It seems that the BJP’s formula of focusing on national security and identity politics, along with channeling Modi’s clear charisma and oratory powers, overshadowed any competing vision. And in that sense, perhaps the change isn’t just at the top; Indians themselves may have changed. A new generation of younger Indians yearn for a more positive self-definition and image. In the flashy, pro-Hindu, globetrotting Modi, they see a bit of themselves too.
In some ways Mr. Modi has proved more statist than the Gandhis. Before he took power he criticised Congress welfare programs as insulting to the poor, who “do not want things for free” and really want “to work and earn a living.” As prime minister, Mr. Modi doubled down on the same programs, expanding the landmark 2006 act that guaranteed 100 days of pay to all rural workers, whether they worked or not.
Indian liberals fear that a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi might prompt a decisive turn against the country’s secular traditions, much as the American left fears that Donald Trump’s return would irreparably harm U.S. democratic institutions. This Modi-as-strongman thesis places India squarely within a global autocratic resurgence, featuring a familiar tableau of leaders from Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines.
Whichever side emerges victorious in May, the consensus in India is that the Nehruvian construct of secularism is dead—killed by its one-time supporters as much as by its dogged opponents. What will replace it is unclear. In the battle for India’s soul, only one side has shown up ready to fight.
The waiting, wondering, and vacillating are over: Joe Biden is getting into the presidential race, and he has every intention of fighting like hell to kick Donald Trump off the White House grounds. In a three-minute video announcing his candidacy, the former vice president was emphatic and determined—so much so that you could be forgiven for thinking the American republic would be utterly destroyed in the event of four more years of Trump.
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Also Read: When Obama Talked Biden Out Of Running For President
Ukraine’s new president-elect, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is in many ways the ideal poster boy for the antiestablishment trend currently sweeping world politics. A media-savvy TV celebrity who has never previously held political office, he has made a virtue of his inexperience by posing as an everyman candidate untainted by the rot within the system.
Indonesia’s presidential election is a fight over which candidate has the vision to turn the country into an elite global economic power. And this time millennials and the middle class will hold a decisive vote. The winner of the April 17 poll—which also includes legislative elections—will play a pivotal role in ensuring whether Indonesia reaches its potential to become the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030.
Indian voters standing in a queue to cast their votes during the 1st Phase of General Elections-2019, at Gaya, in Bihar on April 11, 2019. Photo/PIB
India is facing information wars of an unprecedented nature and scale. Indians are bombarded with fake news and divisive propaganda on a near-constant basis from a wide range of sources, from television news to global platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. But unlike in the United States, where the focus has been on foreign-backed misinformation campaigns shaping elections and public discourse, the fake news circulating here isn’t manufactured abroad.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on course for a record fifth term after most votes from Tuesday’s parliamentary elections were counted, with Israel’s three main TV stations declaring him the winner.
Benjamin Netanyahu has been at the front line of Israeli debate since the 1980s, but this week he faces the prospect of political mortality, with parliamentary elections leaving open the very real possibility that his time in office might be over. Yet whether or not he retains his post, whether or not he ever really believed the things he said—supporters of his argue that for “Bibi,” the nationalist rhetoric has always been a vehicle, not a core belief—his efforts have been emulated the world over by right-wing populists.
