Narendra Modi's self-obsession is by now well known. He beats all politicians in the number of times he takes his own name in election speeches and media interviews. No Prime Minister in the past has done so much self-projection through relentless propaganda at taxpayers' expense (bill so far: nearly Rs. 5,000 crore). Building a personality cult around oneself is a time-tested method adopted by all dictators. The key difference in India this time is that in addition to the government's own propaganda, Modi and his party have also succeeded in roping in a large section of the so-called independent media to do their bidding. Who says press freedom cannot be purchased for a price?
When an incumbent Prime Minister goes to the polls seeking a second term for himself, the least that is expected of him is that he gives an account of how his most ambitious schemes and audacious decisions have helped improve the lives of common people. So far, Modi has not uttered even a word to explain the benefits of his two biggest decisions - demonetization and GST. He is also mostly silent on his government's other much-publicized initiatives - Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, Startup India, Mudra Yojana, Ujwala Yojana, Awas Yojana and so on. He is not telling the voters how many jobs were created in the past five years or how far his government has progressed on his other major promise - doubling farmers' incomes by 2022.
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