INDIA’s general elections to be held in seven phases starts next month. The first phase starts on April 11 while the seventh one will begin on May 19. The counting of votes starts on May 23 and results will be declared the same day.

Prime Minister Narendera Modi made many promises during his 2014 election campaign, many of which he never intended to honour. Five years on he faces an electorate which can send him home.

Millions of farmers, particularly the small ones, continue to suffer owing to a steep fall in the cost of staples like chickpeas, onions and oilseeds. This can sink the chances of a party forming government in a nation where 70 per cent of its citizens still directly or indirectly make their living from agriculture. Indian farmers from different provinces have marched on New Delhi many times in the past 12 months.

This is not all. Local and international economists criticise Modi’s handling of the economy, saying his ill-thought-out policies have increased inflation and slowed foreign investment coming to India. Failing to deliver on promises is a dangerous past time in Indian politics. Loyalists are known to turn into harsh critics overnight, power and money being the only constants.

These are cogent reasons for the extremist Bharatiya Janata Party government to stir up a hornets’ nest on the borders with Pakistan. With the elections beginning in April, it is no wonder Modi decided to shore up his sagging popularity at Pakistan’s expense. The Pulwama attack and other provocations against Pakistan when viewed through this prism begin to make sense.

Modi has a history of using violence to achieve his political goals. Be it the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat and the consistent blind amnesty to the extremist Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s brutalities against Muslims for years.

The Indian prime minister, however, would do well to remember that by using his fascist tactics, he may have propelled himself from Gujarat to the head of the table in New Delhi, but the same prescription may bring him immense grief this time round.

India cannot achieve greatness only by its size. She needs a leader with a national vision who selflessly serves its minority communities and other downtrodden people before attending to the majority.

Rafay F. Shamsi

Lahore

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2019