With the plunging rupee, a sense of uncertainty has surely gripped the Modi Govt and the BJP.
Just a little while ago, their mood was one of exhilaration. The economy was trotting along, Rahul Gandhi was his usual fumbling self and the BJP seemed to be making inroads into the regional parties dominated south. Suddenly the rupee got up to dance and instead of the Tango, it grabbed the partner, leading it into a scary whirl. One step fumble, the next step drive away the other dancers. This is followed by Rahul Gandhi suddenly making all the right moves before a watching electorate who had almost given up on him. An unexpected mantle of maturity seems to have enveloped him just in time for 2019. Then the floods hit Kerala. By itself the economic damage was not insurmountable, but the BJP decided to reject foreign help. No one took the time to educate the party big-wigs of the binding ties between Keralites and the UAE Govt which offered more money than Modi did. In a show of defiance the CM vowed to visit the UAE and accept the money himself. This spark of rebellion stands to light a larger fire with neighbouring states in the south. They distrust Hinduvta anyway suspecting their Dravidian make-up will never find a place with mainstream Hinduism. Modi’s future hinges on the Indian Rupee. By itself this economic event is not critical unless it is a symptom of the shaken confidence of foreign investors who were already eyeing the ongoing political malaise and the antics of a party that seemed to value its religious extremism more that its international partners for whom more concrete measures than Modi’s loving hugs could generate were required. Roland.
