Modi's 'independence' speech: Brilliant move or crude politics?

Was Modi’s counter independence day speech a brilliant political move, or simply politics in bad taste? As is the case with almost everything else to do with the Gujarat Chief Minister, opinion here too, is divided. Challenging the Prime Minister to a debate on development, Modi lashed out at the UPA for its development record, the food security bill and corruption at the highest levels. “Come let us have a competition on development between Gujarat and Delhi. Our shortcomings will come forward and so will your good deeds”, he said. He also went on to slam the UPA government’s foreign policy, mentioning the ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and Pakistan’s recent aggression. [caption id=“attachment_1037195” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Modi’s Bhuj independence day speech and The Prime Ministers speech at the Red Fort: PTI images[/caption] “Today we never got to hear anything from the Prime Minister about the attack along the LoC. I don’t believe that the Red Fort is a place to target Pakistan but it is a place where we can boost the morale of our troops”, he said. The speech which was made in Bhuj, was Modi’s typical style of firebrand politics; as eloquent as it was aggressive. But was the timing in poor taste? A lot of traditionalists would probably say yes. A visibly upset external affairs minister Salman Khurshid said, “Modi could have controlled himself at least on independence day. He is himself a villain (khalnayak) and blaming others.” He found support from veteran BJP leader LK Advani who is also a traditionalist in every sense of the word. Though not going so far as to call Modi out, Advani said that independence day was not a time for criticism. “I heard the Prime Minister today…Today on Independence Day, without criticising anybody, we all should realise that India has unlimited potential for the future”, he said. The Shiv Sena, which has been dangerously teetering back and forth in terms of its acceptance of Modi as the face of the BJP poll campaign and possibly its Prime Ministerial candidate, was also quick to jump on the bandwagon. “We have the entire year ahead of us to comment on what the Prime Minister says. Today we must listen to him and let the critiquing be for some other day”, said party leader Sanjay Raut. “We saw Modi addressing an Independence Day gathering as if he was speaking at a street-corner meeting. He should have avoided that,” CPI national secretary D Raja added in New Delhi. However not everyone thought that Modi’s speech was one that ultimately reflected poorly on him. BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, came out all guns blazing against the Prime Minister while upholding Modi’s views. “PM should have addressed the nation as a Prime Minister should. Instead, Modi has displayed what he is capable of. Narendra Modi has shown government its face,” Naqvi told CNN-IBN. Criticising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh‘s Independence Day speech, he said, “He gave a speech which was directionless. It would have been good if he would have told us something about the progress.” According to Firstpost editor R Jagannathan, Modi’s move was a shocking but imminently welcome change to the way politics are normally carried out in India. “he has clearly abandoned the old style of submission, humility and compromise – a style that usually leads nowhere. The traditional Indian way of avoiding responsibility is to pretend you don’t want power, pretend excess humility, and then set such low standards for yourself that no one can accuse you of underperformance. This is what humble Manmohan has done. It is another matter that he failed to surpass even the low standards he set for his government in terms of probity and performance, but that is another story. Modi has done the opposite. If today there is much sniping over his Gujarat model, it is because he has offered himself for scrutiny. Not everything he claims is obviously true, but everyone knows that he is for real. His performance can be measured.” ( Read more ) Modi’s intention and the reaction to his speech notwithstanding, the fact remains that it is his speech that everyone is talking about - not really the Prime Ministers. On the flip side however, he seems to have inadvertently succeeded in building up a political consensus supporting Manmohan Singh. This is however, unlikely to faze Modi, because at this stage, it is not peer respect that he is aiming for. Right now the most important thing to him is public opinion. Peer respect and political games can come later. Whether the speech will buy him and the BJP a few thousand more votes, or if his perceived arrogance will cause a backlash against him from undecided voters, remains to be seen. Until then, opinion about Modi, as always, stays fractured.