I wrote about the Anatomy of Arvind Kejriwal in 2011, at the height of his and IAC/AAP’s popularity. Of course, I received a few brickbats for it (as expected) as I’m sure I will for this piece also.
BUT, Now in 2017, we can safely say it has played itself out. AAP has lost most if not all its credibility due to the very man who made AAP a household name.
Using Ontology, I call its root cause the “Unmanageability” of life itself that we all “develop” as we grow older (notice I don’t say grow ‘up’!).
Let me explain very briefly.
As children, we “learn” certain ways of being that help us cope; let us ‘survive’ perceived and real challenges in life. As we grow, we tend to use these tactics and find they (mostly) work. They then become our fixed way of being to deal with any and all challenges.
But as we grow older the challenges become larger, steeper and even harder to take on. These become our failures. Soon we perceive ourselves as failures. We hit mental, emotional and spiritual bankruptcy.
Not knowing how to cope, we see people heading for (road) rage, suicides, alcoholism, drug addiction and so on. Inevitably, the whole family is impacted badly.
We forget that we are the ones who developed those winning (now, later becoming losing) strategies. The ways of being we developed resulting in Life becoming Unmanageable becomes our FIXED ways of being: Always Angry, Always Pleasing, Always biased, Always bitter, etc etc for example.
I work on alleviating people from this trap of the wiring of being human, in de-addiction camps, with a fair degree of success. But let’s get back to the topic at hand.
Narendra Modi is surely an uncommon politician within the mainstream parties. Unlike Kejriwal, he (Modi) rose from within the core of the BJP – the RSS. Thus his tenure may well last way beyond Kejriwal’s who too, is an uncommon politician. Both actually share common goals, which explains why Modi-Shah duo have made life impossible for Kejriwal to succeed in Delhi.
Modi’s strongest ‘suits’ are:
- Ruthless determination
- Impulsive and Rash
- Laser Focussed
- Expressive
- Covert, Manipulative
- Insatiably Power hungry
- Political Master Strategist
Let’s discuss these briefly.
The ruthless determination was on display in the way he cultivated the BJP Base and usurped power from within in 2013. It was also exhibited when he went ahead with Demonetisation in the face of all sound advice.
There are several examples, but Impulsive and Rash were on display at the way he dropped off at Nawaz Shariff’s party as a “foreign affairs” initiative. The conduct of all his foreign affairs keeping the minister, Sushma Swaraj out of the picture frame adds to the ruthless determination mentioned above. The decision to play Robin Hood and steal from the middle class to feed the poor (that’s the claim!) is both rash and ruthless as it banks on the poor masses to vote him back to power.
When it comes to focusing, there is no one to match Modi’s concentration. His first term he’s worked his butt off, to ensure he gets a second (if not more) terms and has to retire due to old age. No one in GOI can keep pace with him, even in their own little burrows. This is obvious to the common man.
Expressive. When he chooses, Modi can speak with great passion, clever oration and most of all, unique characterisation of his opponents. This has been his hallmark in campaigning. But when he does not wish to, he is unseen. The old media has had great difficulty in reaching him. He does not carry the “old chosen ones” along in his grand Air India One on his trips abroad (or even inland).
No one less than a master manipulator could have pulled off the palace coup in BJP in 2013 – leaving far behind his rivals in MP, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, etc. Working covertly at first, then overtly, he shoved aside the entire old guard into a toothless Margadarshak boat and cut it loose in high seas. The younger of those (Sushma, Rajnath, Gadkari, Ananth Kumar, Ravishankar Prasad, etc) saw the writing on the wall and quietly submitted to his authority. Some who didn’t are in the wilderness. (Ruthless Determination in action). His wins in state elections only made this manipulation turn to fait accompli. The elections in the Southern States won’t sway to the same tune and we’ll see his “Unmanageability” surface more openly. The beauty of these machinations is that he not only prevented any split in the BJP but even strengthened it.
Power Hungry. The only visible reason for the demonetisation when India was “taking off” was to project “decisiveness, anti-corruption” face to a gullible UP electorate. It paid off. Modi jeopardised India’s health to win power in its largest state – Uttar Pradesh. This was also an illustration of politically strategic mind if there was one needed! He caught all the political parties off guard, with his Covert move!
I voted for a useless MP just to give Modi the majority in the Lok Sabha. Of his party, I think they are a Bunch of Jokers. I did not vote for the equally useless Congress candidate as I think they’re headed by a bunch of looters and dynasts that India can do without.
This election, it looks like NOTA is the best candidate around. Unless Modi can come good on his promises, on judicial, police (law & order), administrative reforms, “Vikas” remains a dream. Modi of all people must know that merely “earning” more is useless without these sick sectors being reformed.
@jsvasan