India 2017: Narendra Modi’s continuing hegemony and his challenge to China (original) (raw)

Abstract

In 2017 the situation of Indian democracy deteriorated, as shown by the continuing attacks against Muslims and Christians, and by the intimidation against the opponents of political Hinduism. This intimidation culminated in the assassination of well-known journalist and BJP critic Gauri Lankesh. Meanwhile Narendra Modi, in spite of the unsatisfactory economic trend and botched economic reforms, continued to be India’s most popular politician. Also, during the period under review, Modi’s party, the BJP, went from one success to another, strengthening its political hold on the country by conquering four Indian states (Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand), and by retaining its hold on two more (Goa and Gujarat). However, the latest of these elections, the one in Gujarat, although confirming the BJP in power, saw an unexpected good result on the part of a resurgent Congress. Some analysts saw this as an indication that the BJP’s tightening hold on the Indian political system was not unbreakable. India’s foreign policy continued to be characterised by the increasingly closer and increasingly militarised connection with the US and by the ever more adversarial relation with China. It was in this field that the Modi government conquered a clear (although possibly temporary) success, by facing down China in the Himalayan Doklam plateau.

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

References (33)

  1. Sanjay Kumar, 'Decoding Assembly Election Results 2017', Livemint, 13 March 2017.
  2. In both states, however, the BJP won the relative majority of the popular vote. 25. Prashant Jha, 'Nitish's move will benefit both him and Modi but the mahagatbandhan is in tatters', Hindustan Times, 27 July 2017.
  3. Praveen Rai & Sanjay Kumar, 'The Decline of the Congress Party in Indian Politics', Economic and Political Weekly, 25 March 2017.
  4. A. K. Verma, 'Development and Governance Trump Caste Identities in Uttar Pradesh', Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. 49, No. 39, 2014, pp. 89-94. 32. Adnan Farooqui & E. Sridharan, 'Uttar Pradesh Elections 2017', Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. 52, No. 15, pp. 16-20.
  5. Dhirendra K. Jha, 'The «humiliation» that stops Mayawati from accepting Samajwadi Party's offer', Scroll.in, 22 January 2017.
  6. Adnan Farooqui & E. Sridharan, 'Uttar Pradesh Elections 2017', p. 17. 35. 'Akhilesh Yadav sacks Shivpal, appoints Naresh Uttam as Samajwadi Party's UP president', Indian Express, 2 January 2017.
  7. Dhirendra K. Jha, 'Ahead of Sunday's vote, Shivpal Yadav backers keep the family feud alive in UP's Yadav bastion', Scroll.in, 16 February 2017.
  8. 'More than symbolic', The Hindu, 19 January 2017.
  9. Vinoj Abraham, 'Stagnant Employment Growth', Economic and Political Weekly, 23 September 2017.
  10. For a detailed analysis of the demonetisation fiasco and the GST botched implementation, see Michelguglielmo Torri, 'Indian 2017: Still no achhe din (good days) in the offing for the economy', in this same issue.
  11. Milan Vaishnav, 'Modi's going to have a much tougher 2018 than anyone's expecting', The Print, 19 December 2017.
  12. Sanjay Kumar, Jyoti Mishra & Vibha Attri, 'Issues, performance and personality', Seminar, No. 699, November 2017.
  13. ' ABP News-CSDS Lokniti-Uttar Pradesh Postpoll 2017 Survey Findings', Lokniti (http://www.lokniti.org/pol-pdf/ABP-News-CSDS-Lokniti-Uttar-Pradesh-Post- poll-2017-Survey-Findings-Final.pdf). The figure refers to those who 'fully agree' or 'somewhat agree' with the statement: 'Narendra Modi has not lived up to his promise of bringing acche [sic] din'.
