Bharat Bhushan - Why Modi's selfie campaign is not picture-perfect
One might wonder why it is more important how a person comes across in a contrived projection during an election campaign than how he behaved in real life. Perhaps because like a selfie, it tries to mask from public perception the warts, the knowledge that Modi has already hung and quartered his critics - police officers and social activists - who tried to expose the complicity of his government in the most well-organised communal riots in the history of independent India . One is also expected to forget that he had tried to frame his critics with sedition and criminal charges. Apprehending his arrest, an eminent sociologist facing criminal charges, had to move the Supreme Court.
“The consequences of Modi's campaign can prove to be
negative and his political 'dysmorphic disorder' is bound to come in the way of
delivering good governance”
In a newspaper report, an anonymous Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) source compared Narendra Modi's campaign to a "selfie" where
"one is only thinking about oneself and how one looks... you are the
subject, you are the photographer... nothing else is important"
(Frontline, April 18, 2014; Page 34).
Psychologists will tell you that a selfie - or a
self-generated portrait using a smartphone - may be harmless and self-affirming
although a self-absorbed picture of oneself. However, some experts say that it
could be a sign of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which involves checking
one's appearance obsessively.
The Daily Mail reported recently that "Selfie fans with
BDD can spend hours trying to take pictures that do not show any defects or
flaws in their appearance, which they are very aware of but which might be
unnoticeable to others." BDD is a mental ailment where one cannot stop
thinking about one's appearance and body image. The perceived flaw causes
distress and can impact the daily functioning of the individual.
Modi's campaign is certainly analogous to a selfie in
its self-indulgence and narcissistic overtones. However, it is less spontaneous
than a selfie. It is an organised marketing exercise for Modi's social
acceptance, well aware that there is a certain odium associated with him.
The campaign centres on moulding public opinion
through avuncular, smiling photographs of Modi but also more recently through
seemingly intimate interviews where an "honest" and
"sincere" Modi even suggests that he should be hanged in the public
square if found guilty (of the pogrom against Muslim citizens in Gujarat in
2002). This is precisely what a selfie also seeks to do. By its rawness,
imperfection, self-conscious authenticity (self-conscious, because it is meant
for public consumption) and intimacy, it tries to say - "this is the real
me".
One might wonder why it is more important how a person
comes across in a contrived projection during an election campaign than how he
behaved in real life. Perhaps because like a selfie, it tries to mask from
public perception the warts, the knowledge that Modi has already hung and
quartered his critics - police officers and social activists - who tried to
expose the complicity of his government in the most well-organised communal
riots in the history of independent India .
One is also expected to forget that he had tried to frame his critics with
sedition and criminal charges. Apprehending his arrest, an eminent sociologist
facing criminal charges, had to move the Supreme Court.
Large sections of the media have also collaborated in
helping Modi reinvent his public persona. Yet through adulatory interviews,
friendly journalists have tried to generate affection and familiarity towards
suggesting that he is a man much wronged. Modi can star in his own reality show
and his fans can vote for him. Nobody should have any problems with it.
Psychologists say that posting self-affirming selfies can be empowering and
that they can even readjust the social standards of the beauty ideal. Perhaps
some people will readjust their spectacles to see Modi as he wants to be seen.
The point, however, is that neither Modi nor the BJP
occupies the entire social and political universe of Indian society. And,
therefore, there are people who might find his arrogant campaign detrimental to
social cohesiveness, even injurious to the nation's political health. In a
democracy, such a highly-personalised campaign can be interpreted as bragging
and self-focused -violative of social (and even political) norms and the
accepted rules of self-promotion. Listening to him bragging incessantly on TV
can make him more unlikeable as a public leader. Modi acolytes ascribe such
lack of belief to a sort of pathology. To not worship Modi is designated a
disease.
But despite media packaging, the dysmorphic features
in Modi's political persona will come out. If he can wear a turban in Punjab
and not become a Sikh by doing so, wear a Naga headgear carrying a
"dao" in his hand and not become a Naga Christian, don the traditional
"dumluk" of the Adi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, put on an Assamese
"Japi" in Guwahati, the "koyet" turban in Silchar, and a
turban with peacock feathers and a green velvet coat in Imphal, why does he
find the Muslim prayer cap so distasteful and a symbol of appeasement?
The consequences of his current "selfie
campaign" can be negative even for his own future in politics. For the
moment, his supporters are so taken up by his campaign that they are not only
salivating in anticipation of grabbing political power but they are already
apportioning their respective shares - deciding which Modi groupie will get
which Cabinet portfolio.
However, even if Modi is able to cobble together the
numbers post-elections, he will need more than groupies to man key positions in
the government. He will need the support of those experienced in governance
even if it means including critics of his political style. He will also need
the support of the party itself once the balloon of voter expectations bursts,
and his honeymoon with the middle class ends. The fate of the Manmohan
Singh-government in the last few years should be a lesson for Modi - where even
those who benefitted from it have not hesitated in giving a parting a kick to
the down and out prime minister. But if the party continues to become
synonymous with his persona, destroying all institutional buttresses and
differences of opinion, that will become difficult.
Modi will need to correct his self-obsession even at
this late stage to prepare for assuming political power. He has to learn and
practice new inclusive skills for dealing with a complex country like India
