How Modi colonises our minds

Prime Minister Narendra Modirsquos decision to convene a special session of Parliament from September 18 to September 22 has the nation guessing regarding its purpose Will Modi advance the Lok Sabha elections Or will he conduct simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and how Will the special session pass the longpending Womenrsquos Reservation Bill as well as enact a Uniform Civil CodeThe suspense and speculation have had concrete outcomes it has trained the spotlight on Modi denied the INDIA alliance a rare opportunity to monopolise the proscenium of the Indian political theatre and driven out from the news cycle the charge that the Adanis illegally funnelled funds to boost the share prices of their companies For long the Adanis have been Modirsquos Achillesrsquo heel their relationship touted as a classic example of crony capitalismSurprise and suspense define Modirsquos style of politics which is designed to colonise the minds of his supporters and critics alike We define our politics in reference to Modi He does not let us forget him Even his absence and silence become talking pointsmdashas for instance in the ongoing crisis of Manipur and during the wrestlersrsquo protest against sexual harassment He insinuates himself into the moments the nation is in raptures as he did during the live telecast of India landing on the moon denying us a clear view of the historic momentBut then colonising missions seldom take into account the interests of the colonised nor do they tolerate a competing power as the leaders of the INDIA alliance have experiencedmdashraided and jailed and losing their governments through defections Modi can brook no new narrative lest it should impede him from completely colonising our mindsSurprise is Modirsquos instrument to have the nation obsessing about him His 2016 demonetisation policy was a surprise he sprang on an unsuspecting nation We kept thinking of him as we stood in queues to exchange old currency notes for new ones He ordered an overnight lockdown on March 24 2020 sending lakhs of desperate people walking hundreds of kilometres home They suffered and yet they thought of himThese two episodes spotlighted the grim consequences of governing by surprise instilling in us the fear that Modi does not necessarily think through policies that seem pathbreaking but are in reality devastating Our collective fear is driving the speculation on the purpose behind the special session And this speculation has been given a direction with the formation of a panel under former President Ram Nath Kovind to study the feasibility of holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and all state assembliesIt is moot whether Kovind can deliver a report in a fortnight although it would be foolish to rule out such a possibility under the Modi rule Indeed the ground for preparing simultaneous polls would be inordinately difficult for it would require several constitutional amendments which will invariably get stuck in the Rajya Sabha as a twothird majority is required to pass them The BJP cannot muster this number even with the help of supporting parties No party still having a tenure of a year and more in power in states would vote for liquidating its own governmentBut certainly a discussion on simultaneous polls in the special session could become a national talking point with Modi citing the amount of money the exchequer would save to build his case To prove the nobility of his intent his selflessness he could advance the Lok Sabha elections to coincide with the polls in five states in DecembermdashRajasthan Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh Telangana and Mizorammdashsaying he has shortened his own tenure for the nationrsquos goodAdd to these states Maharashtra and Haryana where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in coalition governments and which will have their Assembly elections next yearmdashthey could be asked to opt for simultaneous polls in December Andhra Pradesh Odisha Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh elect their Assemblies along with the Lok Sabha elections Their chief ministers might feel they have nothing to lose from limited simultaneous elections in December and thus buy into Modirsquos plan Such a scenario will have him take the high moral ground with a compelling narrativeHis projection of simultaneous polls as a national need however conceals his fear of performing poorly or modestly in Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh In such an eventuality his domination of the national consciousness would be challenged Like colonial powers Modi suffers from insecurities Modi has alienated so many that he fears the consequences of being out of power Relentless domination of the national psyche is his way of combating his fearsPerhaps the talk of simultaneous polls is just a red herring and the special session has been called to pass the Womenrsquos Reservation Bill or to introduce a bill banning polygamy the practice of halala and such like which could be packaged as a step towards evolving a UCC Perhaps Modi has planned surprises we simply have no clue aboutThe growing suspense over the special session has reduced the mental state of the nation to that of viewers watching a thriller driven to the edge wondering what the denouement would be Filmmakers colonise the mind for a couple of hours Modi has colonised ours for nine yearsSurprises suspense and a colonised national mind do no good to our democracyThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper