Narendra Modi Stadium: Is this megalomania or insecurity?

A concern with institutionalising Modi's legacy is also reflected in his photograph being sent into outer space along with the Bhagawad Gita on India's first indigenously built Satish Dhawan satellite

Modern political leaders rarely memorialise themselves in their own lifetime. It is usually left to their successors to honour them by naming airports, hospitals and other public buildings after them. So it is surprising that someone as astute as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allowed the "largest cricket stadium in the world" in Ahmedabad, to be renamed after him. Earlier, it was christened after another son of Gujarat as the Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium.
 
It is incomprehensible on the face of it that someone who has publicly berated the Nehru-Gandhi family for restricting the names of institutions to its members should open himself to similar charges. In his defence it has been said that he was president of the Gujarat Cricket Association at the time the stadium was planned. The usual whatabouters also point to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s acceptance of his Cabinet’s nomination for Bharat Ratna in 1955.

 
It may be argued that six years into his prime ministership, Modi now feels confident enough to accede to things he might have been hesitant about when he first assumed office. It could even be said that he has reached a level of confidence where he might adopt public postures that may seem bizarre to the urban liberal population. He knows that a mass of followers approves of the widely-distributed footage which shows him doing yoga stretches and feeding peacocks in his night clothes. Perhaps it is a signal that his public persona does not need to conform to the mores and tastes of the liberal middle class, which has in any case been now dismissed by him and his supporters as "the Khan Market Gang". The overgrown and un-barbered look he has effected of late may be said to convey a sage-like persona offering knowledge, wisdom and guidance, as in his Mann ki Baat, which addresses the complexities and anguishes of day-to-day living.

 

Some critics see the renaming of the stadium and the reconstruction of Central Vista and new Parliament building in Delhi as a manifestation of the extreme personal vanity that was first noticed in 2015 when he wore the now infamous monogramed suit to a meeting with visiting US president Barack Obama. But the new projects will not be explained by narcissism and its attendant sycophancy. That explanation does not do justice to his political intelligence. So perhaps one can conjecture whether his present moves reflect a growing preoccupation in Prime Minister Modi’s mind with securing his place in the national memory and to ensure that he is remembered by posterity as he desires.

 
A concern with institutionalising his legacy is reflected in other arenas as well. His photograph was sent into outer space on Sunday along with the Bhagawad Gita on India’s first indigenously built Satish Dhawan satellite. Prime Minister Modi’s name tops the list of 25,000 names sent into space. It has also been imprinted on the top panel of the satellite with the words "Atmanirbhar Mission" while those of the chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Dr K Sivan and its Scientific Secretary Dr R Umamaheshwaran have been etched on its bottom panel. This is the first commercial launch using PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) by NewSpace India Ltd, a public sector enterprise under Isro. This nod towards the prevailing gods would not have been done without knowing that it would receive appreciative approval.

 
The recent attempts at memorialisation through concrete architecture may also have originated in Prime Minister Modi’s new concerns. That he has chosen to rename the cricket stadium in Gujarat, a state that he has ruled as chief minister three times, is no surprise. In choosing a cricket stadium he has selected to celebrate a game that knows no religion and is indeed akin to a religion itself with its own gods and demigods. A unifying sport, it would push into the background his association with the communal carnage that took place under his watch in 2002 when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.

 
But the son of Gujarat may also have to hide other narratives before he can lay claim to the image of a leader who united India and made it strong by suppressing fissiparous forces. The link with Sardar Patel is important to assert this. Not only was Patel a Gujarati like him but unlike the icons of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which form an integral part of Prime Minister Modi’s real political lineage, he actually participated and led the freedom struggle. The retaining of the name Sardar Patel Sports Enclave for the complex in which the "largest" cricket stadium is situated and the making and installation of the statue of Sardar Patel, again the "tallest" in the world, will give him the brand rub-off and the larger-than-life stature he needs. He will be able to thus situate himself within a political lineage which his ideological predecessors had nothing to do with.

 
So, the Narendra Modi stadium should be seen as a piece with the new Parliament building and Central Vista projects that Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate during his current term. Both are designed as commemorative devices to promote a selective discourse on his tenure and his leadership – immortalising him and canonising his doctrine of "strong" governance. He wants to be remembered among the great rulers of India, if not the greatest – surpassing Ashoka, Akbar and, most certainly, his bete noir Jawaharlal Nehru.
 
Prime Minister Modi, well-versed in Hindu mythology, might have taken his inspiration from the "Yaksha Prashna" in the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata. Yaksha asks Yudhishthira, "What is the most surprising thing on earth?" Yudhishthira replies, "Even though all creatures die eventually, the rest assume that death will not affect them. What could be more surprising than this fact?" Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the other hand is looking squarely at the inevitable and determinedly preparing for it by ensuring how he will be remembered. Twitter: @bharatitis