Narendra Modi: The Yogi of Populism

This book need not be read in the order its written. If you have even the slightest understanding of modern politics and politicians, then pick a chapter and read on. And if the stories around Modi, his mannerisms, speech, and character seem oddly familiar then look back at the elections campaigns run by Trump or Boris Johnson.Mihir has done an amazing job of laying out the facts and then steering the conversation towards what we might call the Modi playbook. I thoroughly enjoyed this and would highly recommend. Would be interested in a longer form version if that is ever in the pipeline.

A very readable insight into how Narendra Modi is governing India and how populist governments are changing the world. Having read Mihir Bose's 'bite size book', so much of what I now read in the papers about Indian politics makes sense.

By Nigel DudleyMihir Bose is an old school journalist of the type which used to be so respected by the BBC and are now gradually slipping into retirement to be replaced by a younger generation which thinks narrowly focused vacuous emoting is a substitute for proper reporting.Bose, like the best of those who commentate on international affairs, could not be narrowly focused if he tried. His pamphlet on Narendra Modi not only explains how the Indian Prime Minister thrust aside and marginalized the Congress party that had ruled India since independence, but also puts these events into an international context.Bose tracks the tactics Modi used to transform the BJP into the dominant force in Indian politics, particularly the way he harnessed and exploited anti-Muslim and anti-ruling elite populist sentiments.That would be interesting and informative enough – sadly there is too little reporting of Indian politics in the British media.But this pamphlet is taken into a different league by the sure-footed way in which Bose sets the Modi strategy in India alongside what has happened in the United States and the United Kingdom.These countries have produced leaders, Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, who like Modi have harnessed a coalition of people who are angry because they believe their views have been ignored by those in power. Modi’s campaign against the Lutyens elite has clear echoes of Trump’s contempt for the Washington beltway and Johnson consistent sneering at Westminster politics.All three have espoused politics – Johnson on the European Union, Modi on anti-Muslim sentiment and Trump on immigration – that would have been unacceptable 20 years ago but strike a chord with many voters. In doing so the British and American leaders remade their political parties and Modi created a new dominant party.And perhaps they all tapped into the popular belief that their countries were not the independent powerful forces they deserved to be. Bose notes that it “the cry of those who feel dispossessed.”Indeed Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” has its parallel in Britain leaving the EU, which could equally be “Make the United Kingdom Great Again.” And surely Bose’s analysis that “some Hindus, despite being in the majority, felt they had lost their country and needed a Prime Minister who would get their country back” could be paraphrased into “Make India Great Again.”I have one minor carp and two questions. The one point where his international perspective is not completely surefooted comes when he says that “unlike Turkey, India is a very diverse country.” A lack of diversity is not the first phrase that comes to mind when one considers a country which straddles two continents, stretches from the urban sophistication of Istanbul to the primitive farms near the Georgian border, and which has profound tensions between religious and secular society.My questions aim to encourage more analysis. I was not clear whether Modi had been driven by fundamental belief or political opportunism. Similar questions can indeed be asked about Johnson, who is said to have drafted articles for and against Brexit, and Trump, whose change of heart from being pro to anti-abortion was said to be transactional. Did these three men have beliefs that struck a chord with their voters or have they adjusted their beliefs for political convenience?Which brings me to my final question. There is an elite of global spin doctors, who study what goes on in pretty much every country. Modi was elected before Johnson and Trump. It would be fascinating to know who was the Indian Prime Minister’s spin doctor and what the spin doctors of these three leaders learnt from each other.Narendra Modi, the Yogi of Populism by Mihir Bose is published by Bite Sized Books 2021