New Delhi: TIME magazine, which came out with an edition critical of Narendra Modi before the elections, seems to have a volte-face now. As the 2019 Lok Sabha elections concluded with a thumbing victory to Modi and the BJP, the magazine has decided to shun its critical stance against the Prime Minister.
Before the elections, the TIME Magazine, had published a cover story under the title ‘India’s Divider-in-chief’ written by a Pakistani based journalist, Aatish Taseer. The cover photo of the edition also gave this article prominence and the headline was juxtaposed with the image of a stern Modi.
However, the recent edition of TIME Magazine has an article which says that Modi has unified the country as no other PMs has done in decades. The article is titled ‘Modi has united India like no Prime Minister in decades’ is written by the CEO of a London based media group, India Inc Group, Manoj Ladwa.
Interestingly, the article comes out after Narendra Modi led NDA won a massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections with 353 seats.
Manoj Ladwa writes in the article, “Despite the strong and often unfair criticisms leveled at Modi’s policies both throughout his first term and this marathon election, no Prime Minister has united the Indian electorate as much in close to five decades.”
He writes that Modi won because he was able to manage to transcend the class divide in the country. He also speaks about how Modi born to poor parents could self identify with India’s aspirational working classes and with the poorest citizens. The Nehru family could never achieve this kind of connect with the masses.
Ladwas, praises Modi’s achievement in bringing back the economy on track from the dismal days of Manmohan Singh’s prime ministership. Modi’s welfare activities are lauded and cites how he was able to use technology to transform society.
The merits of demonetization has been discussed and the writer says that it has doubled the tax base in India and the total amount of tax collected has increased.
TIME magazine has also brought out another article in its website written by Alyssa Ayres, who served as US deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia from 2010 to 2013. The article, titled ‘India’s Economy Needs Tougher Reform. How Will Modi Use His Election Mandate?’, speaks about bold economic reform agenda that Modi might bring about in his second tenure as Prime Minister.
Interestingly, the opposition had used the TIME article on Modi during election campaigns. The Congress supported every word that a Pakistani journalist had to say about the Prime Minister of India. However, the sudden change of heart by TIME is a welcome sign that international media is now accepting the electoral mandate of the largest democracy in the world.
