The optics get worse for Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Much as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tried to project a continuity from his second term to his third, public perception does not seem in his favour.

While photo-ops of the prime minister’s exaggerated familiarity with world leaders continue to flood the media, there are no substantive outcomes, and domestically the ground seems to be slipping from under his feet.

His selfies with Italy’s Right-wing Prime Minister Georgia Meloni soon after his re-election, did him no good except branding both as ‘Melodi Team’. However, what really drew world criticism were images of Modi hugging Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow while Russian aircraft were bombing children in Ukraine.

Subsequent statesmanlike noises about the death of children being “very painful” and suggestion to Putin that a solution to the Ukraine war "cannot be found on the battlefield” and advocating “peace through talks” did little to remedy the gaffe. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky described the Modi-Putin hug as a “devastating blow to peace efforts”.  

Domestically, he seems to have no time to deal with a number of internal crises.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on the other hand, did everything that a democratically elected popular leader should be doing — by visiting the victims of the Hathras stampede, talking to the displaced people of Manipur, sharing the woes of the Assam flood victims, and consoling the bereaved families of the 27 dead in the Rajkot fire.

Nothing could have undermined the public perception of Modi more than his participation in the Ambani wedding. His almost secretive visit — announced only a day prior to his attending the wedding — underlined what he was accused of by the Opposition: deference to business oligarchs.

Modi has tried, only once, and very briefly to distance himself from alleged crony capitalists who have thrived under his rule. During the general election when he felt that the contest was getting very close, he accused tycoons allegedly close to him for illegally funding the Opposition. His presence at the very public spectacle of the Ambani extravaganza would have helped to repair any cracks that may (or may not) have developed.

The wedding demonstrated that the Ambani family not only owns the world’s largest private zoo for animals but can also corral political, social, cultural, and religious personages for display at will in an enclosure of its choice. Rahul Gandhi, however, wisely chose not to be on display for the greater glorification of the wealthiest man in Asia, despite Mukesh Ambani having paid the Gandhis a personal visit apparently to invite them to the wedding.

Rahul Gandhi’s strategic decision to affirm his connectedness to the common man did for his image what even a hundred hugs with the rich and famous could not achieve.

However, Modi’s problems do not end with Rahul Gandhi.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s veiled criticism of Modi’s personality cult, specifically for comparing himself to a demigod or Devata, was unexpected and sharp. Modi had claimed earlier this year that he is convinced that he was not biologically born but was sent by “Parmatma”.

Besides tangential attacks from the RSS, Modi has also had to deal with a crisis in the party in Uttar Pradesh. Three major state elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Haryana also stare him in the face, where a BJP victory remains uncertain.

In Uttar Pradesh, attempts are being made to cut a potential challenger to size by blaming the electoral debacle on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In the meeting to review the party’s electoral debacle in the state, Adityanath blamed 'over-confidence', while his Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya reminded him that the "organisation was bigger than the government". He would not have proffered such advice to Adityanath without a nod and wink from Delhi.

It is no surprise that Adityanath’s Hindu Vahini, a militant Hindutva outfit that had been relegated to the background after he became chief minister has reactivated itself — its X-handle has once again begun reporting on its aggressive activities.

Whether removing Adityanath as chief minister will improve the party’s prospects in the 2027 Assembly elections is highly uncertain.

The ground situation in Manipur remains volatile and Modi has been publicly criticised both by the Opposition and now even by the RSS for doing nothing to control the year-long ethnic violence. Modi would get a better idea of the dimensions of the crisis if he listened to the central forces deployed there than to his partymen in the state.

Another crisis that the prime minister has not been able to tackle is the political impasse in Jammu and Kashmir. Despite being directly in-charge of the union territory through the Lieutenant Governor, the Modi government has been unable to control the spread and support for terrorism, largely inspired and organised from across the border.

Interestingly, assertions that the attack on army personnel “will not go unavenged” came not from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh but from the defence secretary. Could it be that the defence minister has been hobbled after he allegedly ‘lied’ to Parliament about a compensation of Rs 1 crore having been paid to the family of an Agniveer killed in action? A potentially delegitimised defence minister will add to Modi’s problems.

There are other crises awaiting Modi’s attention. Devastating floods in several parts Assam and Maharashtra, a series of train accidents, a stampede in Hathras which left 121 dead, and a major fire in a gaming zone in Rajkot leading to 35 deaths. The prime minister has not been seen meeting the victims and their families or bringing his ministers and chief ministers to book.

What must gall him is that his USP within the BJP as a vote-getter is uncertain after his hyperbolic predictions were not sustained by the results of the 2024 general elections.

Analysis shows that the BJP lost nearly half the seats — 77 out of 164 Lok Sabha constituencies — where Modi held campaign meetings. This was in contrast to the 85% victory rate in the seats where Modi campaigned in 2019.

(Bharat Bhushan is a Delhi-based journalist.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.