Election results invite questions for liberals. Worldwide, they lack their rivals’ discipline | The Indian Express

Election results invite questions for liberals. Worldwide, they lack their rivals’ discipline | The Indian Express

Written by Christophe Jaffrelot |Updated: May 24, 2019 8:33:46 am

Christophe Jaffrelot is senior research fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Paris, professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at King's India Institute, London, and non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  He offers valuable insights on South Asian politics, particularly the methods and motivations of the Hindu right in India.

Election results invite questions for liberals. Worldwide, they lack their rivals’ discipline

Liberals are facing similar problems elsewhere: they lack the discipline of their rivals and before they realise that they should close ranks, the populists have changed the rules of the game for good – or for the span of time during which the strongman is in command.

Some Indian citizens have also voted for Modi by default, because they did not consider that the opposition offered a viable alternative.

The 2019 general elections have been won by Narendra Modi – like the previous ones, but in a different context. In 2014, the Modi wave relied primarily, it seemed, on the promise of development. Five years later, Modi did not even mention vikas in his election campaign, simply because his government has failed on that front – as evident from the rise of joblessness. So, for what reasons could he attract such a massive support?