The More Narendra Modi Grows, The More Delusional his Critics Have Become: Anupam Kher

In an opinion piece published in The Indian Express on Tuesday, veteran actor Anupam Kher wrote about how Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been proving his ‘haters’ wrong every single time.

Kher rubbished the suggestions that Modi’s popularity stemmed from lack of good alternatives

“Narendra Modi is the longest serving administrative head compared to all previous prime ministers. He has held the office of CM and PM for a combined total of almost 19 years. No previous PM has held both positions cumulatively that long. Such political success and affection have not come his way because “there were no alternatives” to him,” Kher wrote for the paper.

He went on to write that Modi has failed all his alternatives because none of them can serve like him. “In the last six years, he has delivered on the largest poverty alleviation drive seen in the history of India,” he wrote.

“On October 7, 2001, when Modi first took over as Gujarat CM, the dominant view was: One year and he will be history. That was soon proved wrong. In the winter of 2013 and spring of 2014, the project Modi is unelectable reached its climax. The subsequent summer obviously proved them horribly wrong,” he wrote for the paper.

“On May 23, 2018, an oath-taking ceremony in Bengaluru became the cynosure of many eyes. Standing on one platform were the all ends of India’s political spectrum, hand in hand, together in letter and spirit. This grand alliance would ensure the end of Modi, they avowed. Exactly a year later, on May 23, 2019, Narendra Modi returned to office with even more seats,” he added.

Kher further wrote that the more Narendra Modi grows, the more delusional his critics become. “Democracy can never have one pole. There will always be two or more poles, however minuscule the non-dominant one may be. The fact that the voting machine has a list of multiple candidates, represented by multiple symbols, shows that democracy is never short of alternatives,” he added.

The Bollywood veteran referred to Modi’s opponents as extreme leftists, jihadists, failed dynasts, anarchists, separatists and “even those who had earlier worked with Modi in the RSS and BJP.”

He referred to the Jan Dhan Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, PM-KISAN, Atal Pension Yojana, PM Fasal Bima Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana and other schemes to establish how the BJP government has played a role in poverty alleviation.

Kher further mentioned that “Under Modi, the corridors of power no longer reek of the stench of big-ticket corruption.”