Business Standard - August 27, 2014
Bharat Bhushan: One hundred days of soliloquies
Anecdotes and stories might sustain Modi's image as a heroic prime minister, but soon the govt will be judged only by its performance
Bharat Bhushan
The myth-making surrounding Narendra Modi may be losing its potency within the first 100 days of assuming office. Three recent developments indicate the waning of Modi's magic: the Congress party's victory in all three Assembly by-elections in Uttarakhand in July; the "grand alliance" (albeit, of convenience) of the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress recovering lost ground in the Bihar Assembly by-elections along with the electoral successes of the Congress in the by-elections in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh; and the reluctance of the government to call for a re-election in Delhi despite being chided by the Supreme Court.
There are other alternative explanations - that the "Modi wave" does not work in state Assembly by-elections; that political temperatures have returned to a "normal" level after a highly polarised Lok Sabha election and that the prospect of a political wipeout has forced political groups to emphasise commonalities and improve their local election management. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will probably still do well in the forthcoming state Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana. However, the public perception of the Modi myth seems to have dimmed. [. . .]
FULL TEXT AT: http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/bharat-bhushan-one-hundred-days-of-soliloquies-114082701288_1.html
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