Why Isn't Modi Doing More?

In just a few years, Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have managed to ensure that they have practically no political rivals of consequence left. Four years ago, the map of India was a patchwork, with the BJP, its national rival the Congress, and multiple regional parties vying for supremacy at the state and federal level. Today, the BJP has an unprecedented legislative majority in New Delhi, and it runs almost every state of consequence.

One of the last opposition bastions in northern India, Bihar, recently fell to the BJP when a coalition of opposition parties collapsed. The state’s chief minister -- once discussed as a possible rival to Modi in the next general election -- said resignedly that nobody was strong enough to take on the prime minister. The BJP now controls 18 out of India’s 29 states, accounting for almost two-thirds of the country’s GDP. Modi’s authority is unchallenged. The question is, why isn’t he doing more with this power?