A+| A| A-
Narendra Modi's Symbolic War
One has to ask, what was the logic called Narendra Modi and what was the nature of the campaign? Modi was a semiotic construct who went on to fight a symbolic war. The Nehruvian nation, Delhi, Development were all semiotically reconstructed in a brilliantly executed campaign. This article is a preliminary attempt at an ethnography of a brilliantly executed campaign.
Narendra Modi achieved one of the greatest electoral victories of modern India, symbolically ending the Nehruvian era. While Delhi adapts to the new regime, the sociologist, as analyst, has to ask what went into the making of this campaign. Moments of victory cannot only be moments of celebration but have to be moments of analysis and reflection. One has to ask, what was the logic called Modi and what was the nature of the campaign?
To understand this, one has to realise Modi was a semiotic construct who went on to fight a symbolic war. The 2002 election while it brought victory in Gujarat, added little to his image. A dockside bully enacting Bajrang Dal cameos does not quite add up to a chief minister with national pretensions. Modi had to be remade. A past had to be sanitised and a future scenario for the man had to be constructed. The remaking of Modi begins with the man and his Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background.
Dear Reader,
Or
To gain instant access to this article (download).
(Readers in India)
(Readers outside India)
