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Last week, just for fun, i ran a simple poll on my public Facebook page. The question i asked was simple. Who should be India's PM? The choices were simple too - Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi and none of the above. There was no intention to imply any bias. Over 10,000 votes were polled. Rahul Gandhi received 5% of the votes. Narendra Modi had 82%, beating the crown prince an astonishing 16 times; 13% of the voters wanted neither.
No, i am not implying this is India's verdict. In fact, it could be far from the national consensus, as Facebook is a highly skewed demographic of younger, affluent and more educated Indians. As some say, many people on Facebook don't even bother to vote. Also, Modi has some fervent supporters , who rush to support him in times of need such as this poll. Hence, i would take the results with a huge pinch of Gujarat-made salt.
However, to ignore these numbers completely will also be foolish. Modi always had some sort of a fan following in cyberspace, but a 16-to-1 lead is a staggering one. This means his fan base has increased dramatically in the last two years. Rahul Gandhi is a far better known national brand, and is younger, better looking, suave and aspirational in some ways. Then why are the youth of this country not rooting for him? And if Modi is as much of a demon as some say, why do people vote for him? What has led to his rise? And more importantly, can he make the switch from ruling Gujarat and Cyber Pradesh to ruling the 28 states?
The first, the decline of Rahul Gandhi is easy to answer. Hyped up immensely by the English-speaking media and any Congressman who wanted to ingratiate the family, Rahul entered politics with massive expectations. He also entered at the time when the Congress was at its evilest best - covering up huge scams, protecting all corrupt people , crushing anti-corruption crusaders, demonstrating hubris and showing arrogance. Rahul hid every time this happened. The Congress calculated that the people who were aware of what is going on were far outnumbered by the ignorant ones in this country, and so none of the criticism mattered.
Silence towards criticism is normally a good strategy, but only if the criticism is unfounded. The Congress was morally wrong, and refused to accept or amend any of that. The Lokpal bill is forgotten and the slow judicial system is being used to their full advantage. In all this, to expect Rahul Gandhi to somehow shine and have educated Indians root for him is a bit much.
Rahul has also suffered due to a cultural shift in Indians. While still enamored by dynasty, the educated set is questioning the sense of entitlement more than ever before. Rather than 'of course he deserves it' , it is now 'has he lived up to what he has been given' . With no real track record besides hiding whenever there is a national crisis, Rahul has a long way to go if he wants to win the trust of the educated . Today, let's face it, it is just not cool to support Rahul Gandhi amongst the youth. The Congress, if and when it decides to be less arrogant, needs to think hard about this issue. One tip: clean up your dirty act, rather than keeping Rahul away from it.
Narendra Modi: People's choice as PM of India? - The Economic Times
No, i am not implying this is India's verdict. In fact, it could be far from the national consensus, as Facebook is a highly skewed demographic of younger, affluent and more educated Indians. As some say, many people on Facebook don't even bother to vote. Also, Modi has some fervent supporters , who rush to support him in times of need such as this poll. Hence, i would take the results with a huge pinch of Gujarat-made salt.
However, to ignore these numbers completely will also be foolish. Modi always had some sort of a fan following in cyberspace, but a 16-to-1 lead is a staggering one. This means his fan base has increased dramatically in the last two years. Rahul Gandhi is a far better known national brand, and is younger, better looking, suave and aspirational in some ways. Then why are the youth of this country not rooting for him? And if Modi is as much of a demon as some say, why do people vote for him? What has led to his rise? And more importantly, can he make the switch from ruling Gujarat and Cyber Pradesh to ruling the 28 states?
The first, the decline of Rahul Gandhi is easy to answer. Hyped up immensely by the English-speaking media and any Congressman who wanted to ingratiate the family, Rahul entered politics with massive expectations. He also entered at the time when the Congress was at its evilest best - covering up huge scams, protecting all corrupt people , crushing anti-corruption crusaders, demonstrating hubris and showing arrogance. Rahul hid every time this happened. The Congress calculated that the people who were aware of what is going on were far outnumbered by the ignorant ones in this country, and so none of the criticism mattered.
Silence towards criticism is normally a good strategy, but only if the criticism is unfounded. The Congress was morally wrong, and refused to accept or amend any of that. The Lokpal bill is forgotten and the slow judicial system is being used to their full advantage. In all this, to expect Rahul Gandhi to somehow shine and have educated Indians root for him is a bit much.
Rahul has also suffered due to a cultural shift in Indians. While still enamored by dynasty, the educated set is questioning the sense of entitlement more than ever before. Rather than 'of course he deserves it' , it is now 'has he lived up to what he has been given' . With no real track record besides hiding whenever there is a national crisis, Rahul has a long way to go if he wants to win the trust of the educated . Today, let's face it, it is just not cool to support Rahul Gandhi amongst the youth. The Congress, if and when it decides to be less arrogant, needs to think hard about this issue. One tip: clean up your dirty act, rather than keeping Rahul away from it.
Narendra Modi: People's choice as PM of India? - The Economic Times
It will be nice to see a hang parliament next time with maya and mamta fighting to be PM.
