Ten months on, national politics has cut Modi to size

When Narendra Modi swept into power in May 2014, crushing the Congress and other opposition parties and silencing his detractors within his own party, a legend of sorts grew about him. He had not only proved his own electoral invincibility but also shown that what India craved was a tough, decisive, no-nonsense leader. The Congress was left licking its wounds and obituaries of the Grand Old Party were being written; meanwhile, stories emerged of how Modi had terrorised his own ministers by warning them about mingling with industrialists or wearing unsuitable clothes. The country looked on with hope that things would now change for the better.

Cut to ten months later and the government appears to be faltering. The BJP has suffered an electoral setback at the hands of the minnow Aam Aadmi Party, it is finding it very difficult to manage Parliament and now, internal dissent at some of the government's decisions is bubbling over. Most crucially, Modi is finding it difficult to push through one of his boldest and critical pieces of legislation, the Land Acquisition Bill because it is being opposed by a wide array of forces - opposition parties, activists like Anna Hazare, farmers' organisations, friendly allies like the Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena, sundry outfits of the Sangh Parivar and, if reports are true, even his own party men. Confrontation between governments and its opponents is not unusual, but in the first few months there was a lull; now, its time for full time politics. 

Sonia Gandhi assumed charge of a grouping of 14 disparate parties and took a delegation to the President. This by itself may not be able to change the situation much since the government has several options available to it, but it indicates that the Congress - under Sonia Gandhi - is now back on the streets and his preparing for the state elections in the coming months. What is more, for the moment at least it demonstrates opposition unity, which should worry the BJP. If the Congress and Anna Hazare come together on the Land Acquisition Bill, and farmers' and tribal organisations join, it could create a formidable force.

That has not gone unnoticed by the BJP. Modi is now facing resistance from within his own party from leaders who are acutely conscious of the rising perception among rural populations that this government wants to take away their land and give it to industrialists. If the Modi government has a considered point of view about why amending the old Land Acquisition Bill, which was passed after all parties agreed to it, is important for economic growth, it has not been able to convey it to either the farmers or to its own members. Such resistance, from party MPs and Sangh outfits, indicates that Modi can no longer hope to have his own way, no questions asked, as was perhaps possible even a few months ago.

In Gujarat, for more than 11 years, Narendra Modi brooked no opposition and pushed through his agenda without resistance. A handful of trusted bureaucrats were entrusted with giving shape to his vision and the credit for Shining Gujarat went to him rather than to his government. Early indications, after he moved to Delhi, were that he would work on the same lines - the ministers were given tasks and targets and bureaucrats were encouraged to come straight to the prime minister if they wanted to convey something. The electoral victories in the state only further consolidated his primacy in his party. 

Now that there are murmurs that the "achche din" are taking their own time coming and the battering in the Delhi elections could have a ripple effect elsewhere, the Modi myth has been dented. A bigger worry is the government's poor handling of parliamentary affairs - the inclusion of an amendment in the Presidential address was an embarrassment that could have been avoided. The government has had successes too - three ordinances were converted to acts after working with the opposition; better political management and outreach could have avoided things coming to this pass. Now, Modi and his government are on the backfoot and the Congress is slowly beginning to recover its mojo. Meanwhile, the narrative grows that this government is pro-big business and anti-farmer, which could cause the BJP considerable harm in elections in states like Bihar and Punjab. Narendra Modi will have to undo that impression; being a good politician, he understands that and will work accordingly.

For a while it looked like one colossus would dominate the political landscape for a long time to come and the others, within and without, would have to just accept it. That scenario has changed.

Narendra Modi will have to work with others, including the opposition parties. Those Modi supporters who were hoping for a slew of decisions that would focus only on economic growth and business, and disregard all other concerns may be unhappy, but normal politics, in its most noisy, messy and chaotic form is back again.