EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE DELHI THE HINDU 10 EDITORIAL MONDAY, MAY 27, 2019 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE The making of the 2019 verdict Voters want someone who will protect them from insecurities flowing from the new economy and globalisation Narendra Modi who had held pow­ dia, contract labour was cial esteem, the politics of frustra­ er for more than 12 continuous introduced in the organised work­ tion and social envy have been years in Gujarat before he became ing class. This generated tremen­ harnessed to a project of xeno­ Facing the debacle Prime Minister. Three, authoritar­ dous insecurity. Public enterprises phobic nationalism. In this mood Congress’s stocktaking must be deeper than ian populist leaders prefer to were privatised and workers were of nationalism anyone who is not speak directly to an inchoate and thrown onto the street. Here they like us becomes the enemy who an off­the­cuff take on Rahul Gandhi Neera Chandhoke slippery entity called ‘the people’ joined the ranks of the unorgan­ has appropriated land and re­ n light of the Congress’s dismal defeat in the 17th than through reported speeches ised working class whose lives are sources. Even if a majority of In­ general election, Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s and questioning in Parliament or blighted by anxiety. Where is the dians are not directly involved in great deal has been already press conferences. Four, populist next mess of porridge going to hate crimes against minorities, offer to resign from his party post at the Congress I said and written on the leaders dismiss groups, such as come from? India transited to the they do not sympathise with the Working Committee on Saturday was on expected lines. Aspectacular victory of the immigrants and minorities, as service sector, but in the lower le­ victims of these crimes against hu­ What came as a surprise is the indication that he was Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), or non­people. Five, authoritarian vels of these enterprises, young manity. And the few who carry out seemingly unmoved by the CWC resolution that urged rather Prime Minister Narendra populists eschew the niceties of G. RAMAKRISHNA people are not promised security candlelight processions to protest him to continue as president and restructure the party. Modi in the 2019 general election, public debate, which is expected both processes were formally of jobs, they can be sacked at the against any intolerance are labeled Either way, whether Mr. Gandhi finally insists on quit­ why he won, and why the Con­ to be civil and heedful of the sensi­ launched in 1991. The process that drop of a hat. On balance, the in perverse ways. Our own people ting or allows himself to be persuaded otherwise, the gress lost so badly. Still the results bilities of other participants. They was initiated in the late 1980s was working people live in unstable became strangers in their own occasion surprise. Mr. Modi head­ have contempt for politically cor­ marked by the rollback of the wel­ conditions. land. The poet Firaq Gorakhpuri party cannot look away from a dilemma that has sha­ ed the government during a pe­ rect language. They provoke and fare state by Ronald Reagan in the There is no doubt that the de­ had famously written: Sar Zamine­ dowed it for long: the double­edged sword of the dynas­ riod of major job losses, a serious insult. They delight in breaking ev­ U.S., and Margaret Thatcher in the regulation of the economy benefit­ e­Hind par aqwam­e­alam ke Firaq/ ty. Devoid of a coherent ideology or organisational agrarian crisis, marginalisation of ery taboo. U.K. For them an unfettered mar­ ed sections of people who man­ Kafile baste rahe/Hindostan banta structure, especially over the past two decades, the the minorities, and polarisation of Because they speak as they will ket was the answer to all pro­ aged to make the transition to new gaya (India was created as a plural Nehru­Gandhi dynasty has remained the party’s ce­ society. And yet he was re­elected and how they will, authoritarian blems. The mythology of the mar­ modes of technology and new society by successive waves of mi­ menting glue. The family is projected as the party’s to power. What is the secret of his populists are disorienting. Opposi­ ket was once again reasserted, its ways of working. But in the pro­ gration). Today people whose an­ emotional currency with the public and the Gandhi sur­ appeal to voters across class and tion leaders found it impossible to injustices were forgotten. cess, inequality between classes cestors settled in this land, whose name is invoked to hark back to the formative years of caste? keep pace with Mr. Modi’s rapidly deepened to an alarming extent. labour