The remarkable rise of Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, is examined in a review by Max Rodenbeck of two new books about Indian politics. In 2014, Modi led the Bharatiya Janata, or Indian People’s Party (BJP), to one of the most dramatic electoral upsets in India’s 70 years as a democracy.
“Despairing opponents, for their part, tend to consider Modi’s success part of an equally inexorable global wave of strongman populism: From his appeal to voter anger, to his accusations of enemies, to his televisual talent for sound bites and gestures, he much resembles Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, or Rodrigo Duterte,” Rodenbeck writes.
“With dreary regularity in Delhi as much as in London or New York, shoulders shrug and palms spread as it is explained that witless Indian voters have succumbed to some kind of wicked zeitgeist.”
However, a growing number of corruption allegations could stall the success of Modi, who was tipped as a shoo-in to win the next national elections in 2019. As “loudly touted policies have mired in Indian realities,” Modi could see himself returned to power with a reduced majority, says Rodenbeck.
“The smart money is still on Modi but recent trends suggest that he would be wise to call an early election, or he may see himself returned to power with a reduced majority, dependent on coalition allies,” he writes.