By Badri Narayan
Mobilisations during democratic elections in a country like India aren’t merely the result of a narrative of substantial gains. They also occur through socio-psychological bhava (gesture) such as offering hopes and aspirations, and countering despair and social inertia. As I see it, this general election is going to emerge as a contest between two narratives — one of hope and the other of discontent. The narrative of hope is facilitated by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance, and the narrative of discontent and despair is being produced by the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. Viksit Bharat, Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas and many such examples are constituents of hope narratives produced by the BJP.
The BJP started its election campaign in a consistent manner. A peculiarity of the BJP is that it does not have much to do during elections except holding rallies, campaigns and organising the public at the booth level. In fact, the BJP keeps up with actions that create impressions, narratives, image-building, and organisational preparation throughout its tenure. The party evolves its political narrative capital by framing various development policies and their implementation, deriving arguments from governance activities, etc. during the entire five years of its time in office. By election time, it merely has to reorganise, reframe, and reuse the accumulated political and symbolic capital.
Also Read E-commerce needs a bulwark Bumps on the road: New BoT terms for highway construction may throw pvt investors into risk-aversion mode The Curious Case of Copper Beyond PLI targets On the other hand, for the opposition, elections are not a continuation of their normal political course. They need to reinvent themselves for every election, as it’s not a culmination of their efforts. Throughout the five years preceding the election, it is very difficult to find their leaders being active at the grassroots and among the masses. They need to do many things to organise the party symbolically and substantially during elections. It is very difficult to accomplish this within a few months prior to election. And so, they are bound to accept second class in electoral campaigns.
It is interesting to observe that the politics of governance and development, which Narendra Modi as Prime Minister and the leader of the BJP is trying to craft for the nation, is continuously producing hope among various sections and also diluting the deep-rooted despair and depression at the grassroots. PM Modi has understood the need of the hour.
I view this era as the second phase of neoliberalism in which there has been an explosion of aspirations and mobility. It has prepared the ground that allowed the weak and vulnerable to aspire and acquire. PM Modi has created a synergy between the state, market and technology, and crafted a politics of development to fulfil the new aspirations of the common people. As we know, the first phase of neoliberalism, which began in the 90s and continued in the subsequent decade, was basically the preparatory period for a new liberal economy to forge its relation with the public. It is true that this phase elicited among the public various kinds of suspicion and distrust of the state and the market after a neoliberal turn for the economy and society.
On deeper analysis, one may find that PM Modi tried to evolve ‘hope’ as a base bhava for his process of political mobilisation in India. It may be called a ‘hope narrative’. He crafted hope as a supportive emotional constituent that may produce aspirations among people. The growing aspirations ruptured an entrenched inertia in the public, especially among the vulnerable and marginalised. However, these hopes and aspirations cultivated a sense of social, development-related and locational mobilities not only among those on the margins, but also for every layer of society. For creating hope, Modi used his discursive capabilities and communicative engagements, deploying inspiring narratives and his symbolic image. He also envisioned policies and development schemes to cultivate public capacity to aspire and acquire.
First of all, he is trying to create aspirations and feelings of ‘to be developed’, ‘to go ahead’, and ‘becoming stronger’ vis-à-vis the nation at all layers of society. This sense of hope is working not merely as a development catalyst but also as a political, mobilisational and electoral one for PM Modi-led politics. During various field visits, we observed that this hope among public is working and is an important mobilisational constituent for the BJP. The youths think that rojgar (employment) opportunities may evolve in the new market-based conditions. Many youths would say, “Agar naukri nahi mili to kuch rojgar kar lenge” (if we don’t get a job, we’ll find some employment).
Hopes of marching ahead in the context of individual, collective and national future are visible among the youths of various communities in northern India. They show deep trust in PM Modi. With this process of generating hope through politics, Modi has amassed a huge following that gets reflected in elections. This hope narrative mobilises social groups in favour of the PM’s appeal beyond castes and primordial identities.
On the other hand, the opposition’s political narrative of despair, which has not yet emerged fully, is based on triggering and mobilising spaces of discontent scattered in the public imagination. Through this narrative of despair and describing disillusionments, the opposition is trying to project their politics as one of hope. The element of hope in the despair narrative is thin. The opposition parties devote much of their narrative on anyaya (injustices) to project their nyaya (justice).
The feeling of disappointment in the political narrative may encourage people in terms of immediate and momentary mobilisation, but it may not always transform into votes. Hope may be a more powerful mobilisational element in reorienting and activating the public for a certain political result than a narrative emphasis on despair and anyaya. In the speeches of Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and many other opposition leaders, we identify tactics to generate despondency for political mobilisation.
In this election, in the contest of narratives—of hope represented by Modi, and the opposition’s attempt to trigger disappointment and despair against the BJP — we must wait and watch who will win and who will be vanquished.
