An election of trust: In Narendra Modi and Naveen Patnaik, India finally has leaders who can be trusted

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not make any significant new promises — what he did do was remind Indians of his commitment to the nation and asked them to trust that he would always act according to what he thought was best for our nation

narendra modi, Naveen Patnaik, lok sabha elections 2019, lok sabha elections results, abhishek lodha, lodha developers, narendra modi election win, modi lok sabha election win — Due to the non-trusting mindset, our laws and regulations have become so complex, difficult to follow and ever-changing, that virtually every Indian has become a rule-breaker. And this rule-breaking makes us distrustful of each other and of government. (Illustration by C R Sasikumar)

The 2019 election results have been sought to be explained by experts in many ways — TINA, hope, fear etc. My analysis is that if 2014 was the election of hope (“Acche Din Aayenge”), 2019 was the election of trust (“Main bhi Chowkidar”). The prime minister did not make any significant new promises — what he did do was remind Indians of his commitment to the nation and asked them to trust that he would always act according to what he thought was best for our nation. In a different manner, the same story of a good man doing his best for the people was successful in Odisha where Naveen Patnaik was elected for a fifth consecutive term with a two-third majority.