Modi and his yes men

Baba and his ‘krupa’

A decade ago, there was a controversial baba who used to hold televised darbars on various channels claiming to give easy solutions to his distraught disciples to attain ‘krupa’ (blessings) of the Almighty.

Nirmal Baba’s trade appeared so lucrative that several TV channels, including some news channels, showed his ‘darbar’ live with an eye on the TRP. There was a virtual race for it. The whole thing stopped after an outcry. Every baba has a “sell by” date.

One is reminded of this baba when one sees ‘krupa’ being doled out wholesale after the recent Assembly elections in five states, in which the BJP emerged victorious in four, including Uttar Pradesh.

The latest recipient of the ‘krupa’ is Keshav Prasad Maurya of UP, who has managed to retain the deputy CM post in the most crucial state despite losing the polls from his pocket borough at a time when the BJP snatched victory from a resurgent Samajwadi Party in most other seats.

Another prominent example is the appointment of Pushkar Singh Dhami, who has been retained as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand despite losing the Assembly poll.

In Goa, too, Pramod Sawant kept his chief ministership by barely scraping through to victory in the polls there. This was possible only due to the BJP high command’s ‘krupa’, which overlooked a strong claim by Vishwajeet Rane, a leader in his own right and who had virtually thrown his hat in the ring.

In all the three instances, the ‘Nirmal Baba’ who showed his ‘krupa’ is none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In present-day India, no one understands the political game better than the PM.

Modi seems to have finetuned the subtle craft of dispensing favours. While every leader obliges the faithful, what sets Modi apart is that he has turned it into a fine art to devastating effect to make his position impregnable in the BJP hierarchy. Home Minister Amit Shah too might be practising the art, but he is a distinct second. No one can match Modi.

The Prime Minister has dispensed ‘krupa’ not only in political but in bureaucratic matters, too. And that too wholesale. One would not have encountered so many officials from Gujarat at the top, at the Centre if Modi had not ruled that state for more than a dozen years.

Six months ago, in poll-bound Gujarat, Modi sacked the entire Cabinet in one go, including the Chief Minister, as also several veterans who were aspiring to be CM. He brought in freshers, including a first-time MLA as CM. Every member of the new team is bound to be beholden to the PM.

Five years ago, Modi had brought in a low-profile lightweight leader as President of India, much to everyone’s surprise.

The moves are seen in political circles as those obliging the less deserving. Such men never become a threat in any way and are always ready to do the bidding of the leader without batting an eyelid. It is a different matter that this promotes the ‘yes man’ culture and buries meritocracy. But for the supreme leader, all is fair in politics.

Politics is the game of ensuring that your influence is maximised, by whatever means.

Interestingly, even leaders like Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who was once hailed as a PM candidate by L K Advani, nowadays seem to be going out of the way to be in the good books of the PM. Chauhan knows that continuing as CM would be difficult if he has no ‘krupa’ of the ‘Almighty’ in Delhi, who knows what everyone is doing or has done.

On the other hand, former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje doesn’t like to play second fiddle in State matters and likes to think she is her own boss, not subservient to anyone from the Centre. Obviously, she does not look like she’s enjoying the ‘krupa’.

No one admits it openly, but those who are in the ruling party know that ‘big brother’ is watching.

Those in the Opposition who refuse to fall in line often accuse the powers-that-be of letting loose the ED or the CBI or the I-T department. The noises are more from Maharashtra, West Bengal and Kerala, where non-BJP governments are in power.

Over a month ago, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had written to Vice President Venkaiah Naidu claiming that law enforcement agencies like the ED have been “let loose” against leaders of his party since it ended its alliance with the BJP. Not only that, Raut had complained that these agencies refused to take note of complaints against several BJP leaders.

The fact of the matter is that Modi rules with an iron hand to punish the detractors and favour the faithful. While all are faithful, some are more faithful, as they are also useful.

The BJP under Modi is vastly different from what it was under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was enamoured of Nehru.

In 1998, Pramod Mahajan and Jaswant Singh had lost the elections. Vajpayee did not make them ministers despite their stature in the party.

As against this, Modi was quick to make Arun Jaitley the country’s Finance Minister in 2014 despite Jaitley losing the prestigious Amritsar battle to former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. In 2019, when Hardeep Puri lost from the same seat, he too was made a minister and is known to be among those close to the PM.

‘Modi baba hain to mumkin hain’, the faithful cheer, and the PM waxes eloquent on how India is the world’s largest democracy.

(The writers are senior journalists and political commentators)