Conventional wisdom, particularly after the failure of India shining in 2004, shows there is no alternative to vote bank populism. The political class has also come to believe that exercising hard options is politically hazardous and can best be done by stealth and subterfuge. Modi has challenged these axioms robustly. The outcome of the assembly poll will show whether his faith in populist idealism is electorally tenable or not.
If Modi wins, there is a future for a refreshing brand of politics. If he is defeated, the political class will have taken its revenge on an interloper.
The writer is a Delhi-based commentator
Epaper
Newsletter
Stocks
Weather
Horoscope
