The thin veil that separates a strong decisive leader from an authoritarian strongman is fraying at the edges.

That lone heckler from among Uttar Pradesh’s feisty MPs hasn’t triggered any muscle knot in his foot soldiers who are out to battle. No effort is spared to mark ‘The Sarkar’s’ first anniversary in office. BJP spokespersons nationally, after instructions from the Delhi brass, fan out to every corner and studio. Mantris will schlep it to their constituencies to repeat the same. Government goes into an overdrive to project achievements and everyone will vie with the other to overstate exaggerated targets. But beneath that hype what’s the lingering image of ‘The Man’?

The holographic images (which cost Rs. 60 crore) portended it domestically at election time, but today he’s global. From Myanmar to Mughal Gardens he schmoozes global leaders, and from Madison Garden to Shanghai he’s the darling of Modi-chanting Global Indians, who are expected to be the shining ambassadors of the less-lucky ones back home. Our Man is now actually everywhere.

This is a man whose image remains that of an unchallenged champion. He may slip or be on the back foot but is he ever going to admit it? Never! The Modi image does not include retreat or apology or even fleeting self-doubt.

Master of the Image game



The current avatar we have of Leader Maximus is that of a noticeably fairer visage, with carefully coiffured hair and never a stitch out of place (yes, yes, I’m coming to that too). Professionally accoutered, he choreographs appropriate hand gestures and an arsenal of clever acronyms and alliterations (that the fecund Mr. S crafts) peppers his speeches. You are watching a Master of the Image game.

He strode through his first year with amazing smoothness. A pace that goes well beyond what a brute majority commands. It’s his running style. He displayed it recently in the sudden springing of the Rafale deal during a slope through France. He cut a swathe through red tape and struck a perfect Gujju bargain. This is classic Modi. He reiterated it in China with an e-visa announcement that hurdled smoothly over what his spooks had set up before.

There have, of course, been a few flubs. There are hints now of a subterranean shift in public perception of The Man.

A recent online poll shows Mr. Modi enjoying approval ratings of 74 per cent, comforting for any leader, even if it is lower than the 82 per cent he had 10 months ago before his Kejriwal trashing and the monogrammed suit bashing, and of course the unchecked braying of fundamentalists.

But he is still triumphantly at the top of the political heap. He may be hobbled by the Land Bill progress, but at least the jumla (pet phrase) about black money not having come home is firmly buried with his personally designed draconian money laundering bill. Rahul Gandhi depradations he shrugs away and for him the Opposition are pygmies.

The swift sprinter we saw on the election trail has now comfortably settled into the pace of a long distance runner. He handcrafts image personally through Mann Ki Baat radio talks and a multilingual but constant Twitter stream. Two dinners with scribes, at Mantri Arun Jaitley’s home, added a direct-to-home media strategy. His campaigns and branding are vibrant; be it ‘Swacch Bharat’ or ‘Make In India’ or ‘Jan Dhan’. The message stays steadily on ‘The Man’. Not even a hint that he’s part of any relay team.

But is everything really hunky dory? The Man’s sprinter-like persona and his effortless jumping hurdles in 18 countries in 12 months notwithstanding, people back home have questions about the arrival of the acche din. Mantris and their madaris are balking at his massive centralisation of power in the all-powerful Prime Minister’s Office. And the thin veil that separates a strong decisive leader from an unabashedly authoritarian strong man is now fraying at the edges.

The big inflexion point coming up is the Bihar elections. If it delivers the political equivalent of a double whammy (after the Delhi debacle) it could hurt NaMo’s serial-winner image; in which case expectations are that a new NaMo may be unveiled. Will the image segue from ‘man on the track’ to ‘pugilist in the ring’? Will it be closer to the more Dabangg-like Modi that Gujarat saw in the panic after the riots? At that time, mantris vanished, police ruled and diktat replaced democracy for many.

The upswell of anxiety in the last few months may be purely episodal. But those watching the trends, social as well as economic, tend to worry now. Minorities and farmers seem restive, whether one goes by the incidents of Naxal violence or farmer protests. The recent coal and spectrum auctions mean that costs, across a wide range of industries, are poised to climb. The run of good luck on global petroleum seems too good to last, as the weekend petrol price hikes augur.

What’s worse is that nervous FIIs are sitting on edge with hot money that may flee. Domestic capital is sulking, as black money inspectors crack the whip ominously.

India has defied doomsday scenarios before and Mr. Modi will have to break into a trot if he is to ensure that his Version of India keeps growing. If he wants the laurels of a leader who either won us the Olympiad (even if it is after 2024), or a Security Council seat, or even just the moniker of next ‘Global Superpower’, he will now have to break into a quick pace as Lap 2 begins. Image exercises alone won’t hack it.

(Dilip Cherian is founder of Perfect Relations.)