Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s apparent dig at Rahul Gandhi which clearly mocked dyslexic students has rightly provoked outrage. Worse, it came during a video conferencing session with finalists at a Skill India competition, when one student spoke of her project that could help those suffering from dyslexia.
Modi, who never misses an opportunity to hit out at Rahul Gandhi, rose to the occasion and asked whether it would also help students who were ’40-50 years old’. When the finalist said yes, he said, “The mothers of such children will be very happy in that case.” The audience laughed.
Dyslexia, or for that matter, any disability, is nothing to laugh about. Mocking the disabled is quite common in India. In popular culture, anyone with a visible disability used to be a target of much crude humour. However, in recent times, efforts to sensitise people have begun to make a difference. Certainly, no one with a high public profile would make fun of anyone with a disability–they are supposed to set an example.
Also read: In Bid to Ridicule Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi Mocks Dyslexic Students
But of course there are exceptions. In November 2015, presidential candidate Donald Trump mocked a New York Times reporter who suffered from a chronic condition. During that entire campaign, Trump was at his crude best, from describing Mexicans as rapists to implying that a female anchor was asking tough questions because she was menstruating. His insulting remarks about women and minorities notwithstanding, he still won the election.
Now, as India prepares for elections, Narendra Modi is shedding any pretence of being a global leader who hobnobs with his counterparts in summits, and has reverted to type, often descending into crudity while attacking all his favourite targets – Muslims, the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family. His phrases over the years, from ‘fifty crore girlfriend’ to references to kabristans to “Jersey Cow and her hybrid bachha” to describe Sonia and Rahul Gandhi all came during the run up to some election or the other.
Some of those remarks must have been carefully prepared, woven into his speeches to rouse the crowds, send out a well-timed signal to voters, or simply to raise a laugh. But they are also calculated to let the rank and file know that their communication strategy should be-aggressively anti-minorities and the constant vilification of the Gandhis. The Sanghi antipathy towards Nehru and his descendants is well known, though the specific targeting is only against the first prime minister – for a whole litany of sins – and Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Despite sustained insults, this has not achieved the desired results. Nehru’s place remains firm as India modernising leader and undermining his legacy has not been wholly successful. As for Rahul Gandhi, he has turned out to be a surprise package, and now, with three big assembly election wins under his belt, is giving the jitters to Modi – the latest outburst, which appears unscripted, shows that the Congress president has got under his skin.
Also read: The BJP Wants to Erase Nehru. Let’s See What India Would Have Been Without Him
It is not just mockery or coarse remarks that are part of Modi’s signature style. Over the last nearly five years as prime minister, he has made an astounding number of gaffes and several bizarre claims. Genetic science and plastic surgery existed in ancient India, he said to a glittering gathering of doctors and celebrities. He dismissed climate change – “it is we who are changing, not the climate”, and spoke about how cooking gas could be generated from the sewer.
His grasp over historical facts too is tenuous at best.
All this has been pointed out in the media countless times and has generated thousands of memes and jokes on Twitter. Yet, it has not made the slightest difference to his legion of devotees. Even those who would consider themselves urban sophisticates don’t blanche at either his mockery or fakery – they simply look past it, their infatuation undimmed, their devotion unshaken.
To them he is not simply a leader or a role model from whom a higher standard is expected and neither a mere politician like the others; they see him as an otherworldly presence who is beyond human limitations and frailties. Like in any cult, there is no room for questioning, and certainly no patience for the ambient criticism by sundry skeptics or rationalists. To frame it in contemporary slang – they have drunk the Kool Aid.
This level of blind faith is visible elsewhere too – whether it is Trump or Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, no amount of pointing out their appalling behaviour makes the slightest difference to their core audience. Trump got votes from a large number of educated women despite his shocking remarks about women. Similarly, despite his invective against foreign leaders and his appalling public behaviour, Duterte remains popular with his base.
We can therefore safely conclude that in the coming election, no matter what, the core Modi fan will vote for him. A faux pas here or an insensitive remark there will not make the slightest difference to his followers. Despite the poor handling of the economy, rising unemployment, the hardships faced after demonetisation and the shoddy imposition of GST, which has affected small businessmen the most, the hardcore Modi fan will not waver. The elections to the Gujarat assembly took place a year after demonetisation, but the BJP still got 49% of the votes cast and won.
Supporters of the BJP celebrate after learning of the initial poll results outside the party headquarters in Kolkata, India, March 11, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri
This should be comforting to Modi, but the effort now is to rope in the others-the fence sitters, the waverers, and those who may have moved away from the BJP after enthusiastically supporting Modi in 2014. At that time, the Congress and the UPA were seen as ineffectual and corrupt and Modi’s promises of bringing in change, cleanliness and growth were a breath of fresh air. There are many first time Modi supporters who are sorely disappointed – they may not be great Congress supporters, but they certainly are no longer impressed with Modi. They may look for alternatives.
Elections are notoriously unpredictable, but at this moment Modi and his party cannot take victory for granted, despite their triumphalism. The attempts to whip up patriotic frenzy after the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will not stop questions being asked about the airstrikes, the reported intelligence failure about the Pulwama terrorist attack or indeed about which leader won the PR game. The hyper-nationalistic media’s one-sided reporting cannot hide the serious problems that farmers and others are facing. They are voters too, and they make up their minds not on the basis of what television channels tell them. Opposition parties will be sure to exploit that.
Also read: Indian TV Media’s Blatant Endorsement of Hyper-Nationalism Is Shameful
The electoral strategy will therefore have to be modified if these sections have to be convinced. Neither snark nor patriotism will work with those whose livelihoods have been affected and who blame the government for their woes. Nearly five years of ignoring them cannot be remedied in a few weeks by throwing all kinds of sops at them.
The Congress can be blamed for any number of sins, but it is the BJP that has been in power since 2014. Rahul Gandhi can be lampooned but he is the challenger now, not the incumbent. A joke here or a dig there may get cheap laughter from the front benchers, but it’s not going to pay any electoral dividend.
