Socialist and Democratic values sought to politically destroy him and the poised manner in which he retaliated against this onslaught and his subsequent gain of strength and credibility, his emergence in the political firmament of India is a saga in itself and worth narrating. Modi floated his political philosophy in the language of action drawing inspiration from Swami Vivekananda, the greatest humanist of modern times. Swamiji often emphasized on the philosophy of practical Vedanta. His message of ‘one life throughout’ is epitomized in his immortal words, “The only god to worship is the human soul in the human body. Of course, all animals are temples too, but man is the highest, the Taj Mahal of Temples. If I cannot worship in that, no other temple will be of any advantage.” It is the philosophy that Narendra Modi has upheld throughout his political life.

Once, on being asked “What is Faith?”, Swamiji famously replied “Faith is a living and unshakeable confidence in one’s self – belief in the grace of god, so assured that a man will die a thousand deaths for its sake.” Steeled in this faith the ascent of Narendra Modi can be seen as the beginning of the demolition of the Nehruvian philosophy that was largely an inherited legacy of divide and rule policy from the British colonial administration. Positioning himself in the field of development of Gujarat and capitalizing on the innate strength of the Gujarati people in trade and commerce, travelling and teaching, PM Modi has countered each allegation in a highly matured manner, projecting the idea of resurrecting India into her own genius.

“They have all done for me thousand times more than what I have done for myself, yet in political matters I refuse to be guided, with eyes closed, by any of them.”

Modi faced his first major political challenge as the Chief Minister of Gujarat in the form of a chain of Hindu- Muslim riots. The way the Modi government tackled it angered the so called secular socialist forces who are in the habit of counting minority casualties overlooking victims of the majority. Modi took a refreshingly new stand guided by his vision of a secular India. He declared in a Chintan Baithak (brain storming session) at Jaipur in 2004, “I do not treat citizens as minority or majority. I treat them as equal citizens of a modern state with equal rights and equal opportunities. I, as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, am responsible for the security and well being of each one of them.” This served as a massive counter attack on the colonial political architecture of India so assiduously built in the name of constitutionalism by the British, the Congress and the Muslim league to keep the entire South Asia weak, divided and dependent on West.

The second challenge he faced came from his own party. Thwarting the recent trend of virtual corporatization of all political parties, Modi forced his way through by going to the people who are at the heart of democracy and changed the party culture in Gujarat. In his vision, a party should be an instrument of service and act as a conveyor belt to facilitate communication between the leader and the people, leaving the government unfettered to give good governance and uphold the rule of law. This again was a sharp counterattack on corruption, the very root of party culture that thrived under Nehruvian regime.

"a party should be an instrument of service and act as a conveyor belt to facilitate communication between the leader and the people, leaving the government unfettered to give good governance and uphold the rule of law".

The third challenge came in the form of mounting criticism on his ‘model’ of development in the state of Gujarat. But without any compromise on the goal of industrializing the state and with utter indifference to the growing presence of the corporate economy, Modi again in his own characteristic way turned the spot light of development on the villages transferring resources and technology on an elaborate scale. Simultaneously, he invigorated and modernized the existing local institutions and created new autonomous ones based on the ethos of the land. This has resulted in a move towards truly federalising the polity which alone can ensure minimum government and maximum governance. The success achieved in the villages of Gujarat is again a counterattack to the state run development practices which has bred huge corruptions and criminality. The high growth in villages of India, protecting the ecology and promoting agriculture alone can act as a countervailing power to the corporate economy.

The fourth challenge came from the so called pro-secular, pro-human rights lobbies working within and outside the country as they sought to isolate Modi as a Pro-Hindutva leader and anti-secular demon, not acceptable to the international community. The US refusal to grant visa to Modi is an instance. Modi moved ahead by strengthening India’s relationship with contiguous and neighbouring countries in South and South-East Asia, gradually carrying out necessary reforms to shake off all colonial vestiges. The very picture Modi projected of a truly liberated Federal India struck a chord with all neighbouring nations who are looking for a functioning model of democracy which they can emulate to address their own problems. This again was a silent counter-attack on the edifice of Nehru’s defence and foreign policy which circled around great powers and Muslim countries of the Middle East.

