Prime Minister Narendra Modi, campaigning across India in the run-up to elections that begin on Friday, speaks of his insatiable ambition in terms of appetite on the table.
A roof over your head, a water connection, a cooking gas cylinder – Mr. Modi reads out a menu of what he calls the rich “developments” he has provided to India's poor. But he doesn't stop there. “What Prime Minister Modi has done so far is just an appetizer,” he says, pausing at one point to refer to himself in the third person, as he often does. “The main dish is yet to come.”
For Mr. Modi's legions of supporters, a third term will bring more of what they find so appealing about Mr. Modi. He is a rare and strong man who listens to reality. He is a fascinating person and a powerful orator. He has built an image as a tireless and tireless worker for this developing country.
But for Mr. Modi's critics, talk of his “main story” is a wake-up call for the future of the world's largest democracy.
Mr. Modi, 73, enters the election as a heavy favorite, with his party's grip on India's populous northern and central heartlands stronger than ever, and its opposition in the same critical geography even stronger. Diminished. But even as his position as India's unparalleled leader appears secure, he is carrying out a crackdown on dissent that will only intensify.
In the run-up to the six-week vote, which ends on June 4, government agencies under Mr. Modi's control have frozen the bank accounts of the main opposition party. Leaders of two rebel-run states have been jailed in cases that are said to be politically motivated. (The capital, New Delhi, is currently ruled by a prime minister who gives orders from behind bars.)
Mr. Modi's critics say all this points to a tendency toward total control that has become evident during his decade as prime minister. They argue that Mr. Modi will not stop until he transforms India's democracy into one-party rule. Yamini Aiyar, a policy analyst in New Delhi, said power is being aggressively consolidated “around the cult of personality of the leader.”
“The deep centralization of power has seriously undermined the institutional checks and balances built into India's democratic structure,” Aiyar said.
Many Indians seem happy to accept this. Despite becoming more authoritarian, Mr. Modi remains deeply popular. He has paid little price or even received support for his efforts to remake India into what analysts call an illiberal democracy.
He exploits contradictions. In a country where democracy has provided protection in troubled regions, the right to vote is treated as sacrosanct. But polls also show that many Indians are willing to give up their civil liberties in favor of strong rulers who they think will get things done.
Another seeming paradox is that those who talk about their country's economic conflicts also often express confidence in Mr. Modi's management of the country, a testament to the powerful narrative he weaves.
Indians also have clear reasons to support him. Mr. Modi has created a far-reaching legacy through generous offers across society: favorable deals for business elites in a growing economy, strong welfare programs for India's poor majority, and a strong Hindu nationalism for those in between. It relentlessly maintains its strong support base.
This month's suspension of election campaigning in the party's stronghold of Uttar Pradesh demonstrated this winning formula.
Mr. Modi stood in the back of a saffron-colored truck as it slowly moved through a shopping street lined with global brands and jewelry stores. The scene spoke to the new wealth that has propelled millions of Indians into the middle class.
Overhead were billboards with Mr. Modi's picture, his face all over India, touting achievements such as building more than 100 million toilets for the poor and increasing India's height. .
At the end of the 'roadshow', at the intersection where Mr Modi's car turned right to return to Delhi, there was a stage with loudspeakers. Actors dressed as gods Ram and Sita posed for selfies with the audience as Hindu nationalist songs rang out.
Mr. Modi's inauguration in January of a huge temple dedicated to Ram on the disputed site of a mosque destroyed by a Hindu mob 30 years ago is a sign of an election year for his Hindu base. It became a big highlight.
“We are Hindus, we are Hindus, we only talk about Ram,” the chant of one song continued. “Those who brought Ram, we will bring them to power.”
Mr. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was founded in 1980 as an urban middle-class organization centered on the Hindu majority core. Analysts say that under Mr. Modi, the party has reinvented itself as the party of the poor and villages of northern India.
Some in India believe the poor have simply fallen under Mr. Modi's spell. Nalin Mehta, author of the book The New BJP, said that is fundamentally wrong.
“The fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party continues to win these victories shows how successful it is in winning over new voters who may not have voted before and may not even be followers of Hindu nationalism. “It reflects what we did,” he said.
Mehta attributes much of its success to the party's expansion and branding of welfare programs, as well as its willingness to reach out to India's marginalized castes and elevate its pan-Hindu status. I believe this is due to the efforts of
The BJP has prioritized direct digital welfare payments, cutting out middlemen and ensuring benefits are seen as coming directly from Mr. Modi.
Technology also allows the party to track and trace data, with Bharatiya Janata Party officials knocking on the doors of people who have received government subsidies for water taps, gas cylinders or housing construction.
The data creates a layer of feedback that helps parties choose candidates, weeding out large numbers of incumbents before each election. “This Bharatiya Janata Party is very ruthless when it comes to its chances of winning,” Mehta said.
What holds all this together is Mr. Modi's extraordinary charm and political and technological acumen.
He put his personal story at the center of a story about a rising India, a key pillar of his campaign. If a chai seller's lower-caste son can become one of the most powerful men in the world, other ordinary Indians can also dream, he says.
While inequality is rising and 800 million Indians are at the mercy of monthly rations, many are instead focusing on their faith that Mr. Modi is not a thief. He portrays himself as a bachelor with no descendants who works only for the people of India, unlike what he calls the corrupt political dynasties of the rebels.
“Modi was not born into some royal family to become prime minister,” he told a crowd of tens of thousands in Maharashtra. “You're the one who brought him here.”
The political opposition has been significantly weakened by infighting, a leadership crisis, and a struggle to present an ideological alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
But it also faces a playing field that Mr. Modi has tilted in his favor.
He terrified the broadcast media. Independent journalists who question his policies have been jailed or faced legal harassment. India leads the world in shutting down the internet, obscuring fears that seem to be perilous to the government. And officials in Mr. Modi's government forced social media platforms to collect sensitive content.
Investigative agencies have slowed down investigations into Mr. Modi's political opponents, with opposition parties involved in more than 90% of cases involving politicians over the past decade. Many languish in prisons and the court system. Those who switch allegiance to the BJP find their case disappearing.
While campaigning in West Bengal, opposition candidate Mahua Moitra spoke about saving democracy from the authoritarianism that led to his ouster from Congress. He said it was a messy incident involving his ex-girlfriend's Rottweiler named Henry. and accusations of graft.
Authoritarianism and Mr. Modi's affinity for billionaires are the opposition's two main vectors of attack. During her campaign, Moitra told a women's group that she was still waiting for government funds to build houses as Modi was “busy building palaces for his friends.”
Analysts question whether either issue will resonate widely. Many Indians, especially in his stronghold in the north, where they have a decisive say in who rules from New Delhi, like exactly what they are getting from Mr. Modi.
“He is the prime minister. If he is not strong enough, what good is that?” Anjali Vishwakarma, 37, an interior designer, was visiting the Ganges with her family one day in Varanasi, Mr. Modi's constituency. We talked while walking along the river.
Suhasini Raj Contributed report from Varanasi. Samir Yasir From Krishnagar and Hari Kumar Originally from Ghaziabad, India.