Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3052853/why-narendra-modi-should-not-be-written-despite-his-partys-loss
Comment/ Letters

Why Narendra Modi should not be written off despite his party’s loss in Delhi’s local elections

An Indian worker carries flowers to be planted past a hoarding featuring US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Agra, India, on February 23. Photo: AP

Both the letter “Voters of Delhi have rejected divisive politics” and the column “India’s boisterous democracy works to benefit a few” (February 19) cheer the resounding re-election of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party in recent elections in New Delhi.

In 2018, a year before the national elections that won Prime Minister Narendra Modi a second term, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost successive state elections. Yet it went on to win the general elections in May 2019 with bigger margins.

A columnist in The New York Times cautions liberals against drawing any joyous conclusions: “In a recent survey, four-fifths of Delhi’s voters favoured Mr Modi and three-fourths of Delhi’s voters expressed satisfaction with his federal government.” Other surveys conducted before the elections arrived at similar conclusions. 

Yet, the people of Delhi voted for Kejriwal. The reasons: his good work in some sectors and offer of freebies, but also the maturity of voters who vote the BJP into power at the centre and the opposition in local elections.

Economically speaking, most countries except the United States are in bad shape. In this age of globalisation, no country’s economy can be insulated.

Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin and Modi are popular leaders who have broken through the culture of elitism. They are nationalists and who are not interested in the nonsense of being politically correct and culturally neutral. Modi rose from poverty, starting life as a tea-seller and working his way to finally being elected prime minister twice.

In his letter, Mr Aneja laments the failure of the Congress’ Rahul Gandhi to connect with the electorate. The Congress values a dynasty where power is bestowed on those with the surname Gandhi, an outdated notion. People are firmly behind Modi, who has positively transformed the country.

Kishore Sambwani, Pok Fu Lam