India’s corona virus crisis breaks Modi’s image | International

Political figure of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, Experiences unprecedented degradation. General Story, famous for his ability to control Modi and his Hindu National Party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)Thousands of people in India are suddenly facing a barrage of criticism after dying from a lack of oxygen and hospital beds due to a severe second wave of the epidemic. The combination of overconfidence of the authorities and the new, more serious variant of the corona virus, which causes 400,000 infections and 4,000 deaths daily, has led to the loss of control in the country of Govt-19. The weak situation has unleashed a wave of criticism that Modi does not like.

The foreign ministry last week convened an emergency meeting with representatives of Indian embassies around the world and instructed its diplomats to “present an appropriate picture” of the government’s efforts to combat the epidemic. The move was in response to the lack of preparation for the second wave of the epidemic and the annoyance caused by a series of reports in the international press against Modi for allowing mass events such as the Holi festival, which marks the beginning of spring. He campaigned in local elections in four states at a time when the health system was collapsing.

The ministry sent official denials to several foreign publications. Although the news did not specifically mention the disability allegations, the language was very harsh. In the case of the newspaper Australian, The ministry accused India of wanting to tarnish its reputation and called the published information “biased and malicious”.

Open ends

The BJP and Modi are used to criticism. Even before the epidemic began, the government opened up many fronts, including hundreds of thousands of students, trade unionists, farmers, minorities and human rights groups. Permanent opposition to their policies.

Attendance at the demonstrations has been on the rise since the first student protests in 2016. The peak occurred in 2019 The parallel struggles of the peasantry – Against the proposed privatization of the agricultural sector – and against the plan to provide, against Muslims and human rights groups Indian nationality is for non-Muslim refugees only.

The feeling so far was that all this turmoil was taking place within a liberal bubble and that the struggles did not threaten Modi’s power. His meteorite rise over the past decade has been characterized by his ability to attract people, but also by his ability to win the support of the media and the judiciary, which are now giving him a lot of headaches. .

Several high courts across the country have condemned state governments for failing to deliver on their promises to provide vaccines, drugs, equipment and oxygen. The Delhi High Court has ordered the government to provide 700 tonnes of oxygen to Kovid patients in the metropolitan area, in defiance of the tradition that the judiciary should abstain from executive board activities. When he disobeyed, the court went one step further and began a contempt proceedings against him.

Epidemic election

The Chennai High Court also criticized the government’s decision to hold elections in four states amid the epidemic. The judges held the Election Commission directly responsible for the government’s blind obedience and failure to impose Govt ethics during the campaign. The commission and its dependent federal executive, he said, “should be prosecuted for murder.”

The observations of the Madras Judiciary attracted the attention of the national and international media. The government, outraged by what it considered to be contempt, asked the Supreme Court to remove those comments. He also sought to prevent the media from covering the legal controversy.

The Supreme Court rejected the request, limiting itself to slightly reprimanding the lower court, arguing that “the formula chosen may be too harsh”. “Today we cannot pretend that the media does not cover the debates in the courts,” the judges said.

Criticism and control

As for the media, until recently, news critical of the government was found only in small and independent media, usually digital. Shiv Kumar, director of Pratidwani, a Kannada language news website based in Bangalore, South India, says: Against Modi. Even the most right-wing publications that have so far acted as government spokespersons have turned against him.

Fighting on other controversial social websites. For the second week in a row, tags for Modi’s resignation have become a trend again in India as people on sites like Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp are releasing desperate calls for oxygen and hospital beds.

The Modi government has made an official request to block the content of some accounts critical of its administration, “because some users are improperly using social media sites to spread false or misleading information,” it said in a statement. Technical information. Last week, when the Facebook tag was temporarily blocked # Redesign Modi (Modi’s resignation), the government was accused of trying to suppress freedom of expression, which was a huge reaction that forced it to re-establish itself.

Election defeat

As if the ruling party had little problem, many states performed poorly in the recent elections. The only victory it achieved was the victory of the state of Assam, but it failed in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

This is a continuation of the last three years, after which the BJP lost power in several states Modi was the star of the campaigns. In 2017, at the height of its power, the party ruled in 19 of the 29 Indian states. Today he rules only 11.

Uncertain future

According to the US data firm Morning Consult, the Prime Minister’s approval rating fell from 74% in March to 65% in May. The agency, which examines the reputation of the Indian leader since 2019, says the percentage of those who do not accept his job has increased from 20% to 29% during that period.

However, experts disagree on what the current crisis is for the future of the BJP and Modi.

Suraj Yengde, a doctoral researcher at Harvard’s Kennedy School, has expressed outrage against the Prime Minister and his right-hand man Amit Shah. Yekde, author of the book Caste mattersAn international bestseller explaining the fundamental importance of castes in Indian life says: “Previously, the victims of their right-wing policies were marginalized groups in society, namely Muslims and non-Muslims. Dalits [la casta de los intocables]. But the mistakes made in the Govind administration have affected all Indians.

Yende says the situation marks a turning point in the prime minister’s life: “As Shaw and Modi completely transformed the cadre organization into a religious personality, his biggest problem will be raised by divergent voices within his own party.” The analyst has the impression that the opposition does not yet have a credible face as an alternative to Modi’s request. “His rivals within the party are greater than ever and they will be the architects of the fall of the Prime Minister.

Although she shares Yengde’s view of changing people’s feelings, Deepa Guru, an economist and professor at Oxford, is very careful in her predictions. “I don’t believe the only aspect that this government has failed is epidemic,” he says. “The Indian economy was in a recession before it erupted. New taxes, monetary devaluation, agricultural laws … people opposed the move and millions of people protested.

Gurup points out that many analysts believed that Modi was not going Get a second position in 2019 For their financial failures. Moreover, Modi faced disagreement within his own party and saw a significant increase in corporate money to finance the opposition.

“But before the election, there were Pulwama eruptions and clashes with Pakistan, which created waves of national sentiment in favor of the BJP.” It says Hindutva (Political Hinduism) and nationalism are the foundations of party power and government influence. “Today, in India, if that feeling is unleashed, everything else will be forgotten.”

Senior journalist and director of the portal News minute, Tanya Rajendran says state and national elections are completely different. In the national elections, there does not seem to be anyone capable of challenging Modi. In state elections, people vote for local issues, but in national elections, Modi is the most popular leader because the opposition is divided and the distribution of power is yet to be resolved.

Translation of Maria Louisa Rodriguez Topia.