Good luck Prime Minister Modi, you now decide your place in history

Dear Mr Narendra Modi,

As you embark on the most important assignment of your life, one would like to congratulate you on your success. It’s not often that a regional leader breaks the glass ceiling in such an emphatic fashion to conquer Delhi. It’s not often that a person who is perceived to be so divisive wins such a convincing mandate. It is not often that a leader is put under such scrutiny even before starting out. You must be special. One may not like you much but one does not begrudge you your moment of glory.

The real task for you begins now. You have several advantages to begin with and many pitfalls to watch out for. Let’s discuss them and finally, your place in history will depend on how you work your way through it all. Let’s begin with the pluses you have.

Goodwill: You stormed to power riding on a wave of goodwill. You raised expectations in people, promised them that you are the one who they can repose faith in and they trusted you. Decisive mandates are not easy to come by in a divided polity. You must be the blessed one. Till the honeymoon phase lasts you will be treated with indulgence, your flaws would be overlooked and even minor achievements celebrated. This period, which in your case is expected to be longish given the state of the opposition, provides you an opportunity to consolidate your position. If you deliver even a fraction of what you promised the goodwill won’t go away in a hurry.

Freedom: You don’t have to deal with troublesome coalition partners, each demanding its pound of flesh for helping you survive in power and each insisting that their self-serving local agenda overtake the national agenda. You won’t be arm-twisted to allocating ministerial berths to people you would like to keep at arm’s length and you won’t be forced to tune your policies to suit the whims of leaders in state capitals. In short, the mandate gives you freedom. Since coalition politics kicked in, no prime minister was granted freedom of this kind by the people of the country. It’s your job to respect that.

Space: The mandate has virtually demolished the opposition for you, opposition both within the party and without. The numbers you command will keep potential trouble-makers in the Sangh Parivar on a leash; and rival parties will take long to recover from the blow they just received. It leaves you at liberty to set the agenda in all matters. With your hand-picked team at work, you decide the course the country takes. In a way, voters have chosen you to play a historic role and created space for that. It is up to you to do justice to that.

Mr Modi, please remember, the mandate gives you great power, but with great power must come great responsibility. It is easy to misread a healthy mandate and attribute it to wrong reasons. There will be the temptation to do so, but it’s a trap; once you walk into it there’s no escape. The UPA’s case should be a reminder. Here’s what you must guard against.

The dark forces: You, for some reason, hold great appeal among the dark forces, from the rabidly communal to closet jingoists to anti-libertarians to hate-mongers in general. One meets them everyday in the social media and even at the street corners. In your success, they see the vindication of their worldview. It probably will never occur to them that the India you have been talking about all these days is not an extension of their malevolent fantasy. There will be immense pressure on you from this quarter. It is possible that once you set about the task of building your dream India, this lot will turn against you. The dark forces belong to the fringes, they should remain there. You must ensure that.

India’s DNA: Pluralism and liberalism are part of India’s DNA. So is secularism. That other political parties have made a mockery of secularism does not mean that the country at large has turned against this core element of its social, cultural and historic existence. Let no one misguide you into believing that your success in the election is a vote of approval for religious majoritarianism. This, Mr Modi, is a huge challenge. Your success as prime minister and place in history will be defined by your approach to secularism.

People matter: Of course, as a politician you would know this better than anyone else. Democracy is all about people and in a country that allows universal adult franchise on one person-one vote principle they are a presence that can be ignored only at one’s own peril. Free market fundamentalists would advise you to rush into the growth process headlong and promote rapid industrialization at the cost of farmers, tribals and the environment. Your political instincts should keep alerting you that growth and distribution of wealth must go together and economics is not morally justifiable if it fails to ensure equity. People reserve the right to kick you out if you resort to excesses of any kind on the economy front.

Mr Modi, you have the opportunity to be a great leader and a statesman. You have made the right beginning by inviting SAARC leaders to your oath ceremony. Now take it ahead. Best of luck.