How Modi’s ‘Politics First’ Broadcast Backfired

Undoubtedly, the novel coronavirus pandemic too shall pass, although it will leave Indians and the global community poorer by yet unfathomable numbers of people. There will also be, currently immeasurable, harm and damage to national economies, people's livelihood capacities and, most importantly, social relationships. 

It is not that the Indian government was caught unawares. Instead, there was ample warning. Since December last, there was always fear of the epidemic, then localised in China, affecting India too. If this was just a discreet warning, the message became loud and clear from the middle of February when evidence surfaced that the virus had spread to other countries. Yet, neither was a comprehensive plan drawn up, nor was there any effort to engage with stakeholders, including the political opposition.

Consequently, the response in India especially, official as well as social, has not been driven by rationally reached decisions, but chiefly by a combination of fear, 

selfishness and superstition above all, each one taken at the spur of moment. Initially, the response to the challenge was on autopilot mode, but when the political leadership woke up and decided that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must address the nation, the government unpardonably gave advance notice of 22 hours.

Everyone knows that Modi's 8 p.m broadcasts (there’s one today as well) send shivers down the spines of most and fuel speculation. The grapevine became hyperactive and the government had to officially clarify that Modi would not announce a nationwide lockdown. This, however, did not reduce panic buying on the part of customers and hoarding by traders. There are no reports as yet of food shortage, but with the feared lockdown now total, there is no certainty if transport of essential commodities and maintaining supply lines will be possible. 

There was an additional negative fallout of the long notice before the Modi address (on March 20): as reports spread that a complete shutdown was imminent, migrant workers chose to catch the first available train back home. We have seen pictures of thousands thronging railway stations and on bus roofs but there is no way of knowing how many of them carried infections back home.

The one area where the government and the prime minister has succeeded is in the political domain. This merely demonstrates that this leadership is driven by the 'politics first' sentiment. It cannot be ignored that much of the evolving narrative of coronavirus in India was in the backdrop of the first manifestation of the political challenge to Modi after last year's Lok Sabha polls. 

The spread of agitations against the amendment to the citizenship law and the visible international isolation over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir was of concern to the BJP leadership because of the Assembly elections in Bihar due in September-October this year. After recent setbacks, it is necessary for the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (United) to comfortably return to power. The BJP also has to ensure that JD-U leader Nitish Kumar does not get tempted into giving a Shiv Sena-like turn to the political narrative.

The ‘Janata Curfew’ was a carefully planned event. Although it had the potential to spread awareness among people, the introduction of clapping and #thalibajao converted it into a celebration and another of those numerous Modi events. Social media jokes on coronavirus are understandable, but the millions who shamed themselves and the nation, ended up as the biggest jokes. Responsibility for this, especially if the farce in any way escalates the epidemic, vests with the political leadership.

The introduction of the clapping, ringing and clanging ritual in the fight against coronavirus enabled Modi to regain political momentum among people who have got accustomed to being blind followers of a leader. Unfortunately, it legitimised obscurantism as an officially-backed sentiment. 

That the #thalibajao event took place on Monday too, albeit on a much smaller scale, merely showed that what Modi had presented to people as way to express appreciation for doctors, nurses and others to safeguard the country from the virus, was little but a tactic aimed at mass mobilisation by a leader whose fortunes had taken a beating in recent times.

Through the day, there was a plethora of videos of people dancing and jostling through streets and beating plates and blowing conch shells or trumpets. It almost appeared that people were heeding their leader's call for restraint and resolve with the utmost irresponsibility. Instead of social distancing needed to meet the challenge, the people appear to be part of a jatha heading to Ayodhya to celebrate Ram Navami and then stay put for their ‘mandir waheen banayenge’ project. 

The prime minister asked on Sunday night and Monday for people to be more serious. But he forgot that after having played the master political choreographer for years, he cannot expect the masses to comprehend that this time his words actually meant what he voiced.

Promotion of blind faith has been backed by complete lockdown, the intensity of which is increasing every passing hour. The fear is that because social vigilantes have been given a free run in recent years, there is no knowing when a self-proclaimed 'nationalist' or 'saviour of India' prevents a person with a valid reason from travelling. Arbitrariness is replicated by the smallest administrative unit, a local police station or even a Residents Welfare Association or RWA. No plan appears on the anvil for the daily wage earner or even those who work in the unorganised sector. They are unlikely to be paid wages for the number of days the units where they are employees are shut. 

The government could have done little to completely prevent a medical emergency, but it surely was in position to ensure that economic and social emergencies did not stare the nation in the face. It is time for the government to stop being event-based in its approach and treat COVID-19 as the biggest threat to post-Independence India. 

This is one of those grave challenges that will show to any government that sabka vikas cannot just be a slogan because the virus will not check either religious identity, or whether the intended victim has a BPL card or not.

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is a senior Delhi-based journalist and author. His latest book is The RSS: Icons of The Indian Right. The views are personal.