2014 proved to be a very auspicious year for India as in that year this great country got a great leader called Narendra Damodardas Modi. A terrible thought suddenly made me wake up abruptly in the wee hours of the morning today. The thought was “If India does not get Narendra Modi as PM in 2024, then what we as Indians would have been witness to in our country”. Let me delve into this scenario in more detail.
The first thing that comes to my mind is if Narendra Modi was not elected in 2014, we would have been helpless witnesses to the gory dance of terrorism in several cities in India. Serial blasts would have been a regular feature and the government action would have been nothing more than having a dialogue with the neighboring country that is known to harbour terrorists with scant regard towards the safety of Indian citizens. Surgical strikes would not have been even a discussion point as cordial relationship with the neighbors albeit they being rogue would have been more important than the lives of even citizens of our own country.
We would have seen the status quo in Jammu & Kashmir with youth still arming themselves with stones instead of laptops and going about their daily chore diligently of throwing stones at the armed forces for a petty sum of Rs.500. Article 370 would have continued to be a carefully guarded clause and the Abdullahs and Muftis in power there would have been happily doing their business of politics enriching their coffers silently.
We would still be carrying cash in our wallets to pay the small vendors as they would not have had the UPI facility and as a prominent ex-finance minister doubted how villages would have a network to use UPIs in India, no one would have bothered to invest time and energy in scaling up digital India initiative.
No one would have pushed hard for the Ram Mandir resolution in courts and no one would have bothered to fight the Gyanvapi battle to preserve their votebanks. Kashi would have continued to be a congested town and there would never have been straight access from the sacred Ganga River to the Mahadev Mandir. The ghats in Varanasi would have been shabby and dirty. We wouldn’t have had a Vande Bharat train. We wouldn’t have had a COVID-19 vaccine made proudly in India and the imported medicines from foreign pharma companies would have been injected into our bodies. The indoctrination and intoxication of the West would have continued in our lives.
When the Ukraine war happened, India would have immediately and submissively followed the US/West in opposing Russia which would have had a catastrophic oil price rise in India leading to great damage to the Indian economy. India wouldn’t have managed to be a bright spot in the world. India would never have done the G20 Summit on such a grand scale and would never have been such a strong consensus builder on the world stage. Indian diaspora wouldn’t have gotten so much respect that they enjoy today in almost every country in the world.
Our income tax refunds would have taken months to get credited to our bank accounts. Our passports would have taken months to get renewed following the usual traditional methods. The poor in India wouldn’t have had their own bank accounts and only 15% of the welfare benefits they are entitled to would reach them after passing through a lot of hands as once a popular ex-Prime Minister of India lamented. Several populist welfare schemes would have been rolled out and a lot of loan waivers would have happened.
We wouldn’t have seen true history being penned down and articulated by authors like Vikram Sampath, J. Sai Deepak, and the likes of Anand Ranganathan which would act as a counter to the planned narrative established by the leftist historians who would have had a monopoly and free ride on the academic space.
Political parties would have happily taken donations from the corporates in cash without having to show anything to the public, so much for transparency in political funding. There would have been a red carpet welcome for Rohingyas and such illegal immigrants who would have been great additions to the votebanks of parties. The Khalistani movement would have gotten great momentum. In a lighter vein, the New York Times would have hailed the secular fabric of India and democracy would never have been in danger. The CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and such institutions would have conducted raids but miniscule amounts of cash would have been attached. No prominent political leader would have been arrested except for a few top leaders from the BJP. EVMs would have worked like magic.
The list is too long and I choose not to continue to give myself further pain with these depressing thoughts. Although I can’t talk on behalf of anyone else, I for one would never want to have the pre-2014 nightmare again and I would use my vote wisely. I definitely don’t want India to be still a developing nation even in 2047. I rest my case.
Ananth Mahadevan is a political commentator based in Bengaluru.
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