Gokul Kunnath
There is bound to be euphoria and excitement subsequent to the declaration of the election results. I am sure there will be spontaneous celebrations by ordinary citizens and the more organized events by the BJP through out the country.
While that is befitting a historic victory such as this one, what the NDA must focus on is the more important ceremony that will considerably enhance the status of India’s supreme leader in the eyes of the world.
I am referring to the inauguration of the new Prime Minister, or more aptly, the coronation of the commoner named Narendra Damodardas Modi. The typical Indian swearing in ceremony of the Prime Minister is not a widely recognized event.
As India rises to the position of a super power, its supreme leader must command respect from the rest of the world. Such elaborate ceremonies among other powerful nations such as Britain, United States and China should steer us in the right direction from 2014 on-wards.
As India gains global acceptance as a major power, the public ceremony associated with the installation of a new prime minister must also attract worldwide attention.
But before that, let us take a look at the importance of this election. This was not at all an ordinary election. What has changed the importance of the election has more to do with who got elected than who got defeated. After all, the Congress and the Gandhi family have been defeated earlier and the BJP has been in power before as well. So what is so special about 2014?
Remember that this is a man elected by the largest electorate in the free world, a staggering 815 million human beings. Hence India has the moral duty to lead the free world by virtue of it being the largest democracy on the planet. It is also an honor we had neglected to claim in favor of the United States.
Representatives of all nations should witness the power and promise of such an unprecedented human exercise. Secondly, given the continuous and crude attempts to finish the political career of this extra ordinary man, the public ceremony, to a large extent, should also be a public display of the ultimate vindication of Narendra Modi.
More importantly, the ascent to power of Narendra Modi, should demonstrate a departure from the Congress tradition, which lacked glamour, ceremony and the display of national power. It just doesn’t fit the stature and the style of the newly elected Prime Minister.
In contrast, look at the Presidential inauguration in the US. The whole world watches it and the pomp and ceremony leaves no one in doubt that the US President is the most powerful man on the planet.
Although such ceremonies alone are not sufficient to project national power in the absence of real military and economic might, it has a value of its own in the scheme of national and world politics.
Keeping this in mind, the BJP leadership should organize a swearing in ceremony for Narendra Modi in a manner that befits the status of India as a global super power.
Will the new Indian administration offer the electorate some thing different from its inception? I sincerely hope so.