Unlike Rahul Gandhi, Modi's speeches have nothing new to offer

Addicts of Narendra Modi speeches impatiently scan TV channels every time he speaks at a rally. Since live feed in the 5-speeches-a-day season is impossible, they miss out on a large portion of the daily dose. But Modibhakts should despair no more. They are not missing much. Modi’s speeches in Rajasthan—and also in the other states— show that except the geography, topography and demography, not much changes when he speaks these days. Unlike Rahul Gandhi, who is still experimenting with style and substance in his struggle to get it right, Modi has settled down in a predictable pattern. His words follow a script, his pauses a rhythm, his questions cues and his hands a choreographed sequence. Depending on the itinerary, Modi speaks for 30-50 minutes. He mixes humility with aggression, servility with ambition, history with politics and questions with answers. His template both amuses and motivates the listener, but it also gives a sense of having been there, heard that before. [caption id=“attachment_1245603” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi in this file photo. PTI[/caption] Modi begins by establishing size matters. Whatever be the number of people in the audience—2 lakh or 20,000—Modi greets everybody at the venue and the large number of those ‘outside, on the road, or even miles away.’ Next is the mandatory vote of thanks to the crowd, delivered mainly in Hindi but sometimes the local dialect is used for best effect. “You are sitting under the sun to listen to me. I do not know how to thank you,” he says. Then comes the masterly mix of his overt desire to serve and the covert desire to rule. “I do not know how I can serve you for all this love and affection. I want to serve you for your tapasya (deep meditation) like nobody has in the last 60 years,” Modi says at Banswara on Sunday noon. The audience comprises tribals but it is intelligent enough to get the hint. “PM, PM,” they shout in response to his query on the best way to serve them. History, geography and their link to the BJP legacy follow. Nalanda, Taxila, Chanakya, Chandragupta in Bihar, Rana Punja and Sanga in Udaipur, his mix is nearly perfect, well, almost. Sometimes, it gets embarrassing. A few days ago, Modi started singing paeans to Raja Surajmal of Bharatpur at a rally in the area. A hurriedly sent note reminding him that the Congress candidate is a direct descendent of the departed subject of his adulation made Modi abandon the thought midway. But the template hasn’t changed. At Banswara he talks about the local hero Mama Baleshwar Dayal, an activist revered by the tribals. He cleverly points out how Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had convinced the social worker to become part of the Rajya Sabha. By this time the crowd has settled down and warmed up. It has cleared its throats with repeated chants of ‘Modi- Modi.’ It is time for the Modi Q&A. Modi rattles off a series of queries on inflation, prices, broken promises and the UPA’s performance. They all end in his extracting a promise from the crowd: “Will you punish them for all their failures, betrayal? Will you break your bond with these people?” he asks till the replies convince him that he has won over some new converts. Questions asked, it is time for some replies to charges and questions hurled by his rivals the previous day. Headlines like ‘chaiwalla can’t become CM’ and ‘Saheb snooped on a girl’ are all addressed during this phase of speechmaking. This session reveals if Modi has taken the previous day’s barb in humour or seriously. The frivolous begets humour; the serious elicits a point-by point retort and the grave evokes either an angry ‘they are conspiring’ response or just silence. A day before his Banswara rally, Sonia Gandhi accused the BJP of ‘spreading venom’ in Rajasthan; she called the BJP leaders ‘venomous people.’ For Modi, this falls in the serious category. So he has a counterpoint. “Madam, the Shahzada called power venom,” he says referring to Rahul’s famous speech. “Since your party has been in power for so many years, nobody can equal your party’s capacity to digest poison,” he argues. “Who is venomous then?” he asks. The speech then turns into a tirade against the dynasty, a vehement plea for getting rid of the Congress and, if required, an indictment of the local government before winding down to his trademark chants of Vande Mataram. Impact? High. Entertainment? High. But only for those listening to Modi for the first time or maybe the second. For the diehard fan suffering from separation anxiety and withdrawal symptoms because TV channels can’t show Modi live, any recent recording would be just fine.