was mixed with the land to changing rhetoric. Despite the ma­ Checking the market Among those who had been left create wealth, and who became a modern India. However, now in 2019, facing its tough­ A worldwide trend ny errors that he committed when Karl Polanyi had in The Great out, it generated both aspirations part of the earth when they died est crisis, the Congress must address the question un­ Over the past five years we see a campaigning, the Opposition Transformation (1944) told us that for better lifestyles and resent­ are characterised as foreigners. flinchingly, and in depth, if it is to refresh itself as a pol­ worldwide trend — for example in simply could not respond adeq­ the market is based on exploitative ment at the glittering life styles of Mr. Modi’s strongman image is itical force. The decline of the Congress is symptomatic the U.S., Russia, Turkey, the Phi­ uately, or in time. He shifted from social relations, it dislocates peo­ the affluent. Insecurity, combined reassuring to people wracked by of the fading appeal of the old ways of conducting polit­ lippines, Hungary, Poland, and “chowkidar” to Balakot, and non­ ple and leads to misery. The coun­ with aspirations and resentment, both anxiety and aspirations. It is ics and of the disenchantment with opaque and unac­ Brazil — of a shift to a mode of pol­ BJP leaders had just no time to ask ter­movement to suffering caused engendered the politics of desire the same case in other parts of the countable power­wielding by political dynasties. Also, itics known as authoritarian popu­ an important question, how on by the market was the rise of work­ and social envy. world. Researchers tell us that to­ lism. Populist leaders are not anti­ earth did the Pulwama attack hap­ ing­class struggles. These move­ It was a mixture of these com­ day the working class votes for as with the Left and Mandal parties, the Congress has democratic, they are elected often pen? Mr. Modi raised his arms, all ments managed to re­embed the bustible sentiments that were ar­ right­wing populists. Matters are collectively failed to upgrade its message, modes of out­ with huge mandates. Once they fire and brimstone, and practically market in the state. Someone had ticulated by new forms of music, not very different in India. Once reach and organisational structures. But the Congress’s are elected, authoritarian popu­ threatened the use of nuclear wea­ to be in charge of the market, so­ such as rap. This mix was also we had a social democratic state, success in nimbly facing up to the rout is vital if India is lists disdain institutions and pro­ pons. Everyone kept quiet. The meone had to be responsible for tapped by authoritarian populist now we have an authoritarian po­ to have a coherent political opposition that keeps the cesses that act as brakes on the ex­ quintessential authoritarian popu­ the depredations wreaked by this leaders. They drew upon rage pulist leader who might protect government of the day democratically accountable. ercise of power — civil society, a list rides rough shod over consis­ institution. The market could not against elites, and they initiated a his people, but who has no pa­ Of course, Congress leaders argue that the party free media, separation of powers, tency or decorum. He presents be left alone, it would destroy so­ backlash against inherited privi­ tience with the tedious processes and a judiciary. They are impatient himself as a strong leader, breaks cial and economic life. leges. Above all, we saw that popu­ of parliamentary democracy. Tho­ would disintegrate if Mr. Gandhi were to quit. Mr. Gand­ with the intricate and laborious conventions and makes his own Postcolonial elites tried to con­ list leaders drew upon resentment mas Hobbes had written in the hi, who had once likened power to poison, must take processes of democratic gover­ rules. trol market processes that had to build up xenophobic national­ 17th century that all people want full responsibility for his party’s debacle. However, fi­ nance. They prefer to concentrate Why do electorates in democra­ been monopolised by imperial ism. And we witnessed with some self­preservation. They are willing guring out the form that this account­taking must as­ power in their corporeal person. cies opt for rule by a strong man? powers. But in the 1990s the mar­ sadness the retreat of progressive to give up their rights to a Leviath­ sume is what makes it a difficult moment for him and Two, authoritarian leaders gar­ Perhaps they look for someone ket acquired dominance and legiti­ politics. an in exchange for security. We the Congress. Whether Mr. Gandhi sticks to his resolve ner power by attacking existing who will protect them against the macy. This time there was no continue to vote for Leviathans.