Narendra modi and donald trump high office demystified

Narendra modi and donald trump high office demystified

When politics changes, so must political punditry. This seems obvious. But it’s not, for many pundits in many countries. Thus the continuing flood of ‘oh-my-god’ variety of commentaries and analyses on leaders like Narendra Modi and Donald Trump. Modi and Trump are mouldbreaking leaders, and not just because of their spectacular electoral performances, in Modi’s case, more than once.
In different ways, India’s Prime Minister and the US’ President are not tied up by often-stultifying conventions of high office. Modi is disciplined, extraordinarily so, and Trump’s working style often seems chaotic. Look, though, at Modi’s radical, unconventional and successful messaging on demonetisation and Trump’s so-called ‘un-presidential’ interventions.
Modi, unlike any Indian PM, identified himself squarely with a un-populist policy and directly asked voters to trust him — and they did. Trump, while being ‘un-presidential’, has retained all the support of his base and made his priorities clear. They are leaders who can create a persona and build credibility independent of their office.
Pundits need to understand this while analysing such mould-breakers.
American pundits in particular seem to have a hard time comprehending that Trump is a president like no other. Low-income Americans, many of whom voted for and support Trump, on the other hand, have no problem grasping that the president can function as if he doesn’t need the office of presidency. And some of America’s richest people, people who have no need for political patronage or presidential favours, have also seen in Trump a president whose biggest asset is his ability and willingness to step outside the binaries of White House. Perhaps middles-class mores — the cultural/intellectual background of most pundits — are too wound up in the status quo and the poor and the rich are more receptive, for different reasons, to mould-breaking politics.
The larger point is about demystifying institutions. Modi has brought the office of prime ministership closer to voters, thanks to direct, unfiltered modes of communications. Trump, by casting aside many behavioural traditions of presidency and through his unfiltered personal tweets, is doing something similar. Modi is undoubtedly the more politically sophisticated of the two. But both are changing politics even as they practice it.