The PM needs to understand that, despite his sky-high public appeal, 2017 is very different from 2014.
Perhaps for the first time in three years, the government is on the back foot. A quick succession of unfavourable incidents – train accidents, Gorakhpur deaths, Panchkula violence, demonetisation data, GDP slowdown – have left it squirming for answers. It has either tried to dodge the issue altogether, evade responsibility, or, characteristic of its bluster and bravado, launched aggressive counter-campaigns to regain control of the narrative.
Sample this: ever since PM’s attempts to blame the record-high train accidents on Pakistan fell flat, he has maintained a stoic silence as more trains derailed, refusing to sack his railway minister; in case of Gorakhpur deaths, the PM has doggedly avoided fixing accountability on anyone; despite wave after wave of violence in Haryana, CM Khattar has been allowed to remain in-charge; instead of honestly admitting that demonetisation was at least a partial failure, the PM threw the “hard work, not Harvard” tantrum at his critics.
Worse, post declaration of demonetisation numbers, the government has changed goal posts and is busy waging a farcical social media campaign under #demonetisationsuccess; the FM has blamed tepid GDP growth on GST, passing it off as yet another short-term pain for long-term gain, while the PM has been silent.
These recent incidences are not the only examples where the government has brazenly refused to accept even a shred of responsibility. Besides well-known fiascos such as Right to Privacy, the government has conveniently swept under the carpet a damning critique of its flagship skill development programme by a government-appointed committee. On the other hand, even as the PM touts his grand vision of Housing for All, the scheme responsible for making it happen falters irredeemably.
He has held his tongue on the Vyapam scam. Several Mann Ki Baat addresses will be remembered for what they did not say, rather than for what they did. His tall claims of unearthing black money during his latest Independence Day speech are considered dubious by many. These are ominous signs for a PM who was considered a godsend just three years back.
The PM needs to understand that, despite his sky-high public appeal, 2017 is very different from 2014. Back then, he had an aura of invincibility and infallibility around him. The intervening three years have, however, clearly exposed that aura as a carefully constructed propaganda campaign. A lot of people – not all anti-nationals and Modi-haters, as some in the government would claim - have grown weary of relentless attempts to keep up that aura despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
These people see in him a holier-than-thou figure, incapable of empathy for the common man. Given the wisdom that ‘the higher they rise the harder they fall’, the current public confidence in him stands on extremely sticky ground – it could unravel in a matter of days, even hours, fragile enough to dissipate over a single tweet.
The recent incidents have already laid the foundation of that unravelling. The people realise that PM Modi, though still the best choice for many, is not super human. In fact, he is unnervingly human on most accounts. In such a situation, it would serve him well to once and for all eschew propaganda in favour of building a stronger bridge with people. The PM displayed such sagacity while announcing demonetisation, when he candidly admitted that his decision wasn’t perfect, and that it would hurt people.
His honesty turned out to be a driving force behind people’s cooperation with the drastic move. The PM only needs to extend that honesty further. Given the risk-taker he is, coupled with the fact that no PM has gone so far, even a limited mea culpa - an acknowledgement that mistakes have been made under his watch which need to be corrected – could boost his party’s electoral prospects and seal his place among India’s, indeed the world’s, statesmen.
It’s not hard to see why the PM, even if privately cognizant of his mistakes, would be vary of making a public admission. Humility, often considered a sign of weakness, is a quality not often associated with successful politicians. A self-made, hard-nosed, thoroughbred politician, PM Modi isn’t known for expressing regret over spilt milk. Even a circumscribed admission of mistakes by him would be a slap in the face of his most fanatic fans for whom he can do no wrong.
The opposition would exploit it in ways hard to predict. There’s also the question of how far, and how often, to go with such an admission. But for a man who turned around demonetisation to his advantage, nothing is impossible. Moreover, Indians as a group of people greatly value humility and magnanimity in those that they look up to. No one understands this better than the astute politician Modi.
This alone should help him sail through. In doing so, the PM will also weaken the obnoxious who’s-a-true-nationalist campaign being run by some of his most dedicated followers.
If the PM does decide to take this step, he will find himself in august company. Historically, an admission of mistakes by top leaders, if deftly-worded and sincere, has helped their public appeal. Such admissions haven’t been limited to the convenient, belated admission of racial/colonial abuses, but extend to apologise-as-you-falter scenarios.
US President Kennedy held himself accountable to American people for the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, saying “I am the responsible officer of the government”. PM Modi’s friend President Obama boldly admitted to the partial failure of his beloved healthcare reform. Driving the point home, President Truman kept a sign saying “The Buck Stops Here” on his desk in the Oval Office. Closer home,
PM Vajpayee’s “Raj dharma” comment in the wake of Godhra riots, is, to this day, counted among reasons that made Vajpayee a statesman. That comment stands in stark contrast to how PM Modi has handled BJP CMs. In Arvind Kejriwal he finds an unlikely inspiration – Kejriwal’s appeal soared after he apologised for resigning too soon during his first tenure. It crashed after he refused to accept any blame for the many mistakes his administration committed.
In his book ‘Mea Culpa: A Sociology of Apology and Reconciliation’, author Nicholas Tavuchis writes that apologies speak to acts that cannot be undone “but that cannot go unnoticed without compromising the current and future relationship of the parties.” For PM Modi, this definition hits the nail on the head. Not coming clean now and failing to punish the guilty could result in a permanent loss of confidence in his leadership.
Undoubtedly, it’ll be a tough switch to make for the PM. Propaganda would have to give way to truth, and dodging and deflection to fixing of accountability. Perhaps even more than his detractors, he has his staunchest supporters to worry about. But the PM has displayed such courage when he strongly condemned gau-rakshaks on more than one occasion. He needs to do that again, and yet again, and on a broader scale.
More importantly, his actions need to strongly back his words, lest the disappointment and distrust deepen. Given the precarious public confidence, still in PM’s favour, he would be well advised to make this switch from a position of strength and magnanimity, instead of from one of weakness and necessity. The PM is capable of it. The people want it. They deserve it.
(Prabhat Singh has previously been a journalist and has served a state government. He now writes freelance. He can be contacted on twitter @singhK_P)