This morning, Vinod Mehta, veteran journalist and founding editor of Outlook, passed away in New Delhi. In April 2014, Mehta wrote a post for Vantage in which he outlined his pre-election predictions for Narendra Modi as prime minister. In the context of the central government's current set of challenges, his prescient analysis from last year is as relevant today as it was at that time.

Every general election has a standard hype. They are described as “defining,” “epoch-making,” “make-or-break,” “deciding the destiny of the nation.” This election is no exception. Citizens are being told that what is at stake is the “idea of India”—which is apparently being challenged for the first time since the republic was created. Modi supporters insist that there is more than one idea of India, but fail to spell others out.

Is this true? Yes and no. The imminent arrival of Narendra Modi at 7, Race Course Road, will herald a new era in our democracy. He will arrive with so much excess baggage, both positive and negative, that we are unsure what this country will be like when he becomes prime minister. (Unless Narendrabhai comes under a bus between now and 16 May, he seems unstoppable. Therefore, I am not going to waste your and my time speculating on all the permutations and the combinations that could deprive him of the throne.) However, not even the most astute Modi-watcher can predict what lies ahead when the new PM takes office. In a sense, we are all in the dark.

I believe he may not behave as his critics, which include me, expect him to. We see enough posters and promotional material of Modi and Vajpayee together plastered around the country to suggest Atalji will be his role model. It is irrelevant for us to speculate whether he truly subscribes to Vajpayee’s centrist-moderate ideology or is wearing the Vajpayee mantle under compulsion. As long as he is wearing it, I am prepared to keep my passport under lock and key.

Modi may not have studied at Harvard, but—to continue from a Times of India column I had written earlier—there is a good chance he understands that India is not Gujarat, Delhi is not Gandhinagar. In the interest of keeping his new job for five years, he may realise the need to change his style and curb his Hindutva impulses.