Politics is about image. Make no mistake, even people who apparently do not seem to care about their image, like the BJP MP who pointed a gun at a toll plaza teller and got caught on camera, or a lalu Prasad who bumbles along before the TV camera, are very image conscious. The middle classes might find many hinterland politicians out of place in their living rooms, but the scruffy image these big boned politicians project is carefully nurtured and fully directed at their respective constituencies. Even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, with sulk and scowl permanently etched on her face, and with the metaphorical middle finger perpetually pointed at the media, knows her (forever unhappy) image hits home among the generally unhappy with life average Bengali! So let us not be fooled. Politics is about image, and our politicians are deft at building image, with or without the services of expensive PR consultants.
Former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi perfected the art of image making. The typology behind her image is not difficult to discern. You know the type from around the neighbourhood if you belong to the upper middle classes. You’ll find this sophisticated and coiffured individual who’s standoffish when it comes to those belonging to his/her own class (however with somewhat deficient merit in this or that area), but very polite when it comes to the underclass; the type who’ll say, “driverji aap kripya khaha ka le!” — “... do please be done with your meal”). Indira Gandhi managed to push this typology out into the public domain and make it work for her.
She built around her the aura of a demigod (even former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee post ’71 referred to her as ‘Durga’). She was not of the masses and yet she was all for the masses. Most people believe charisma is just there, or it is not; it can’t be built upon. Partially true, but not entirely. Remember Akhilesh Yadav just prior to and after the Uttar Pradesh election results were announced last year. He had been built up as the next big thing in the firmament of the India’s political GenX, but a year on, he’s proved himself to be quite a dud. The media build up back then was so strong that I had to tell myself I was missing something when I saw nothing in him. Such is the power of image making. Which brings us to the second half of the present piece, which focuses on (who else butIJ) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi does not evoke mild responses. That in itself is a great plus for him to build an image. His detractors will believe anything put out against him. The exact opposite happens with his supporters. While one bunch believes Muslims continue to live in deep fear in Gujarat, silenced for ever by Modi’s strong arm methods, the other swears Modi has ensured the economic uplift of Muslims in Gujarat. His followers believe it is his kamamyogi ways that have endeared him to those wishing a resurgent India. His detractors claim Modi spins his magic with the help of a 300 strong PR team (plus the fact that he has engaged the same PR outfit that the Republicans engaged in the last US elections). As is clear, the real battle lines are being drawn at the level of the image — one side trying to build it up, the other trying to sully it. This arrangement is true of most national level leaders, but nowhere is this battle as polarised as it is in the case of Modi.
A friend recently quipped, vis-à-vis the recent brouhaha over Advani versus Modi in the BJP line up. He was amused by the fact Nitish and company were rooting for Advani. Ten years back he was the iron man, the man of steel. He was the icon for Hindutva, the hardliner. By contrast, Vajpayee was the consensus man, the liberal whose charm cut across party lines. One polite remark in Pakistan about Jinnah being secular and Advani (perhaps willingly!) sacrificed all the heft he enjoyed with the Sangh. Years later (as in today), Advani is the acceptable face for ‘secular’ political formations, whereas Modi is the unbending hardliner. But then Modi himself is soft focusing his rhetoric, because he is that close to getting there. Big question: When Modi becomes fully soft, who’ll fill in for the tough copIJ