Elections to the Lok Sabha in 2014 were held amidst the environment of desperation, hopelessness, demoralization and despair all around. Whether it was the issue of security, honesty and ethics in politics and society or of the governance, values of probity, responsiveness, empathy, accountability, transparency and openness, everything was at stake. The country experienced loot of public money by those who mattered in the ruling dispensation; scam after scams. And the worst part was that neither there was any remorse nor any serious efforts to arrest that trend to unimaginative corruption.
 A social movement that caught the imagination of young India was launched against rampant loot of public resources by Anna Hazare giving birth to a new political party that soon forgot the values and objectives which Anna began his fight for and became a victim of all those vices which it promised to cleanse politics of, including the lust for power. It was here that BJP decided to present Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate and to contest parliamentary elections under his leadership.

 Modi changed the idiom of the political and electoral discourse and set for himself an agenda that could bring India out of the sagging morale and make it walk on the path of hopes and aspirations. He thought that confident India, determined India was the answer to the prevailing challenges before the youth, the women, the farmer, the worker and the weak and poor. In his view the nation would have to rise to the occasion. Naturally he thought that a change in the mindset and political culture was a pre-requisite to usher in a new India, an India free from fear, hunger and corruption on the one side and an India yearning for self reliance on the other side.

So he set before the nation a number of proposals for governance seeking support of the electorate at the time of elections. These were (1) elimination of corruption and the culture of dishonesty nurtured in the past both from the political and administrative arena; (2) development, not caste, creed, status etc, to be the basis of seeking popular mandate. He coined the slogan of sabka saath, sabka vikas to realize that dream; (3) fight against terrorism in a decisive manner in and outside India, (4) governing India as per the letter and spirit of the constitution ,which he described as his religion by following among others the principle of justice to all and appeasement of none and last but not the least making India a strong contender for a position of meaningful influence in the world politics.
Now, the next most important question comes as what steps Modi took after winning the confidence of the 125 crore people of India to translate these promised goals into reality to become the Prime Minister of India. Let us take the items on his manifesto one by one to evaluate dispassionately his performance. Fight against corruption is being taken to its logical conclusion. A number of steps can be cited to buttress this point as evidence. One, Zero tolerance to corruption in the corridors of power has been put clearly in place. Neither the ministers nor the bureaucrats have been found involved in any case of dishonest conduct of public affairs since he took charge of the government at the centre. The same is true of the state leadership in the BJP governed states. Two, secrecy, delay, indecisive administration is the root cause of corruption is accepted by him. So he sought to make governance simple, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent by continuously introducing and strengthening the processes of digitalizing public institutions, networking the levels of governance, focusing on e-governance, increasing the use of technology in governmental and personal transactions. Three, he has given free hand to the national investigating agencies like ED, CBI, CVC, Income Tax to hold the corrupt to rule book irrespective of his or her socio-political or bureaucratic-economic  status, one of the significant causes of unity of his opponents in the country and outside.
 The unease against the decisions on demonetization and GST is also the indicator of Modi’s determination to fight against existing or potential sources of black money and dishonesty. The enactment of Benami property Act is another initiative to make India corruption free.
Now security question has been given the seriousness it deserved. Whether it is the conduct of our policy vis-à-vis Pakistan or China, Modi has shown his mettle by refusing to submit against the blackmail or threat real or imaginary by any one of them, Take the Dokalam issue or surgical strike in POK, the point will be clear. India struck the terrorists inside the territory of Myanmar without inviting any adverse voices against us. The free hand given to the security forces even the face of opposition by the desperate and nervous political supporters in Kashmir and outside that boundary, to deal effectively against the terrorists and the recent arrests of  separatists responsible for terror funding are evidence enough of the will and determination of Modi to end terror activities on the Indian soil. Issue of terrorism has been brought to the core of the terror agenda of the world and regionally too.
Fight against fear and hunger is another item on the manifesto of the Prime Minister. While he launched a number of administrative and financial reforms to make India a strong competitor in the global market for administrative and financial efficiency, efficacy and investments, a number of pro-poor schemes were launched to take care of the poor, the exploited and the deprived. He believes that under the changing global economic environment state may not be able to provide employment under its aegis. So he started a number of programmes to keep the hopes and aspirations of the youth, educated and not so educated to stand on his own through Stand up India, skill India, Start up India, MUDRA Bank Yojna etc. The youth, he says, should be the creator of jobs instead of the beggar for job.. The results may take some time to come. But certainly self employment over state employment is the new dictum.
 Therefore, with such performance card, tis difficult to comprehend what agenda would opposition have when it would challenge Modi’s claim for a second term in office in 2019. Additionally the Opposition suffers from a credible leadership deficit. Will the electorate vote for Mamata, Kejriwal, Lalu, Akhilesh, Rahul Gandhi or Yechury in preference to Narendra Modi for the reigns of the nation? The answer for now looks to be A BIG NO.

(The writer is Senior Consultant, IGNOU)