Having exhausted all normal tools, a return to power will force Modi to look for more dictatorial options. For the Opposition, if it forms the government, the immediate task will be desaffronisation and dismantling of authoritarian structures. https://thewire.in/politics/indian-politics-will-not-be-the-same-after-june-4
Whatever the final outcome, politics after June 4 will not be the same again. Even in the most unlikely event of Modi returning with ‘400 par’, he will have to look for new strategies and a revised policy framework to survive in power. This has been the case with all those who have managed to retain power for longer periods.
In Modi’s case the ghosts of worn-out welfare schemes, broken promises and dissatisfied ‘labharthis’ could come to haunt the regime in the coming days. He has already overused the policy of hate mongering, majoritarian vote bank and misuse of enforcement agencies to harass and jail political adversaries.
However, the biggest hurdle in the way of the Modi project for a one-party, one-leader regime is the country’s inbuilt diversity. Its regional, cultural, linguistic and aspirational identities act as a barrier to a one-size-fits-all system. In recent years, the imposition of Hindi on regional languages has encountered strong protests in the south. Over the decades, the states south of the Vindhyas have recorded a better economic performance with higher human development indicators. Wide disparities exist in the revenue created by the developed states, including the southern states, and those of the Hindi hinterland. The southern states have complained about unfair tax devolution by the Centre. Such latent sentiments are bound to acquire political dimensions if the present federal arrangement is disturbed by over-centralisation of political power
by P. Raman
01/06/2024