Prime Minister Narendra Modi knew his audience was first-time voters from across India, who care little about traditional electoral promises like “roti, kapda aur makaan”. So, he sold a dream to the Instagram generation with artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and bullet trains zooming on Indian tracks.
To his credit, many of these dreams have been realised in the last few years to an extent that made it easier for the BJP to launch a theme song: ‘Sapne nahin, haqeeqat bunte hain, tabhi to sab Modi ko chunte hain’.
The prime minister on Thursday virtually addressed a first-time voters conclave, which was arranged by the BJP from across India and in every assembly constituency.
The dream
Prime Minister Modi talked about issues that resonated with Gen Z and even asked for their help in crafting the BJP manifesto. He steered clear of piped water connections, or free rations that he usually talks about.
Instead, he said: “There is no youth in the world that has the inspiration of Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita while having the scope of working on artificial intelligence. You have tradition and talent both. You have both inspiration and innovation.”
The PM twice stressed that his government is working “round-the-clock” to materialise the “Gen Z dream”. He listed how the drone-to-space sector has been opened, business opportunities created by having a startup policy, guarantee-free loans ensured via Mudra, how there is no longer a need to attest marksheets.
He spoke about how India has been heavily investing in modern infrastructure. “Today, India is constructing modern expressways. For whom? It’s for our youth. All these Vande Bharat trains that are plying, and now Vista Dome have also been initiated. Who are they for? My young friends, it’s for you. In the coming few years, India will experience bullet trains. Who do you think it is for? For India’s youth,” said PM Modi.
He further said be it regional connectivity, laying of optical fibre or semi-conductors – it is India’s youth who are going to primarily benefit from these policies of the Narendra Modi-led government.
Modi even invited their participation in India’s democratic process through ‘My Bharat’, where they can suggest what should go in the BJP’s manifesto. He has also promised to personally meet the contributors whose inputs make it to the manifesto and become ‘Modi ki guarantee’.
But pre-2014 is important
Since the roughly 15 crore population was quite young in the Congress-ruled UPA days, they were unaware of the problems in those days. They are not aware of the 2G scam, have not heard about the Adarsh scam, or care little about the CWG scam.
Hence, the BJP has taken it upon itself to educate them about that era so they can make a ‘Before vs After’ comparison. “Today, the possibilities we are talking about, the generation before 2014 gave up. Many of you read newspapers where it appears, saying the country has achieved this in that sector. But open a newspaper of the pre-2014 era, which is easily available on the internet. In those days, almost every day news of corruption and scams would be headlines. Scams of thousands of crores was normal,” Modi said.
He talked about the stark difference between governance of the present and past by telling first-time voters that the youth back then had to take to the streets in protest against the government.
“I am happy that we have been able to pull India out of that darkness. Today, we don’t talk about corruption but credibility,” said Modi.
He gets it – the new aspirational India that cannot be appeased through the realisation of promises like abrogation of Article 370 and construction of Ram Mandir alone. They are a generation that grew up when they were close to completion. So, Modi sold them a dream of an India where they could grow, thrive and conquer.
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