Badri Narayan, Director, G B Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad. Views are personal
By Badri Narayan
Mobilisations during democratic elections in a country like India aren’t merely the result of a narrative of substantial gains. They also occur through socio-psychological bhava (gesture) such as offering hopes and aspirations, and countering despair and social inertia. As I see it, this general election is going to emerge as a contest between two narratives — one of hope and the other of discontent. The narrative of hope is facilitated by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance, and the narrative of discontent and despair is being produced by the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. Viksit Bharat, Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas and many such examples are constituents of hope narratives produced by the BJP.
The BJP started its election campaign in a consistent manner. A peculiarity of the BJP is that it does not have much to do during elections except holding rallies, campaigns and organising the public at the booth level. In fact, the BJP keeps up with actions that create impressions, narratives, image-building, and organisational preparation throughout its tenure. The party evolves its political narrative capital by framing various development policies and their implementation, deriving arguments from governance activities, etc. during the entire five years of its time in office. By election time, it merely has to reorganise, reframe, and reuse the accumulated political and symbolic capital.
On the other hand, for the opposition, elections are not a continuation of their normal political course. They need to reinvent themselves for every election, as it’s not a culmination of their efforts. Throughout the five years preceding the election, it is very difficult to find their leaders being active at the grassroots and among the masses. They need to do many things to organise the party symbolically and substantially during elections. It is very difficult to accomplish this within a few months prior to election. And so, they are bound to accept second class in electoral campaigns.
It is interesting to observe that the politics of governance and development, which Narendra Modi as Prime Minister and the leader of the BJP is trying to craft for the nation, is continuously producing hope among various sections and also diluting the deep-rooted despair and depression at the grassroots. PM Modi has understood the need of the hour.
I view this era as the second phase of neoliberalism in which there has been an explosion of aspirations and mobility. It has prepared the ground that allowed the weak and vulnerable to aspire and acquire. PM Modi has created a synergy between the state, market and technology, and crafted a politics of development to fulfil the new aspirations of the common people. As we know, the first phase of neoliberalism, which began in the 90s and continued in the subsequent decade, was basically the preparatory period for a new liberal economy to forge its relation with the public. It is true that this phase elicited among the public various kinds of suspicion and distrust of the state and the market after a neoliberal turn for the economy and society.
On deeper analysis, one may find that PM Modi tried to evolve ‘hope’ as a base bhava for his process of political mobilisation in India. It may be called a ‘hope narrative’. He crafted hope as a supportive emotional constituent that may produce aspirations among people. The growing aspirations ruptured an entrenched inertia in the public, especially among the vulnerable and marginalised. However, these hopes and aspirations cultivated a sense of social, development-related and locational mobilities not only among those on the margins, but also for every layer of society. For creating hope, Modi used his discursive capabilities and communicative engagements, deploying inspiring narratives and his symbolic image. He also envisioned policies and development schemes to cultivate public capacity to aspire and acquire.
First of all, he is trying to create aspirations and feelings of ‘to be developed’, ‘to go ahead’, and ‘becoming stronger’ vis-à-vis the nation at all layers of society. This sense of hope is working not merely as a development catalyst but also as a political, mobilisational and electoral one for PM Modi-led politics. During various field visits, we observed that this hope among public is working and is an important mobilisational constituent for the BJP. The youths think that rojgar (employment) opportunities may evolve in the new market-based conditions. Many youths would say, “Agar naukri nahi mili to kuch rojgar kar lenge” (if we don’t get a job, we’ll find some employment).
Hopes of marching ahead in the context of individual, collective and national future are visible among the youths of various communities in northern India. They show deep trust in PM Modi. With this process of generating hope through politics, Modi has amassed a huge following that gets reflected in elections. This hope narrative mobilises social groups in favour of the PM’s appeal beyond castes and primordial identities.
On the other hand, the opposition’s political narrative of despair, which has not yet emerged fully, is based on triggering and mobilising spaces of discontent scattered in the public imagination. Through this narrative of despair and describing disillusionments, the opposition is trying to project their politics as one of hope. The element of hope in the despair narrative is thin. The opposition parties devote much of their narrative on anyaya (injustices) to project their nyaya (justice).
The feeling of disappointment in the political narrative may encourage people in terms of immediate and momentary mobilisation, but it may not always transform into votes. Hope may be a more powerful mobilisational element in reorienting and activating the public for a certain political result than a narrative emphasis on despair and anyaya. In the speeches of Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and many other opposition leaders, we identify tactics to generate despondency for political mobilisation.
In this election, in the contest of narratives—of hope represented by Modi, and the opposition’s attempt to trigger disappointment and despair against the BJP — we must wait and watch who will win and who will be vanquished.
Badri Narayan, Director, G B Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad. Views are personal
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