As Narendra Modi sets narrative in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah oblige by focussing barbs at him

We frequently hear about Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s communication skills. Reams have been and are still being written on them. They have drawn grudging praise from even his political rivals. To understand what exactly they entail, we need not go beyond his political speeches. Thursday’s rallies at Kalaburagi and Ballari in Karnataka, which goes to polls on 12 May, constitute a good enough example. [caption id=“attachment_4455525” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi in Ballari. Twitter/@narendramodi[/caption] A master craftsman, Modi showed how to build narratives, switch narratives, shape-shift between the roles of a raconteur, public speaker, leader, propagandist and end speeches with a flourish. His political rallies are a complete performance – an oratorical tour de force. They give us an inkling into the factors behind his popularity that stem overwhelmingly from his ability to connect with the masses, even at places where the audience needs a translator. At the end of his speech on Thursday in Ballari, for example, Modi’s broken Kannada was enough to drive the crowd to a frenzy as he raised both his hands and punched into the air and received a thunderous applause in return. A mass leader with such command and control over the crowd can frequently change the terms of the debate in a way that the Opposition is compelled to abandon its own narrative and respond to the one set by the leader. That paves the way for one narrative to dominate and eclipse the other. For instance, in their eagerness to target Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah appear to be letting BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa off the hook. The more Congress directs its barbs, taunts and questions towards the prime minister, the deeper it is being drawn into playing the game that Modi wants. Modi’s speeches also showed two under-rated traits of his communicative strategy. He changes the content of his speech in accord with the venue, which implies some degree of preparation. In Udupi on Tuesday, he praised JD(S) leader and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and slammed Rahul Gandhi for “insulting” one of the “tallest leaders of the country,” setting a frenzy of speculation and forcing the Congress president to respond to the debate. Rahul Gandhi has demanded that Deve Gowda must clarify which side he is on. On Thursday, Modi did not refer to the issue even once and opened several new flanks against the Congress by painting it as an anti-Dalit, anti-tribal, dynastic party of time-servers who have a history of insulting the armed forces who selflessly serve the nation. In Kalaburagi, he accused Rahul Gandhi of “deceiving Dalits” by refusing to make senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge the chief minister despite canvassing for votes in his name. “During the last election, the Congress promised they will make Kharge ji the chief minister. They misled the Dalit community. They sidelined Kharge ji. This is typically how the Congress does its politics. When the BJP is elected, the lotus blooms and people prosper, but when the Congress wins, only a few families shine… By the way, does anybody know about the assets of Kharge ji’s family?,” he said. In Ballari, he repeated the charge that the Congress is insensitive towards the OBC and tribal community, and claimed that the party was busy playing vote-bank politics and dividing the electorate on caste and communal lines. “We wanted OBC commission to get constitutional status, but the Congress did not let it happen. They are insensitive towards the tribal communities and the OBCs… Congress divides people on the lines of Dalits, Muslims. See the way they treated S Nijalingappa ji. When we got the opportunity, we elected a Muslim — the late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam as the President, we also elected a Dalit — Ram Nath Kovind as the President.” Modi also touted Venkaiah Naidu’s election as the vice-president as proof that BJP is not a “north Indian party” – a narrative that Siddaramaiah has pushed – and pointed out that the country’s first full-time woman defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman is from the southern part of the country: Tamil Nadu.

In Kalaburagi, he talked about mining. In Ballari, he talked about de-silting of Tungabhadra river, dams and textiles. In Ramnagara, he attacked the Congress over the ‘steel flyover’ and termed it ‘steal flyover’ and congratulated Ashwinin Ponappa for her gold at the Commonwealth Games. Modi’s craftsmanship was evident in the way he sought to turn the table on Congress by his own version of Kannada pride – a tactic that Siddaramaiah has sought to use against BJP by flagging imposition of Hindi and campaigning for the state’s “own flag”. Modi’s answer was to reach into the past and portray Congress as a party that has insulted and mistreated Karnataka’s own sons. He raked up the controversy around the resignation of General KS Thimayya. Modi, however, seemed to have mixed up the dates.

Karnataka is synonymous with valour. But, how did the Congress Govts treat Field Marshall Cariappa and General Thimayya? History is proof of that. In 1948 after defeating Pakistan, General Thimayya was insulted by PM Nehru and Defence Minister Krishna Menon: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/OGOUaQDvEe

— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2018

In his book on the Sino-Indian war (1962, The War That Wasn’t) Shiv Kumar Verma writes how then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, defence minister VK Krishna Menon “conspired to discredit General Thimayya, setting in motion a chain of events that contributed to India’s rout in the Himalayas.” Modi tied it up with Congress’s scepticism over surgical strikes and charged it with dishonouring the armed forces and disrespecting their valour by badmouthing the army.

After surgical strikes, one of Congress's senior leaders called our current Army Chief a 'Gunda': PM Narendra Modi in Kalaburagi #KarnatakaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/8bHkLrI8xI

— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2018

More from Politics

Is Shashi Tharoor’s breakup with Congress inevitable? ‘Naxalism will end in India by March 2026’: Amit Shah at CRPF Raising Day parade

Modi seemed to be referring to Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit’s statement who had called Army chief General Bipin Rawat a street goon ( sadak ka gunda ). In Ballari, there was no Janardana Reddy on stage, a pointer to the fact that BJP was on the defensive here on corruption charges. Modi turned the defensive position into an offence by exhorting Ballari residents to rise against a campaign to brand them as “thieves” and “stealers” and urged them to “teach Congress a lesson” for this impertinence. It is evident why BJP wants to turn Karnataka into another Modi vs Congress contest. By all accounts, Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah are obliging.