What Modi can learn from Sunak

RISHI Sunak and his Conservative Party badly lost the parliamentary elections in the UK last week. He was gracious in defeat. “I can hear your anger. I take responsibility for the loss to the many good, hardworking candidates,” he said. He resigned as the Prime Minister immediately after the expected verdict was announced. The next day, he resigned as the leader of the Conservative Party, leaving the field open to ambitious politicians to vie for the top job in the party.

Considering that only 36.56 per cent of the voters supported the BJP this time, he should listen to the voices of those who voted against his party.

Sunak’s stature in my eyes, at least, and I am sure in the eyes of Indians who think and feel, went up by several notches. I compared his reaction to the defeat to that of our own popular Prime Minister when the BJP lost 60 seats in the Lok Sabha compared to its 2019 tally of 303.

Narendra Modi had set his sights on winning 400 seats this time. He had launched several infrastructure projects, traversed the length and breadth of the country in his peripatetic fervour, and inaugurated the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya all by himself. All his efforts were in vain. His party lost ground in Uttar Pradesh and, wonder of wonders, the BJP lost the Ayodhya seat to Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party.

But our Prime Minister is made of sterner stuff than our former colonial master’s ex-PM. Modi did not mention ‘defeat’ even once. He claimed victory for the NDA. His pre-poll tieup with Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and the mercurial Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) took the BJP-led alliance past the halfway mark.

Modi began his cherished third term without batting an eyelid. For him, it was business as usual. He showed no discomfiture at the BJP’s below-par show in the Lok Sabha elections and did not think it necessary to offer any explanation to his party members for what can only be described as his personal failure as the BJP fought the elections in his name.

Sunak is of Indian origin. His family has its roots in Punjab. His wife, Akshata Murthy, is the daughter of Narayan Murthy, the founder of Infosys. Her roots are in Karnataka. They hail from the same stock as Modi and millions of Indians. Yet, Sunak’s reaction to a setback in his career was diametrically opposite to that of Modi.

Sunak is a practising Hindu. It is obvious that he follows the essence of his religion. He was humble and penitent. He accepted responsibility for the defeat. The RSS should comment on this aspect of his personality and behaviour like it commented on Modi’s without naming him. After all, the core teachings of the great religions in the world are similar. They all teach humility and reject arrogance. They disapprove of lies. They preach compassion and service without expectation of reward.

Then, why do our desi politicians differ from our brethren who have migrated to other countries and achieved unbelievable recognition? Sunak became the Prime Minister of the country that ruled over us for two centuries or more. Kamala Harris, whose mother’s family migrated to the US from Tamil Nadu, is the Vice-President of the world’s most powerful country.

Besides Indians seeking a better quality of life in the West, there are Indian-origin citizens of smaller countries in the world. Their ancestors had been recruited as indentured labour to work in the cotton and sugarcane fields in British-ruled colonies in the West Indies, Mauritius and Fiji. Starting with Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam, the Prime Ministers of Mauritius have been of Indian origin.

Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, whose origins are in a Dubey family from a village in Uttar Pradesh, is acknowledged as one of the greatest writers in the English language. His family was transshipped to the West Indies two or more centuries ago. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his writings, including A House for Mr Biswas, An Area of Darkness and India: A Wounded Civilisation. Indians are proud of his achievements like they are of many other PIOs (persons of Indian origin) whom our PM serenades whenever he travels to their adopted countries.

Here in India, Modi is securely installed in power till 2029. Should he rule in the same manner as he did from 2014 to 2024? Considering that only 36.56 per cent of the voters supported his party this time, he should listen to the voices of the 63.44 per cent who voted against him. Should he not change course imperceptibly to begin with but with greater momentum in the third year onwards or even from the second year if his alliance loses Maharashtra, as seems likely at present?

To begin with, he should discard Islamophobia, which is breeding disunity in the country, a sure recipe for disaster, especially if China bares its dragon teeth more often than it does at present. Of course, the US is now on our side, but even then a fifth column within the country may prove fatal.

He should curb the enthusiasm of Central investigating agencies like the ED and the CBI to pursue only Opposition politicians and critics of his regime. The influx of Opposition legislators into the BJP will then become a trickle instead of a stream but it will recast his stature in men’s eyes in more positive terms. Presently, it has become a source of talk and banter. The preponderance of questionable politicians in his party with skeletons in their cupboards is alarming. Unless it is corrected quickly, Modi’s image will suffer, first nationally and then internationally.

Thirdly, even if the laws he introduces are good and beneficial to the people at large, he should not announce them dramatically for effect but should share his thoughts with the stakeholders in a graded manner and prepare for the after-effects. He should ruminate at the blow he suffered with the farm laws, which many said were good but not properly explained to the farmers’ unions.

If Modi wants to be remembered by posterity, he should at least listen to the voice of the RSS Sarsanghchalak, even if he deigns to discard the voices of ordinary Indians who did not vote for him.