jacobin | Populism involves the exclusion of elements from society not
considered a part of the “people,” usually cultural “others” and the
ambiguously defined “elites” or “anti-nationals.” A nationalist populist
discourse, as in the Indian case, differentiates between who belongs to
the nation and who does not. Hindutva’s “people” is imagined as a
religious and ethno-cultural Hindu community which excludes Muslims and
liberal elites.
In addition to delimiting the authentic “people,” this form
of populism typically relies on a leader who claims to be the sole
representative of the people and the embodiment and authority of the
popular will. Modi is a paradigmatic example of such a leader.
At an event hosted by the Indian diaspora in Houston, the “Howdy Modi?”
rally, Modi’s answer to the rhetorical question was revealing: “Modi is
nothing by himself. I am only a common man working on the orders of 1.3
billion people. So, when you ask, ‘Howdy Modi?’ I can only answer,
‘everything in Bharat is good.’” Despite the pretensions of
humility, Modi understands the populist logic well: to ask the question
how is Modi is precisely to ask how is the nation.
Additionally, this form of populism is a political style which
involves a whole repertoire of staged, mediatized performances by the
leader that are transmitted to wider audiences through media. Part of
the performative rhetoric of such populist leaders centers around some
kind of a pervasive crisis or threat. With Modi and the BJP, there is
ever present specter of “Urban-Naxals,”
“terrorists,” “anti-nationals,” “Tukde-Tukde Gang,” and “Khan Market
Gang,” all of whom are portrayed as trying to undermine the integrity of
the nation, and in effect polluting the purity of the people.
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