NO MIDDLEMEN Narendra Modi must do what he is best at: connecting with the electorate. By N.V.

Subramanian (15 July 2013) New Delhi: It is rare to find leaders in this country who connect so spontaneous ly and so well with the young as does Narendra Modi. His interaction with studen ts of Poona s iconic Ferguson College was as successful as it was instructive. He dwelt on politics as politics only fleetingly because he said he was addressing students but he contextualized it to draw attention to the growing hopelessness of the country under more than nine years of Congress rule whilst emphasizing th at he would never succumb to such negativity and exhorted his audience not to ei ther. Earlier at Delhi s Sriram College of Commerce, in February of this year, he proved likewise a hit with the students, causing considerable consternation in t he leadership of the opposition Congress party. Constituting today the bulk of India s electorate, the young find the general run of political leaders entirely mismatched to their thinking and understanding. Th e young are by and large idealistic. They cannot be easily segregated along cast e, communal and linguistic lines. Unlike those who grow into middle age with all the baggage that it brings, they are not cynical or opportunistic. The young al ways lead change whether or not they succeed. Recent examples could be the Pussy Riot of Russia, the young of Tahrir Square and Turkey, the students agitating f or Telangana state, the girls and boys who braved Delhi s December cold seeking ju stice for the gangrape victim they called Damini. You could expect young politic ians to feel for the young, or at least relatively young so-called leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Akhilesh Yadav, Omar Abdullah, and the other asso rted dynasts who comport themselves as saviours of the nation in various politic al parties. But none of them connect with the youth as does Narendra Modi. He ha s all the time for them whereas politicians far younger are trapped in the backw ard and venal social and political constructs of the past and lack the inclinati on or purpose to engage with the young. With such a huge and readymade constituency for him, why is Narendra Modi wastin g time granting interviews to journalists who have no interest in his developmen t vision and are solely programmed by the establishment politics of Delhi to ens nare him in pointless polemics? He said nothing new to the Reuters journalists t o merit brouhaha over two days and his puppy comment was absolutely harmless and o bviously well-intentioned. Indians are prisoners of group think. India does not value individuals or individualism. Secularism, liberalism, etc, are merely mant ras. And India s alleged thinkers will be trapped in these slogans forever. They c annot be creative, they need to clutch at things, it gives them sinecures, and t hey won t change unless the establishment metamorphoses. Dinosaurs are what they h ave become. So what is Modi s point in engaging these group-thinkers? In Gujarat, he succeeded without their help. So will he nationally if he bypasses them and e ngages with those who matter, and they are the electorate. Why hasn t he packed th e campaign trail more solidly? The problem with the Bharatiya Janata Party so far was that it had no national-l evel leader. Atal Behari Vajpayee had good personal equations with politicians a cross India but he was best known in the North. Lal Krishna Advani somehow did n ot make the grade. On the other hand, Modi is known throughout the country, alth ough he enjoys a special traction in the West, North and East. On his travels, t his writer has met a large number of people who swear by Modi. These are people who are passionate about India, achievers, and want to give back to society. The y have nothing but scorn for the Nehru-Gandhis and the Congress. They want real change and a break from the past. Like it or not, Modi represents that change. There is much riding on him. Hope. Expectation. A brilliant future. It is obviously unfair to base so much expectat ion on one man but that is how it has become with Modi. After Anna Hazare, Modi has been able to galvanize the youth. He must know that he hasn t much time. He ha

s to go beyond the familiar. He has to penetrate to the interiors. His message o f change must percolate to the lowest levels. As a non-appeaser, he has proven c redentials. He must also emphasize on plurality which is central and critical to the survival and success of the Westphalian nation-state. Modi is hammering awa y at the false and venal construct of secularism to bring it down. But his messa ge of development and progress must be equally and more strident. This is a unique chance to bring change to the politics of the country. It may n ot happen immediately or soon, but the project must begin. Narendra Modi has com menced on the scheme. Now he must chart a whole new course to get ahead with his vision, and he must solely communicate with the people for such purpose. The mi ddlemen of the media, the middlemen of certain oppressed and backward communitie s, and the power-brokers who haunt Delhi like locusts are best excluded. The peo ple are all who matter and Narendra Modi should know that better than most.

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