Modi’s Enemies Are Too Big a Target
His critique of India’s snobbish, English-speaking elites is both politically astute and not entirely off-base.
Nixonian in his resentments.
Photographer: Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images
The reelection of Narendra Modi doesn’t only represent a political earthquake. The triumph of a self-made politician of modest background over India’s oldest political dynasty is also a cultural revolution.
In an interview with the Indian Express during his recent reelection campaign, Modi identified precisely the Indian icons he wished to smash. He lashed out at “the Khan Market gang” and “Lutyens Delhi,” which he accused of scorning and mocking him while building up the likes of Rajiv Gandhi, India’s allegedly corrupt former prime minister in the 1980s and the father of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi.