Can Old Mr Modi Become New Mr Modi? His Biographer Thinks Not
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Can old Mr. Modi become
Can old Mr. Modi become new Mr. Modi? His biographer, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, thinks not.
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In an interview with his biographer to discuss whether Narendra Modi will be temperamentally and psychologically able to adjust to the different circumstances he will face as Prime Minister in his third term, now that the BJP no longer has a majority and Mr. Modi will be dependent on his allies to survive in office, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay says it’s most unlikely that old Mr. Modi will become new Mr. Modi.
Mr. Mukhopadhyay, the author of ‘Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times’, says Mr. Modi is by character and attitude used to having his way and accustomed to close centralized control of the government, enabled by his Party’s majority, and will find it very hard to become a consensual Prime Minister who has to listen to, give-in to and share with his allies.
This interview is not about the policies Mr. Modi will follow or the political strategies his government will devise during his third term as Prime Minister. Instead it addresses one simple single question or, perhaps, two. First, how will he adjust and accommodate himself to the fact that, despite his multiple predictions and boasts, the BJP has lost its majority and, despite his claim that mother Ganga has adopted him, his own performance in Varanasi shows he’s lost over 3 lakh votes between 2019 and 2024?
The second question, which is more dominant, is can Mr. Modi, temperamentally and psychologically, adjust to the very different circumstances of power and political behaviour that he faces as Prime Minister? What will be his attitude to the opposition, to institutions like parliament, the judiciary and media and to important concerns such as criticism and dissent or the alleged misuse of agencies like ED and CBI?
No one understands Narendra Modi the person better than Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. His biography of the Prime Minister is by far the most insightful available. Therefore, his understanding of how Mr. Modi will behave and how he will adjust to the challenges he faces is perhaps unrivalled. Rather than give away what Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay has said – which you should hear for yourself – I will help you by giving you the list of questions asked.
Here they are:
1) Let me start with a basic question. As his biographer few people know and understand Narendra Modi the person better than you do. He first predicted the BJP would win 370 seats. Then in an interview to the Economic Times after the fifth phase of polling he said it had already crossed 272. He also spoke about a thousand year reign. In the end the party has only got 240 seats, way short of 272. Will he be an embarrassed man this morning or is he thick-skinned enough to brush it off?
2) Let’s look at his personal performance in Varanasi. In 2019 he had a 4.8 lakh majority. That’s been reduced to just 1.5. In fact, initially he was even trailing. As a man who claimed in may that Ganga meri maa hai, mujhe Ganga ne god liya hai, how will he handle this very personal reversal in fortune?
- He’s lost his majority yet delivered a celebratory speech – what does that tell you about him? And his state of mind?
3) Now there’s no doubt that the NDA is in a position to form a government. It has won 294 seats. But how comfortable will Narendra Modi be as Prime Minister when he is dependent on support from Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar? No longer can he be the autocratic and authoritarian Prime Minister he has got used to over the last 10 years.
4) The key question is can Narendra Modi temperamentally and psychologically adjust to the very different circumstances he now faces as Prime Minister? Or is he psychologically ill-equipped to handle a coalition government where the BJP doesn’t have its own majority and he needs to carry his allies?
5) At this point let’s come to some of the things he said during the campaign. He said he is not biologically born but sent by God to do his work. At the Vivekananda Rock Memorial he wrote: “I feel a divine energy”. These are remarks that will be thrown at his face repeatedly with the barb that God has disowned his alleged messenger and turned his back on Modi. How will he handle that?
Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. @thewirenews
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In an interview with his biographer to discuss whether Narendra Modi will be temperamentally and psychologically able to adjust to the different circumstances he will face as Prime Minister in his third term, now that the BJP no longer has a majority and Mr. Modi will be dependent on his allies to survive in office, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay says it’s most unlikely that old Mr. Modi will become new Mr. Modi.
Mr. Mukhopadhyay, the author of ‘Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times’, says Mr. Modi is by character and attitude used to having his way and accustomed to close centralized control of the government, enabled by his Party’s majority, and will find it very hard to become a consensual Prime Minister who has to listen to, give-in to and share with his allies.
This interview is not about the policies Mr. Modi will follow or the political strategies his government will devise during his third term as Prime Minister. Instead it addresses one simple single question or, perhaps, two. First, how will he adjust and accommodate himself to the fact that, despite his multiple predictions and boasts, the BJP has lost its majority and, despite his claim that mother Ganga has adopted him, his own performance in Varanasi shows he’s lost over 3 lakh votes between 2019 and 2024?
The second question, which is more dominant, is can Mr. Modi, temperamentally and psychologically, adjust to the very different circumstances of power and political behaviour that he faces as Prime Minister? What will be his attitude to the opposition, to institutions like parliament, the judiciary and media and to important concerns such as criticism and dissent or the alleged misuse of agencies like ED and CBI?
No one understands Narendra Modi the person better than Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. His biography of the Prime Minister is by far the most insightful available. Therefore, his understanding of how Mr. Modi will behave and how he will adjust to the challenges he faces is perhaps unrivalled. Rather than give away what Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay has said – which you should hear for yourself – I will help you by giving you the list of questions asked.
Here they are:
1) Let me start with a basic question. As his biographer few people know and understand Narendra Modi the person better than you do. He first predicted the BJP would win 370 seats. Then in an interview to the Economic Times after the fifth phase of polling he said it had already crossed 272. He also spoke about a thousand year reign. In the end the party has only got 240 seats, way short of 272. Will he be an embarrassed man this morning or is he thick-skinned enough to brush it off?
2) Let’s look at his personal performance in Varanasi. In 2019 he had a 4.8 lakh majority. That’s been reduced to just 1.5. In fact, initially he was even trailing. As a man who claimed in may that Ganga meri maa hai, mujhe Ganga ne god liya hai, how will he handle this very personal reversal in fortune?
- He’s lost his majority yet delivered a celebratory speech – what does that tell you about him? And his state of mind?
3) Now there’s no doubt that the NDA is in a position to form a government. It has won 294 seats. But how comfortable will Narendra Modi be as Prime Minister when he is dependent on support from Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar? No longer can he be the autocratic and authoritarian Prime Minister he has got used to over the last 10 years.
4) The key question is can Narendra Modi temperamentally and psychologically adjust to the very different circumstances he now faces as Prime Minister? Or is he psychologically ill-equipped to handle a coalition government where the BJP doesn’t have its own majority and he needs to carry his allies?
5) At this point let’s come to some of the things he said during the campaign. He said he is not biologically born but sent by God to do his work. At the Vivekananda Rock Memorial he wrote: “I feel a divine energy”. These are remarks that will be thrown at his face repeatedly with the barb that God has disowned his alleged messenger and turned his back on Modi. How will he handle that?
Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. @thewirenews
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