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How West Asia crisis can play out for PM Modi and BJP in Assembly polls

While the Russia-Ukraine war saw the BJP projecting PM Modi as a ‘vishwaguru’ who could end international conflicts, the party has made a nuanced shift in its electoral strategy vis-à-vis the West Asia war.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s virtual meeting with chief ministers on the West Asia war on Friday looked quite familiar. He invoked ‘Team India’ and asked them to act against hoarders and profiteers, take care of migrant workers, and ensure uninterrupted supply of essential goods. He told them that addressing the challenges posed by the Israel-US-Iran war is “a shared responsibility”. Essentially, don’t blame the Centre alone if you face any hardship due to the West Asia crisis now or later. Fair enough. There is nothing wrong in PM Modi reminding the states of their responsibilities. But does it ring a bell? Well, it reminds us of the Covid-era strategy.

There can be no comparison between the Coronavirus crisis and the one posed by the West Asia war. One was about people’s lives while the other is about the amenities of life and livelihood. There is, however, a reason for the PM himself referring to the Covid crisis in the current context. Making the fight against the pandemic a collective responsibility had enabled the Modi government to shield itself even when it was virtually “missing” during the second wave of Covid, which exposed the health infrastructure crisis with a massive shortage of oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, and even basic testing facilities.

Remember the Outlook magazine’s “Missing” cover, which said that if the government was found, citizens of India should be informed.

It didn’t hurt the Bharatiya Janata Party electorally, though. While several live-streamed PM-CMs’ meetings to ensure that collective response staved off any blowback to the BJP during the critical phases of the crisis, the ruling party at the Centre reaped massive electoral dividends from the vaccination programme and free foodgrains — and deservedly so. That should explain PM Modi’s emphasis on ‘shared responsibility’ with the CMs........

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