"His compassionate speeches during the campaign rallies profoundly influenced the masses to visualize a new path for peace, prosperity and harmony while simultaneously keeping the enemy at bay".

Modi’s final challenge was to assuage the nationwide speculation that his success in Gujarat – a success with limitations – is no guarantee that he can repeat the same on the vast canvas of a diverse India beset with local, regional, national and cross nation issues. However, even in the face of worst criticism, this experienced leader remained calm and worked tirelessly with the sole aim of heralding a truly democratic nation. His compassionate speeches during the campaign rallies profoundly influenced the masses to visualize a new path for peace, prosperity and harmony while simultaneously keeping the enemy at bay.

During the course of the election campaign, a personal attack was made on Modi regarding his marital status. He was charged with abandoning his wife, Jashodaben, after the two had been married as minors with the mutual consent of the two families. Narendra Modi, taking a reformist stand on the Institution of Child Marriage and realizing his higher calling in life, left home soon after the ceremony. Jashodaben, being an ideal Indian woman, continued to pray for the wellness and success of her husband, thereby, creating an everlasting bond between the two families. Modi countered the allegations by boldly filing an affidavit declaring Jashodaben as his wife. He proceeded to put a stamp of approval on spiritual marriages, examples of which often adorn the lives of great men and women. Instead of being weakened, he emerged stronger.

Nehru said,“I have said that I am proud of our inheritance and our ancestors who gave an intellectual and cultural pre-eminence to India. How do you feel about this past?”

Modi broke free of his anti-secular image by insisting that he would be the happiest to see Muslim boys and girls holding the Quran in one hand and a laptop in the other; culturally distinct but politically and legally equal. He further explained that there are a large number of people going on Haj from Gujarat because they are doing well there and can afford it. He questioned why a bicycle mechanic from UP, even after slogging for half a century, was in no better state to undertake the trip. Modi has embraced all caste, creed, tribal, dalits, mahadalits and untouchables alike, forging alliances with them smashing all barriers created by the culture of tokenism, scare mongering, misplaced benevolence for electoral gains with minority / caste / tribe specific promises and packages creating a feeling of frustration and grievances, actual or perceived. Within three months the NDA cobbled up an alliance with 29 local and regional parties, the largest ever pre-poll alliance this nation has ever seen. Modi was positioned as the undisputed leader with campaigns centred around him and victory bellowing his name. The consolidation of nationalistic forces after a long spell of suffering giving a healing touch of reassurance to a wounded civilization goes to his credit. The world powers, one by one, turned towards him and are now all set to reengage with an energized, rooted and self-confident India. The Architecture of Indian Politics has to be based, henceforth, on Indian Ethos.

During the campaign Ashutosh Varshney, Director of the India Initiative, Brown University, USA presented an incisive analysis on Modi’s campaign speeches under the caption, “Modi the Moderate” where he noted Modi’s “systematic silence” on “Hindu Nationalism” marked by a departure from all “Three Hindu Nationalist Tenets” as expounded by Savarkar in his book “Hindutva” and Golwalkar (Guruji) in his “Manifesto of a Hindu Rashtra”. The Three Tenets in Varshney’s summary are: “Hindus are the primary or exclusive owners of Indian Nation i.e. of Hindu Rashtra”; “Two minorities – the Christians and especially the Muslims – have a profoundly ambivalent relationship with India which is their ‘Pitri Bhumi’ (Fatherland) but not ‘Punya Bhumi’ (Holy-land), resulting in divided loyalty”; and “Caste divisions and caste based politics” of Hindu society to be minimised through “Sanskritization” following a Brahminical Model. Varshney also noted that Modi had made three surprising departures - firstly, he is not against Haj quota; secondly, he paid tribute to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who opposed two nation theory but was an Islamist to the core voicing his demand that Islam and Hinduism have equal claims on Indian culture; and thirdly, Modi has gone all out, in breach of RSS doctrine, to forge alliances with all caste, creed, tribal, dalits, mahadalits, untouchables etc.

