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It wasn’t just a rhetorical metamorphosis; the prime minister induced a discursive rupture, dragging the gullible from the dreamland into the abyss of despair. The unreal world woven with Vishwaguru fantasies, fourth largest economy brag and danka-baj-raha-hai hallucinations crashed. The dream in the dazzling attire all of a sudden turned into a nightmare in tatters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked the citizens to stay home to save petrol, consume less edible oil and avoid buying gold. Experts warned of a crisis; a long-term struggle, stagflation and more. What changed overnight? The war in West Asia? But the war started on February 28. 

Modi never threw any hint of a lurking crisis; he promised rapid development while campaigning in election-bound states, held grand rallies and roadshows, as if squandering money is no expense. He called a special session of parliament to surreptitiously push delimitation and used the exceptional instrument of address-to-the-nation to malign “anti-women” political opponents. Not a whisper on any kind of a crisis; even the demonstrated reality of millions struggling for gas cylinders was dismissed as panic-mongering. 

Did Modi try to hide the crisis and delay the national response to the multiple challenges to insulate his party from electoral impact? Isn’t that a classic example of an anti-national act? 

 It’s wrong to lay the entire blame on the Iran war. The economy wasn’t in a good shape at all; dressed up for so long by forged data and white lies. The consequences of war are doubtless linked to lack of autonomy in foreign policy. Who is responsible for the reckless alignment with Israel and surrender to US blackmail? Who was assigned the task of looking after India’s energy security over the last decade? Who wasted time in mixing religion with politics, on the toxic polarising agenda, on breaking parties and buying MLAs, in framing activists and critics in false charges? Who misled the nation about Sengol, Kumbh and Ram temple being the driving force behind national reconstruction? Who burnt resources on Kanwariya, lighting up lakhs........

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