As we get closer to the all-important 2019 General Elections, we can see many BJP supporters in Social Media consciously trying to keep aside their pet peeves, rally together and work towards a singular goal – that of ensuring the course-correction process that commenced in May 2014 not only continues but becomes irreversible. This noble goal notwithstanding, we see a constant tug of war between two groups that were on the same side in May 2014 – one group which after 4 years of NDA Government at the center is satisfied enough to positively vote them back, the other group who are bracketed as “Core right” which views these 4 years as not much different from the past especially when it comes to cultural/civilizational issues, and therefore are either reluctant voters due to TINA or worse, advocate NOTA. This tug of war has reached bitter levels, with constant badgering and taunting between sensible people on both sides, and I may confess that I have been part of some of these tussles as well.

In this post I attempt at reconciling the positions of these two groups. In fact I often find myself agreeing with both these groups and it becomes necessary to get clarity on where I stand, and not let my energy dissipate in needless fist-fights.

To begin with, one has to accept that the Central Government in the last 4 years has done precious little in addressing the prevalent sectarian regime despite Narendra Modi’s pitched campaign in the run up to 2014 advocating “no appeasement” policy. Be it RTE, government control of temples, inequitable scholarship programs, institutionalization of bigotry in the form statutory bodies like NCMEI or Marxist History in school curriculum – very little to no movement has happened on any of these. What’s worse is that new ‘non secular’ schemes have been launched by BJP Government like Hunar Haath, Padho Pardes, Shaadi Shagun etc. It’s hard not to doubt whether their actions are bonafide. It’s at this rather depressing note where it becomes important to remind oneself about the stark reality of India, comprehend the nature, magnitude, the spread and the depth of mess that the country was in and then look at the rise of Narendra Modi against this backdrop.

Only 37% of rural India had household toilets in 2014, it stood at 74% in Dec 2017 – a 100% jump, but it also shows that still 24% of rural India are without toilets. In the fast-paced news cycle we often fail to acknowledge the gravity of these depressing metrics. WHO declared Sri Lanka malaria free in 2016, while Indian Government sets target to make India malaria free by 2030 – that’s how far behind we are. Jaldoot train had to make 111 trips carrying water to Latur to bring the water crisis under control which had precipitated due to consecutive years of drought.

In an island barely 10 kilometers away from the richest city of India did not even have a dedicated power supply line for 70 years since Independence, that the island attracts tourist from around the world tells you of the criminal apathy that has become quintessential to most Indian Institutions of governance. Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) has claimed over 10000 deaths in a single hospital in Gorakhpur, UP since 1978. What’s more distressing is that this hospital remains the only hospital in that region that treats critical cases of AES/JE. Under Yogi Government there has been a significant drop in the number of deaths due to encephalitis in 2017 compared to 2016, but its representative of the challenges that a majority of Indians face even today.

It’s against this backdrop that Narendra Modi & BJP Government’s achievements or lack of it must be judged. Yes, the cultural issues are no less important, and it’s not an either-or argument either, but it’s vulgar to dismiss a Government that has in the past 4 years earnestly addressed these issues of extreme depravity that faces majority of the populace in India.

What about Hindutva then? I was in Coimbatore in the month of June, 2014 just couple of weeks after the watershed Lok Sabha election results. There I met a Swaminiji under whose mentorship I had done some voluntary work in the past. Naturally I broached the topic of Modi and his historic mandate, and I got a very interesting and moving response. She spoke about how comforting and relieving it was for her to see an Indian Prime Minister wear his faith on his sleeve and perform Ganga Aarti with utmost shraddha. I could sense that those words came from a deep sense of anguish born out of the deeply entrenched secular narrative in India which had gone to such perverse levels so as to make one feel ashamed of being Hindu or to be seen as a practicing Hindu in public life. Yes, one can say that it’s just tokenism, or meaningless in the face of a thriving anti-hindu regime, but I can’t ignore the catharsis of that Sadhvi.

Modi’s tenure must be viewed as a window of opportunity for core minded people to join the power structures and rise. It’s a tenure where a saffron-clad Yogi can rise through the ranks and lead the most populous state of the country. It’s a tenure where an Indian State assembly - Tripura stood up for National Anthem for the first time under BJP as the ruling party. A long way ahead for Bharat, 2019 will not be just a vote for Modi because of a TINA factor, but it might be a positive vote for him.