It would be prudent to acknowledge here the role of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who provided unconditional support in declaring Modi as the PM candidate. How the RSS played this role will become evident if we go through a rejoinder issued by Ram Madhav, person in-charge of media and public relations of the RSS. Ram Madhav in his rejoinder under the caption, “What Hindutva Seeks” argued with authentic facts quoting Savarkar’s and Golwalkar’s writings, speeches and responses on different occasions that “a Hindu Nationalist is at the core not an exclusivist but a universalist and humanist.” He went on to quote from Nehru’s speech at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 1948 wherein Nehru said, “I have said that I am proud of our inheritance and our ancestors who gave an intellectual and cultural pre-eminence to India. How do you feel about this past? Do you feel that you are also sharers in it and inheritors of it? Or do you feel alien to it and pass it by without understanding it? I ask you these questions, because in recent years many forces have been at play diverting people’s minds into wrong channels and trying to misrepresent the course of history. You are Muslims and I am a Hindu. We may adhere to different religious faiths or even to none; butthat does not take away from us that cultural inheritance that is yours as well as mine”. This was from the unquestioned leader of Secular, Democratic, Socialist India.

Ram Madhav then goes on to quote Dr. Ambedkar, “Islam is a system of social self-government and is incompatible with local self-government. To the Muslims, wherever there is the rule of Islam, there is his own country. In other words, Islam can never allow a true Muslim to adopt India as his motherland and regard a Hindu as his kith and kin”. In post-independent India, BR Ambedkar is a hero amongst the Congress followers and not dubbed as an anti-Muslim fanatic for such graphic analysis. It appears that the primary concern of all national leaders at the time was to somehow ensure national unity by understanding and exploring socio-religious dynamics.

This is how Ram Madhav sought to dispel Varshney’s contention that Modi is distancing himself from the political philosophy of the RSS in theory and practice. This indeed is a remarkable contribution of the RSS under the astute stewardship of Mohan Bhagwat who did not allow Modi’s campaign for a Resurgent India to be marred by narrow ideological polemics. What a revolutionary transformation from the days of Savarkar and Golwalkar through Advani’s days of “I am a proud Hindu”, Vajpayee’s days of “my Hindutva is that of Swami Vivekananda” to Narendra Modi’s many-sided engagements on all fronts widening and deepening the Universalist and humanist aspects of India’s age-old spiritual tradition.

Yet another big support came from the world of religion. The spiritual leaders of India (not to be confused with the community leaders who take it upon themselves to serve as custodians of their respective religion) found in Modi the reflection of their teachings and all of them provided uninhibited support to him. Volunteer for Better India, a wing of Art of Living Foundation, did a tremendous job in helping people to enroll themselves as voters irrespective of caste, creed and religion, exhorting them to vote freely for whoever appears to them as good candidates. A voting analysis suggests that the massive victory was largely because young India voted for Modi.

Modi gracefully accepted the support he received from spiritual and religious quarters in a spirit of reverence. Thus, one cannot but be struck by his statement that “They have all done for me thousand times more than what I have done for myself, yet in political matters I refuse to be guided, with eyes closed, by any of them.” It was clear that in matters of political chemistry prerogative is only his, even though the source of his strength are those gurus, politicaland spiritual, who have made him ‘what he is today’. He is neither arrogant nor ungrateful to any of his political Gurus who might not have been given what they had expected. Here indeed is a great man who is walking hand-in-hand with Destiny.

to be continued...

Prof. B.B. Dutta
(Professor B.B. Dutta is the former member of Rajya Sabha and an active member of NPP)