I am asked this question so many times that I am tired of answering it repeatedly. So here is a one-time response.
Not liking someone’s policies does not mean I dislike the person. It just means I dislike the policy. In the same vein, just because I dislike someone, it doesn’t automatically mean I dislike their policies.
I respect Manmohan Singh a lot. But that never stopped me from disliking the fact that he had two terms as Prime Minister and never once went to the people for a mandate. By setting the precedent of a person taking the most powerful chair in the land through the Rajya Sabha, he opened the door to anyone powerful enough to buy the chair to becoming PM. Irrespective of all the good he has done for the nation, I feel his contribution should be always weighed against the harm he did to the constitution by this one single act.
So, this brings me to the point at hand. Do I dislike Modi?
Personally, I don’t like the guy. I feel he is a morally compromised person who will do and say anything to further his own interests. But that dislike of the person doesn’t extend to his policies.
For instance, I am perfectly willing to give GST a fair run. It is a good concept and it is unfair to measure its success in the short term.
However, like his predecessor’s achievements will be measured against a blatant misuse and undermining of the constitution, Modi’s time in office will always be measured against the harm wrought by demonetization. Demonetization, like the Emergency, was a crime against humanity, as Amit Varma likes to put it and I agree with him. Modi and his spin doctors worked extremely hard to make it seem like a success, but it was so wrong that there was just no way to turn it into anything other than a dumb move made by a set of college boys over a bottle of Old Monk rum.
I recollect my words to my mother, who was urging me to vote with the Congress, “Modi MAY not be the answer to our problems, but Manmohan Singh definitely IS not the answer.”
If I were having that discussion today, I would be saying something much the same with Modi not the answer.
So, do I dislike Modi? That is the wrong question. The right question is, “Do I dislike Modi’s policies?” The answer to that more often than not, I do. His policies seem to be knee-jerk, adolescent responses to problems. That is not the hallmark of a great politician.
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