THE THIRD COMING
India Today|January 06, 2025
PM NARENDRA MODI GETS A HISTORIC THIRD TERM BUT WITH THE INDIA BLOC DENYING THE BJP A MAJORITY ON ITS OWN, SOME OF THE SHEEN WEARS OFF
RAJ CHENGAPPA
THE THIRD COMING

What leaders propose, the gods of democracy, the voters, dispose in their own way. For Narendra Modi, the crowning glory of his being prime minister for a decade was to be the induction into a rarefied league of statesmen in 2024. For that, he had to emulate the record held by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, who had three consecutive terms with a full majority in Parliament. Modi intended to achieve the distinction with a thumping mandate in the general election. The year began auspiciously enough, when as Yajmaan (patron) he led the consecration ceremony of the Balak Ram idol at the new and awe-inspiring Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22. The event was regarded as a spectacular demonstration of Hindu resurgence and pride. Modi captured the zeitgeist when he began his evocative address by saying, "Our Ram Lalla will no longer be living in a tent, he will now reside in his divine mandir."

The material culmination of a century-old struggle to build the mandir and the deep emotional valence it held for India's Hindu majority was considered a game-changer for the Lok Sabha polls. So much so, Modi set a high benchmark for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners with the war cry, 'Ab ki Baar, Chaar Sau Paar (This time, 400 seats-plus). The confidence stemmed from the BJP's belief that it had dealt a body blow to the Opposition INDIA bloc early in 2024 by winning over Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, its prime mover. The other trump card was the BJP wresting power in Maharashtra in 2022 after it engineered a split in the Shiv Sena, and later the Nationalist Congress Party, in this crucial state.

この記事は India Today の January 06, 2025 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は India Today の January 06, 2025 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

INDIA TODAYのその他の記事すべて表示
Delhi's Belly
India Today

Delhi's Belly

Academic, historian and one of India's most-loved food writers, PUSHPESH PANT'S latest book-From the King's Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi-delves deep into the capital's culinary heritage

time-read
1 min  |
January 06, 2025
IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO
India Today

IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO

Hemant and Kalpana Soren changed Jharkhand's political game, converting near-collapse into an extraordinary comeback

time-read
3 分  |
January 06, 2025
THE MAHA BONDING
India Today

THE MAHA BONDING

At one time, Fadnavis, Shinde and Ajit Pawar were seen as an unwieldy trio with mutually subversive intent. A bumper assembly poll harvest inverts that

time-read
3 分  |
January 06, 2025
THE LION PRINCE
India Today

THE LION PRINCE

A spectacular assembly election win ended a long political winter for Kashmir and his party, the National Conference. But Omar Abdullah now faces crucial tests—that of meeting great expectations and holding his own with the Centre till J&K gets its statehood back

time-read
2 分  |
January 06, 2025
TRIAL BY FIRE
India Today

TRIAL BY FIRE

Formal charges in a US court, an air marked by accusations of bribery and concealment of information, the attendant political backlash, pressure on stock prices, valuation losses. Yet the famed Adani growth appetite and business resilience stays

time-read
3 分  |
January 06, 2025
'Criticism has always been a source of motivation for me'
India Today

'Criticism has always been a source of motivation for me'

It’s just day five since he was crowned 2024 FIDE World Chess champion (which he celebrated with a bungee jump), and Gukesh Dommaraju is still learning to adjust to the fanfare.

time-read
4 分  |
January 06, 2025
THE YOUNG GRANDMASTERS
India Today

THE YOUNG GRANDMASTERS

GUKESH DOMMARAJU IS NOW THE YOUNGEST EVER WORLD CHAMPION, BUT THAT IS JUST ICING ON THE CAKE IN INDIA'S CHESS STORY. FOR THE 'GOLDEN GENERATION', 2024 WAS THE YEAR THEY DID IT ALL

time-read
10 分  |
January 06, 2025
SHOOTING QUEEN
India Today

SHOOTING QUEEN

Manu Bhaker scripted a classic turnaround at Paris 2024, putting the ghosts of the past behind her through sheer willpower to engrave her own destiny

time-read
3 分  |
January 06, 2025
THE COMEBACK KING
India Today

THE COMEBACK KING

It was in no one's script: Naidu's standing leap from near-oblivion, to a place where he writes the destiny of Andhra—even New Delhi

time-read
2 分  |
January 06, 2025
HALTING THE BJP JUGGERNAUT
India Today

HALTING THE BJP JUGGERNAUT

A roller-coaster year saw the Opposition coalition rebound with bold moves and policy wins, but internal rifts continue to test its durability

time-read
2 分  |
January 06, 2025