- G20 summit seen boosting Modi’s standing ahead of elections
- Modi’s BJP planning to cash in on his enhanced image
- Rising inflation and unemployment will be countered, analysts say
- Opposition says Modi turned G20 into ‘election campaign’
The BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (September 13) at 5 p.m., sources told India Today. As per the information, the meeting aims to discuss the preparations for the upcoming assembly elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The committee members are expected to review the ongoing poll preparations, gather feedback, and formulate the party’s strategy, including the selection of candidates.
The weekend G20 summit was India’s big moment on the world stage, giving the country an opportunity to work on global issues and providing Prime Minister Narendra Modi a chance to present his credentials as a global statesman.
Although some analysts said the meeting showed few concrete results, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now cashing in on Modi’s enhanced image ahead of a series of state elections and national elections due by May 2024.
The summit declaration papered over key differences and had few breakthroughs in critical areas such as debt and climate change but for a popular leader with a long-dominant lead over his political rivals, these are diplomatic intricacies that matter little in domestic politics, analysts said.
India’s successful mission last month to land a spacecraft on the moon is another factor that feeds into the country’s feel-good image and gives Modi a fillip, they said.
The opposition Congress party has criticized Modi for turning G20 into an election campaign, charging him with promoting dialogue and peace on the international stage while his Hindu nationalist administration discriminates against religious minorities and quashes dissent, charges the government has denied.
But analysts say Modi’s political position is so strong there is little risk of the strategy backfiring. Modi enjoys high approval ratings and surveys suggest he will easily win the general election and a third term next year despite concerns about rising inflation, unemployment, and an uneven economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. Worries about violence in the northeastern state of Manipur have also affected Modi’s image. The BJP plans to highlight the “success of the summit” during fortnight-long celebrations of Modi’s birthday starting on Sunday, a party official said. “It’s really a fact that India’s image has transformed under Prime Minister Modi,” BJP vice president Baijayant Jay Panda told a news agency.
Modi, who turns 73 on Sunday, swept to power in 2014 promising stability and change from what he called the long-ruling Congress party’s corruption and poor governance. He consolidated his win with welfare economics, boosting infrastructure and unabashed Hindu nationalism, winning a second term in 2019 with a bigger majority.
Modi often underlines national pride in his speeches, which resonates with a large section of the people that has been aggrieved about India’s portrayal in Western media as a poor country, analysts said.
The opposition Congress party was not so impressed, with its chief spokesperson Jairam Ramesh saying Modi’s statements of tolerance on the global stage are “sheer hypocrisy”.
Former Congress prime minister Manmohan Singh, who Modi replaced, said: “While India’s standing in the world should rightfully be an issue in domestic politics, it is equally important to exercise restraint in using diplomacy and foreign policy for party or personal politics.”
(With inputs from agencies)
