"Start preparing for 2024 polls, ..and it means till then I do not have any threat" -- PM Narendra Modi told a Manipur student on Sept 5, 2014 in a televised programme.
Both 'Manipur' as a state and of course Namo as the Prime Minister have been among the headlines.
He also had said on that occasion in presence of his 'first' HRD Minister Smriti Irani. -- "In a democracy anyone who wins the confidence of public can become PM, My wishes are with you."
The young student had asked -- what she should do to become Prime Minister of India !!
Manipur is set to go for polls by March 2027. Modi has crossed the 2024 'hurdle' and has been going strong. He too faces a crucial electoral challenge in March 2027 -- not in Manipur but in Uttar Pradesh.
How much has he 'changed' in last 12 years and how much has Modi 'changed' India in his tenure as the Prime Minister. Do not ask Rahul Gandhi -- or the Sickular ecosystem - they would say 'Economy is Dead'.
Need not ask some TV anchors too. Most of them still do not believe (apparently) that Modi is the Prime Minister since 2014.
Let's move to diplomacy.
The White House wanted India to bow. Instead, Narendra Modi flew to China, shook Xi Jinping’s hand and left Washington sidelined. --
The Guardian editorial in 2025. --- It also said ----
"......it is in Tianjin, not Washington, where it looks as if the hinge of history is moving.
The SCO is easy to dismiss: the bloc is a bundle of contradictions. India and Pakistan remain adversaries. China and India still stare across a garrisoned Himalayan frontier .....
Came in 2026. The SCO Summit was held recently and again the handshakes and snub to America. Poor Trump was denied 'any credit' by Modi for ceasefire between India and Pakistan and the US president even did not get Nobel Peace prize.
***
Let's come back to 2014 Teachers' Day -- Modi had said:
"If I had to gain things I would not come (join politics). Everything is not about 'labh' - profit. Work without any 'labh' and the joy is different". He also urged students to read biographies of great people and great and extra ordinary achievers.
In 2014, Modi also said: "125 crore people...my family....so I don't get any stress". (Now -- it is 140 crore)
Another pointer from Modi that day was : "Politics is not a profession, its a service".
Pause. Here we have what Modi said on Sept 5, 2013 as the Gujarat CM
"I never see such dreams (of becoming Prime Minister), nor am I going to see such dreams. People of Gujarat have given me the mandate to serve them till 2017 and I have to do this with full strength”.
Many thought he was 'withdrawing' albeit temporarily or making the gesture.
Experts also said he had a 'win win' situation.
A week later on Sept 13, 2013 - Modi was named BJP president Rajnath Singh as the "PM-candidate".
Had he been not named; Modi could have easily said: "I was never keen for it".
Now let's shift focus to India's growth story and the 'economy' of the nation.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has stated about a structural shift in India’s middle-class consumption.
In terms of data, 93% of urban consumer growth is expected outside the top five cities Mumbai, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.
Nearly 500 “consumer cities” are likely to emerge in the country. This would mean --- translating to rising incomes and expanding the middle class. All these means -- we have a development and consumer-friendly economic policy approach.
Take another sensitive zone.
While international crude benchmarks spiked past $100–$113 per barrel due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, Indian markets and policy makers did enforce --
** Tactical containment strategies.
State-backed mechanisms and delayed pass-throughs helped keep retail petrol and diesel pump prices relatively stable compared to extreme global crude fluctuations.
What was vital for India especially the middleclass was that the full extent of the global oil shock has not travelled directly to the neighbourhood petrol pump.
This possibly upset the likes of Jai-rahim and their boss in Delhi. But someone worked hard for this. How?
-- There are 'buffers' that India has built.
--- * There was a 'rapid shift' in crude suppliers, a sharp cut in fuel taxes.
** Oil marketing companies absorbed part of the higher cost.
** There were restrictions on fuel exports. This is called management. But on the other side there was display of economic illiteracy by Modi's detractors.
The real issues could be --- even as India is growing despite challenges posed by global factors; we may still ask -- are we Indians really feeling the so-called growth.
What still need closer views are issues such as joblessness, lack of opportunities, what is happening in unorganised sector as against the organised sector and how did the economic crisis of 2026 has been managed.
India is a classic country -- wherein we specialise in comparing apples with oranges.
ends
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