Shekhar Gupta: Fort Narendra Modi

A really popular, well-entrenched Indian leader has never been defeated by a rival. Which is why Modi is impregnable and only he can defeat himself

A hundred-plus days into the Chinese ‘dharna’ in Ladakh, six months into the Coronavirus crisis and in the fourth year of economic growth decline, the many critics of Narendra Modi are exasperated.

Why are the people, hurting so badly, not turning against him? Aren’t they hurting? Has Mr Modi subjected them to some kind of a spell, conjuring up a collective suspension of disbelief? Is it black magic? Although that is something you’ve been hearing in a very different context, a star’s death and his live-in girlfriend.

It is nothing of the sort. This is the way Indian politics is.