  14. ' ABP News-CSDS Lokniti-Punjab Postpoll 2017 Survey Findings', Lokniti, (http://www.lokniti.org/pol-pdf/ABP-News-CSDS-Lokniti-Punjab-Postpoll-2017- Survey-Findings-Final.pdf). The figure refers to those who «fully agree» or «somewhat agree» with the statement: 'Narendra Modi has not lived up to his promise of bringing acche [sic] din'.
  15. ' ABP News-CSDS Lokniti-Goa Postpoll 2017 Survey Findings', Lokniti, (http:// www.lokniti.org/pol-pdf/ABP-News-CSDS-Lokniti-Goa-Postpoll-2017-Survey-Findings.
  16. The figure refers to those who 'fully agree' or 'somewhat agree' with the statement: 'Narendra Modi has not lived up to his promise of bringing acche [sic] din'. 73. ' ABP News-CSDS Lokniti-Uttarakhand Postpoll 2017 Survey Findings', Lokniti, (http://www.lokniti.org/pol-pdf/ABP-News-CSDS-Lokniti-Uttarakhand-Postpoll-2017- Survey-Findings.pdf). The figure refers to those who 'fully agree' or 'somewhat agree' with the statement: 'Narendra Modi has failed to bring acche [sic] din'. 74. 'Lokniti-CSDS-ABP News Gujarat Pre-Election Tracker, Round 3', Lokniti, 4 December 2017 (http://www.lokniti.org/pdf/Gujarat-Tracker-3-Report.pdf). The fig- ure refers to those who «agree» with the statement: «Narendra Modi has failed in bringing Achhe Din».
  17. Sanjay Kumar & Shreyas Sardesai, 'How Gujarat was won'.
  18. Prashant Jha, 'Gujarat election result: PM Modi comes to BJP's rescue, yet again', Hindustan Times, 18 December 2017.
  19. 'PM Narendra Modi's «Aurangzeb Raj» Dig As Rahul Gandhi Set To Become Congress Chief ', NDTV, 4 December 2017.
  20. 'PM Narendra Modi brings Ayodhya to Gujarat polls, here is what he said', Financial Express, 6 December 2017.
  21. Milan Vaishnav, 'Modi's going to have'.
  22. 'Islamabad is trying to fix Gujarat polls, says Modi', The Hindu, 10 Decem- ber 2017.
  23. Sanjay Kumar & Shreyas Sardesai, 'How Gujarat was won'.
  24. 'The real numbers in UP civic poll results bring worrying news for BJP', The Print, 3 December 2017.
  25. Michelguglielmo Torri & Diego Maiorano, 'India 2014: The Annihilation of the Congress Party and the beginning of the Modi Era', Asia Maior 2014, pp. 304- 22;
  26. Michelguglielmo Torri & Diego Maiorano, India 2015, pp. 382-406.
  27. Michelguglielmo Torri & Diego Maiorano, India 2016, pp. 339-54.
  28. United States Census Bureau, Trade in Goods with India (https://www.census. gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5330.html).
  29. Royal Government of Bhutan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Press Release, 29
  30. June 2017. Also, according to some reports, China claimed that «Bhutan informed Beijing that it did not know about Indian troop movements in the [Doklam] region, nor had it asked India to intervene on its behalf». Jeremy Luedi, 'Doklam Standoff Highlights India and China's «Great Game» over Bhutan', Foreign Policy Association, 11 September 2017.
  31. Praveen Swami, 'Behind the ongoing stand-off in Doklam, century-old manoeuvres of geostrategy', The Indian Express, 24 July 2017.
  32. 'Full text of facts and China's position concerning Indian border troops' crossing of China-India boundary', section III. This assertion was left unanswered by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Also worth noticing is that, according to some analysts, the PLA construction work in Doklam aimed at enlarging a pre-existing road, rather than building a new one. Jeremy Luedi, 'Doklam Standoff Highlights India and China's «Great Game» over Bhutan'.
  33. E.g. Brig. (retd) Anil Gupta, 'Post Doklam: India cannot afford to let her guard down'.