All my friends, family members, colleagues know that I am big supporter of Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India. I like to call myself a 'believer' than a 'supporter'. It is funny that sometimes people come to me and ask me about Modi's policies and stances, as if Modi is my uncle who discusses such matters with me!!!
I am regularly pulled into discussions and arguments with people who do not like Narendra Modi. More often than not, such people do not have any preferred leader and criticizing Modi has become their favorite passtime. It is the latest fashion. Anyways, I do not really pay any attention to the opinion of such people.
In the past few days, I have also had discussions with few 'mild' to 'moderate' Modi supporters. I would be wrong if I say that I have not been alarmed by their questioning of Modi's policies and strategies. I have noticed that several Modi-supporters have now started doubting his abilities. They argue that nothing is happening on the ground. To get more weightage, they throw in statements like "Corporates have also been questioning Modi", "My clients, who are significant players, have been quite unhappy" and "I am in India, I know the situation at the ground level". More often than not, I respond with a 'Gautam Buddha-like' spiritual smile.
Yesterday, I spoke to a good friend, who I would categorize as a 'Strong' supporter of Modi. I asked him if he is also witnessing this new trend where Modi-supporters have started questioning his plans and policies. He responded in affirmative, which led to my follow-up question - "How do you respond?". His answer was quite interesting.
So, whenever people come to him and ask him about his views on Modi and why there is no development at the ground level, he says, "I agree that Modi is a failure. The previous Prime Minister was better. At least there used to be a new development every week in the form of a corruption scandal. We should bring him back"!!! He told me that shuts the people up in most cases!!! I found it an interesting response and I am going to try that!!!
But I want to ask all the so-called supporters of Modi who have now started questioning him that who are they comparing Modi with? When they say that Modi has so far been a failure, what is the benchmark that they are using? Do they know of any other former Prime Minister who was able to perform better than Modi in little over 1 year? Do they know of any other current leader who they believe can do better than this? I doubt that answer would be 'Yes'.
Currently, they are comparing 'Modi' with 'their own expectations from Modi'. Narendra Modi never said that he would be able to turn things around in one year. More importantly, anyone with sane mind should know that it is not possible. India is a big country and is facing all kinds of issues, which are deep-rooted. Turning things around would take time. And it would require investments.
I would give another example. On several occasions, I have felt disappointment after watching a movie that I was eagerly and anxiously waiting for. However, when I have watched the same movie later (after a few months), I have enjoyed it. The issue was not with the movie. The issue was with the expectations. My expectations used to be so high that the movie was not able to match up to it.
I believe the same is applicable in the case of Narendra Modi and that is where the issue lies. Some of us were probably expecting that the man would come and turn India into a developed nation and an economic superpower within a few months. No one would be poor. Prices would fall down. Everyone would have jobs. Cities would be clean. Roads would be perfect. They may not agree that they had such expectations but they surely are behaving in this manner. I any case, there are no issues with expecting such things but one must be realistic about the timelines. As they say, Rome was not built in a day.
I urge people to be more patient. Modi government has been trying to attract investments. Without investments NOTHING is going to get better. Once the investments are in, things would 'slowly' and 'steadily' improve.
One more thing. If you are unhappy with Modi, think of an alternative. Do you really think Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, Laloo Prasad Yadav or Sharad Pawar would be better? If yes, then I really do not have anything to say to you. If no, then please stop questioning Modi's abilities. He is not only the best bet, he is the only bet!!! Please note that I am not discouraging discussions/arguments over new policies, priorities, stances etc. That should always happen. After all, we may or may not agree with everything that Modi does. I, myself, have some complaints from him!!! If Modi starts to falter, all of us need to start looking for an alternative. However, please do not question what has he achieved in 1 year, 1.5 years, 2 years and so on. Please do not look for short-terms gains. Such short-sightedness has already harmed us in past several decades.
India needs to improve on multiple parameters (if not all) and that would require a long-term all-encompassing growth strategy. I firmly believe that Modi has the vision to take us there. As I said, I am a 'Believer'.
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