For 11 years, the slogans have come in never-ending spirals of illusion. Like wave upon airy wave of shimmering moisture emanating from thousands of misting fans. Achche din. New India. Viksit Bharat.
It has been 11 years of the politics of slogans—or the sloganisation of politics. The media machine has always stood at the ready. Expertly spin-doctored and managed, newspaper headlines and TV loop visuals spun out daily stories of glitzy ‘development’, high-profile summitry, and aggressive ‘strong-state’ nationalism.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now inaugurating a new scheme, now flagging off trains, now striding down a bridge, now saluting a 597-feet Sardar Patel statue, now clasping global leaders, now laughing with a photogenic head-tilt.
