Ah, the blind people trying to figure out the nature and shape of the Indian elephant, and the belief that Rupa Subramanya has about the Indian economy and how Modi paid for not paying attention to it, similarly, is based on "blind speculation". There are issues about candidate selection in some regions/states, there is regionalism, there are those who did not like Modi's outreach to Muslims and his ignoring of Hindu demands (see Anand Ranganathan's book titled, "Hindus in Hindu Rashtra: Eighth-Class Citizens and Victims of State-Sanctioned Apartheid"), there is the state-sanctioned violence in West Bengal, there is the Dravidian Movement and its consequences in southern states like Tamil Nadu. Rupa Subramanya does not do the careful analyses of vote shares in different parts of the country, and how the BJP, even though it got a larger vote share than in 2019 lost so many seats. I would suggest reading Swarajya Magazine for those interested in understanding a little bit more of India, and from an Indian center-right perspective: https://swarajyamag.com/ -- and read my piece on the big picture needed of the Indian political landscape: https://swarajyamag.com/commentary/needed-a-helicopter-view-of-the-indian-political-landscape
I’ve never looked to closely at India, but I’ve noticed a peculiar disgust with India from the woke corner of humanity. I’ve always found it odd how concerned they are about Modi and “Hindu Nationalism” while remaining almost completely silent on China who is right next door and infinitely worse. They’re, like, literally a Han ethnonationalist neofascist police state but one can’t help but wonder if the far left admires China’s state centric top down centrally controlled vibe.
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but his message didn't exactly jive with the ruling elite from outside India. I wonder if a few scales were tipped in key places...
Nice summary Rupa! I’m still trying to figure out exactly why such a surprising result happened. Seems like the opposition cooperation in UP, for example, might help account for a big chunk of the seats lost by the BJP.
It seems really hard to come by reliable data, especially since we can’t trust even exit polls! But I want to believe what you’re saying - that voters punished Modi for poor performance on the economy and out of frustration with his divisive identity politics. That would bode well for India’s future!
Modi's genius was to see that Nationalism can play an important part in a successful nation. His foolishness was to use that same Nationalism to paper over short comings and failures. The voters caught it and acted appropriately . Personally I think the ANC dropping to plurality status is a bigger story for now as we don't know which way that will turn.
Ah, the blind people trying to figure out the nature and shape of the Indian elephant, and the belief that Rupa Subramanya has about the Indian economy and how Modi paid for not paying attention to it, similarly, is based on "blind speculation". There are issues about candidate selection in some regions/states, there is regionalism, there are those who did not like Modi's outreach to Muslims and his ignoring of Hindu demands (see Anand Ranganathan's book titled, "Hindus in Hindu Rashtra: Eighth-Class Citizens and Victims of State-Sanctioned Apartheid"), there is the state-sanctioned violence in West Bengal, there is the Dravidian Movement and its consequences in southern states like Tamil Nadu. Rupa Subramanya does not do the careful analyses of vote shares in different parts of the country, and how the BJP, even though it got a larger vote share than in 2019 lost so many seats. I would suggest reading Swarajya Magazine for those interested in understanding a little bit more of India, and from an Indian center-right perspective: https://swarajyamag.com/ -- and read my piece on the big picture needed of the Indian political landscape: https://swarajyamag.com/commentary/needed-a-helicopter-view-of-the-indian-political-landscape
What a wonderful summary. I had seen snippets about what happened, but this piece gave a very full picture in a concise way. Thank you!
I’ve never looked to closely at India, but I’ve noticed a peculiar disgust with India from the woke corner of humanity. I’ve always found it odd how concerned they are about Modi and “Hindu Nationalism” while remaining almost completely silent on China who is right next door and infinitely worse. They’re, like, literally a Han ethnonationalist neofascist police state but one can’t help but wonder if the far left admires China’s state centric top down centrally controlled vibe.
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but his message didn't exactly jive with the ruling elite from outside India. I wonder if a few scales were tipped in key places...
Hubris! It will catch up to you every time.
Nice summary Rupa! I’m still trying to figure out exactly why such a surprising result happened. Seems like the opposition cooperation in UP, for example, might help account for a big chunk of the seats lost by the BJP.
It seems really hard to come by reliable data, especially since we can’t trust even exit polls! But I want to believe what you’re saying - that voters punished Modi for poor performance on the economy and out of frustration with his divisive identity politics. That would bode well for India’s future!
>> we can’t trust even exit polls
============
See, my mind jumps to something else. If exit polls are off by that much, maybe the people counting the votes had some different ideas.
Modi's genius was to see that Nationalism can play an important part in a successful nation. His foolishness was to use that same Nationalism to paper over short comings and failures. The voters caught it and acted appropriately . Personally I think the ANC dropping to plurality status is a bigger story for now as we don't know which way that will turn.