Is Modi Machiavellian Enough?

Is Modi Machiavellian Enough?

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been repeatedly mentioned in  foreign reports as being richer than Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain. This has been routinely denied, but if it is true, and since she did not inherit this alleged wealth, the sheer quantum becomes all the more remarkable.

While hardly comparable in terms of scale, her son-in-law Robert Vadra too has shot up to the status of a dollar billionaire. And this, allegedly, in a matter of less than five years. Vadra’s rise to serious wealth was reportedly achieved via a number of controversial land deals in Congress ruled states. The further flipping of the original monies obtained, was aided by the unbridled support of DLF Limited, one of India’s biggest real estate companies.

DLF was, it is recorded, first helped into prominence in the 1950s by prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru; building several prominent residential colonies in New Delhi in the process. And much later, in the eighties, by prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who arranged for DLF to colonise and develop large tracts of Gurgaon in Haryana. So, to some extent they could have been returning the favour.

Sonia Gandhi’s son, Rahul Gandhi, vice president of the Congress party, on the verge of replacing her at the helm of the party, goes around aggressively championing the poor.

He rails indignantly against the ‘suit-boot sarkar’ of the erstwhile chai-wallah turned PM, and swears to work only for the interests of the downtrodden- poor farmers, daily wage labourers, Dalits, Muslims, tribals in the mineral rich forests, etc.

Allegations of real estate scammery, with regard to the former property of The National Herald, an erstwhile broadsheet in English, started by Jawaharlal Nehru, and later edited by Feroze Gandhi, Nehru’s son-in-law, also hover around Rahul Gandhi and his mother. There are additionally, suggestions of defence purchase kickbacks via shell companies registered abroad.

But all this ostensibly does not worry the Congress scion, who loudly dares the government to prosecute him and put him in jail if found guilty.

The sheer Machiavellism of these democratically elected but feudalistic leaders, from the most indicted party for rank corruption, is both audacious and breathtaking. It seems to exude contempt for the ordinary comprehension of the people.  

By way of contrast, a confirmed bachelor that holds all of his modestly appointed family at arm’s length, a former RSS pracharak, prime minister Modi, with no taint of corruption, is under perpetual pressure. It is he who is vilified daily for his actions, for being a blood thirsty communalist, for purportedly venal dictatorial motives. It is he, despite the BJP’s thumping majority, that is on the back foot defending himself and his flock.

And this, while the pure ‘ends justify the means’ party with 45 seats in parliament has seized the initiative and gloats about it!

This raises the key question, can ethics be combined with power if it is to remain in the saddle? Modi seems to think so, but the Gandhi family clearly can’t be bothered with it.

Machiavelli’s famous primer on realpolitik, The Prince, was published for the public only five years after his death, but is going strong five hundred years later. Machiavelli did not think being good helped very much in terms of retaining power. He suggested that people did not respond to ethics in public life, but instead to their own sense of  insatiable greed.

So, a corrupt leader that could be of benefit, was better than a do-gooding honest leader that was incapable of manipulating their greediness.

The BJP, let us remember, erred once before with its concentration on boosting the economy and raising the GDP via improved infrastructure, business, industry, exports, services etc. It was mocked, taunted and thrown out of office after a single term, for proclaiming India was ‘shining’, based on unprecedented 9% p.a. growth rates.

The opposition Congress, and its socialist/communist friends, were able to drum them out. GDP was nothing, they said, if it didn’t create largesse and jobs. Trickle down effects of wealth was a chimera, they said, even though subsequent analyses revealed that millions of people had indeed been raised above the so-called poverty line.

And so, when the UPA came to power, it broadly neglected the demands of business and industry, of defence and infrastructure, in favour of welfare, financed largely by fiscal deficits.

But combined with macro head winds, of huge oil import bills, and rampant inflation, the corruption laden administration of this largesse, collapsed.

But the irony in the woodwork is this: even oil rich countries like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela could not/cannot, sustain an excess of welfare disproportionate to income, if the economy is not to be gravely damaged for the long term. And while the rocks and shoals below the surface can be covered up when oil prices are high, they cannot any more.

The further irony is that a people used to the state’s free hand outs, don’t care to have them withdrawn for any reason whatsoever. This is universally true, not only of the impoverished, but also of the middle class and rich beneficiaries of state patronage.

Balancing budgets and strengthening of the economy is thought to be a poor substitute for being on the gravy train.

And so, even those who backed the BJP and propelled Modi into the prime minister’s chair with an absolute majority, are sorely disappointed even as the economy is picking up today. OROP and the 7^th Pay Commission will certainly help many people. In due course, ‘Make in India’ also will. But for now, where are the boosts to the residential and commercial housing sector, the largesse for business and industry, the big tax cuts, the stimulus to agriculture?

The prime minister seems to have his gaze upon the distant horizon some ten or twenty years into the future, when his foundational actions today will bear handsome fruit.  Some say, Modi is more concerned with his legacy. But can he really get very much done if he is restricted to just one term in office?

As for managing perception, the opposition seems to be doing better. Congress with its hypocritical top leadership, an outrageous Lalu Prasad in Bihar, a blatant in-your-face Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, a  quieter Nitish Kumar picking up the reigns yet again in Bihar but dreaming of Delhi. Even a fraudulent Arvind Kejriwal, already in Delhi, but lusting after Chandigarh.

Not only do none of these worthies deliver on their promises, but their supporter base doesn’t seem to care. They have, after all, been well compensated for their support. Perhaps Modi too, needs to add a little Machiavelli to his bedside reading.  

For: The Pioneer

(1,103 words)

December 7^th, 2015

Gautam Mukherjee