Modi talks, Ranchi walks

Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's visit to Ranchi in Jharkhand late last month saw the customary turnout, according to the media. Although the fact of the large turnout was correct, as was the Bollywood-style cheering when Modi landed by helicopter, no one reported the fact that the crowds started leaving soon after his speech began. So wrote economist Jean Dreze in an article in Prabhat Khabar, the Hindi daily, an English translation of which appeared on a website called South Asia Citizens Web. Dreze wrote that, despite Modi's dramatic tone and gestures, his "rhetoric had the contrived feel of a film audition and the content was flat. Perhaps that is why people started leaving the grounds in large numbers soon after he started speaking. Those who remained showed little interest in what he said and rarely clapped or cheered despite prompting from party workers. To me it looked like Modi had failed to connect with the audience." Or maybe, as Dreze pointed out, they did not appreciate the fact that Modi kept reminding them about the mess in Jharkhand, forgetting that his own party had ruled the state for eight of the 13 years since its creation.