Modi wins despite underperformance because he has a psychological advantage

The second wave of the pandemic has wreaked havoc on an unimaginable scale. Our healthcare system crumbled. We ran short of oxygen and ICU's. Whatsapp became the war rooms for coordinating people. While the governments of the UK and USA had ordered millions of vaccine doses as early as May 2020, our government sat upon this decision until January 2021. When the situation improved after the first wave of COVID, we failed to ramp up our health infrastructure.  

But is it the first time this government has put us in a difficult spot? Demonetization was a disaster in all capital letters. Our economy was barely growing, thanks to the lack of reforms before COVID. At present, it is gasping for breath and its "animal spirit" is already dead. Unemployment levels are historic high. Last year, after the lockdown, we underwent a crisis dealing with the mass migration of the poor from developed to underdeveloped states. 

With so much negativity, what makes this government win elections? 

It has created an illusion of doing something. We are hardwired with this obsessive notion rather than doing nothing. Imagine if the government decides to leave the system as it is. Then we would accuse the government of being a sitting duck. 

So am I supporting policy paralysis? No. Our country needs a lot of good ideas and fairly good implementation. But good ideas are often caught in the ideological battles and petty politics. 

Now, how do you create an illusion of doing something? You can shock the people by implementing things off-guard. But how do people buy this? As much as any reader of this article hates to admit it, we are filled with self-doubts and are prone to indecisiveness. So when we see a leader taking a decision "swiftly and stealthily", our subconscious mind creates a good impression of that leader. 

In the TV series House of Cards, the protagonist Frank Underwood, the fictional President of the United States, breaks the fourth wall and explains, "You do not actually need me to stand for anything, you just need me to stand - To be the strong man, the man of action. My God!, you are addicted to actions and slogans. It does not matter what I say, It does not matter what I do. Just as long as I am doing something, you are happy to be along for the ride. I do not blame you for this. With all the foolishness and indecision in your lives, why not a man like me?".

Whenever we talk of boldness, Mr Modi is often associated with that. The quote mentioned above makes a lot of sense for this. In our personal lives, how many of us have dared to question the decisions of our bosses? How many of us dared to talk to our parents and marry the partner we want? In simple words, how many of us dared to be non-conformant in this society. 

At this juncture, when we come across a Whatsapp forward explaining how "boldly" Mr Modi has taken a "decision". We tend to get carried away with that "boldness" because that is what we want to be in our personal lives. We have to understand that image-building happens psychologically. Modi is a strongman because you think you are weak.

I wantonly quoted Whatsapp forwards phenomena to explain Modi's persona. The liberal intelligentsia fails to grasp the psychology behind this. The social connectivity in Whatsapp is much more personal. The forwards we receive are from people who are close and whom we can trust. Leading Publishing houses could offer the best rational editorials on why Mr Modi is unfit to be the Prime Minister. Yet, the impact of the editorial would either reinforce the beliefs of naysayers of Mr Modi or do nothing. 

In his groundbreaking book, "Thinking Fast and Slow", Daniel Kahneman explains that we have two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, deliberative, and logical.  

I came across a Whatsapp forward, which had a photo of Mr Modi like this.

 

 

This was followed by a long train of a message which started with "Modi's masterstroke makes China clueless...". What comes to your mind when you see this image? A "Bold" personality?  A "courageous" leader? or nothing? I leave this exercise of imagination to you. But an uninformed reader does not even have to proceed further to know why it is a masterstroke or why China is clueless. The impression has been made already.  The information, in this case, is processed through System 1, which is fast, intuitive and emotional. Reading an editorial requires a deliberate effort and application of mind and hence we employ System 2 to consume content.

 

 If congress or any other opposition party wants to challenge BJP in 2024, they should be imaginative. BJP indeed wins because it is an incredible election-winning machine. Hindutva politics also has a definite role in its success. What I appeal to the readers is that we should not overlook the psychological reasons for BJP's electoral success.