Letters | Modi versus whom? The real tragedy facing India, the world’s largest democracy

The true catastrophe for India is that it has highly qualified professionals, but not the leaders capable of challenging the status quo.

Modi seems powerful purely because the opposition cannot position a strong leader

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President of the opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi (left) with his sister and party member Priyanka Gandhi, during a road show on the way to filing his election nomination in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, on April 10. Elections for India’s 545-member lower house of parliament are being held in seven phases between April 11 and May 19, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:00pm, 15 Apr 2019Updated: 11:19am, 16 Apr 2019

The world’s largest democracy – India – comprising around 900 million voters, will elect a new central government in the next few weeks. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image and cult is strong and larger than life, principally because no opposition leader, including Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi, has been able to project themselves as capable enough to head the world’s largest democracy.

Everybody in India knows that Mr Modi’s November 2016 demonetisation of high-value currency notes was a disaster, the goods and services tax launched in July 2017 was poorly executed, the state infrastructure is broken, that unemployment is at an all-time high, economic statistics dished out by the ministries are soft, and the country is being fractured through divisive politics. His promised 100 “smart cities” have yet to be seen anywhere. Yet, there is no clear alternative in front of the Indian people.

Supporters hold up masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his campaign rally in Kathua, near Jammu, on April 14. Photo: EPA-EFE

The true catastrophe for India is that we have highly qualified professionals, but we do not have capable leaders to challenge the status quo. We have Mr Modi, whose performance in the past five years has been average to mediocre, and then there is Mr Gandhi who is just unable to present a cogent profile of himself or a coherent vision of the India he will build.

So Mr Modi seems powerful purely because the opposition cannot position a strong leader, who is intellectually able and street smart enough to sway the masses with the right appeals and rhetoric. Herein lies India’s tragedy.

Rajendra Aneja, Mumbai

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.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Modi versus whom? The real tragedy facing India, the world’s largest democracy

Letters | Modi versus whom? The real tragedy facing India, the world’s largest democracy