Leaders Should Realise Good Oratory is to be Followed by Credible Delivery By Mohan Das Menon Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as a communicator par excellence in the global democratic narrative of the day. His recent public speaking forays abroad attended by thousands of people, largely Non Resident Indians (NRIs), at the Allphones Arena, Sydney, and Madison Avenue Garden, New York, have indeed been rewarding experiences both for the audiences and the speaker himself. Through his oratorical brilliance, Modi has effectively put into perspective the ruling BJP’s thrust areas and his own agenda for good governance. Hitherto, it has been rare for any other Indian leader to elicit such positive high-rise reactions on foreign ground. Modi’s extempore deliveries in the US and Australia were telecast live across the Indian space as well. These speeches, besides being rich in content, also had a markedly high comprehensibility index. The lasting impression was reinforced by the usage of simple political idiom. For example, while addressing the Indian diaspora in Sydney, Modi was convincing when he said his priority was to “work for the little guy, the common man, to do big things for small people”. The delineation of the focus on the common man in India was, thus, unambiguously clear. A similar ability to link his development agenda with the concerns of the common man was seen in Modi’s speeches during the Lok Sabha and subsequent state Assembly elections. He not only communicated directly with the electorate but had something specific and positive to offer and made them believe in his sincerity. In sharp contrast, the Congress interlocutors of various hues and hierarchical affiliations despite paying lip sympathy to the common man’s cause had nothing specific to offer. No wonder, their concentrated attack on Modi and what he said found few takers. ‘Modi abroad’ was never an issue in the elections. He was an unknown quantity in foreign capitals—as indeed are all Indian chief ministers. But Modi has showed himself to be a strong performer in foreign fields. Abroad, Modi has come across as straight-talking and muscular, in modes which India has not seen before. Despite gloomy forebodings from certain quarters, there is no evidence that secularism or the freedom of the media or separation of powers is in any danger. Modi has caught public imagination with his fiery speeches, cham-pioning of unlikely causes, honouring of forgotten icons and communication skills. He tops all of this by his clever use of surprise as a political weapon. Modi was painted as industry-friendly but reached out to the poor with the Jan Dhan Yojana, connected with the Dalits by picking up a broom for Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, engaged with students on Teachers’ Day, spent Diwali with flood-devastated Kashmiris, enamoured the diaspora during his visits to the US and Australia, and floored journalists at a Diwali get-together in Delhi. The current spell of Modi magic is resonant of 40 years ago. “Indira is India, India is Indira”, was said of Indira Gandhi in 1976. It was the turn of a young and handsome Rajiv Gandhi to infatuate public opinion 10 years hence. Both phases were short-lived. What can perhaps be added to this narrative from purely analytical perspective is that in order to contain, avert or preempt the vicissitudes ingrained within the very ‘demographics of democracy’, Modi has got to assiduously strategise at the domestic as well as foreign policy levels in a manner never done before. His first task must be to ensure that the first single party government in the last 30 years gets adequate leeway in terms of tenure and time. Towards this goal, winning state Assembly elections is key to overcoming the BJP’s lack of strength in the Upper House, whose members are elected by the state legislatures. During his address to the NDA members in both the Houses, the Prime Minister had already emphasised the imperative of the elected representatives keeping their constituents informed of what the government is doing for them. He wanted the MPs to not only ensure implementation of the government’s projects in their respective constituencies, but also give the government their feedback through constituency representations. This strategy of public representatives acting as a bridge between the government and people can help transform India’s parliamentary democracy—from a representative democracy to participatory democracy. Ideally, the practice of constituency presentations will make a member of Parliament more proactive in his/her respective work regimes. It can result in actionable sub-strategies for positive change that can be incorporated in the document itself for better planning and policy-making. The MPs, in turn, can harness the assistance of intellectuals and experts in their areas of operation, to ensure that the constituency presentation documents become an integral tool of policy formulation and implementation. It is time politicians realised that good oratory must be followed by credible delivery. Menon is a former additional secy, Cabinet Secretariat
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 08:02:54 +0000
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