When British Prime Minister David Cameron quoted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s famous catchline about “acche din aane wale hain”, good days will come, he perhaps touched a raw nerve. The crowd was hysteric as Modi supported a feeble smile about a promise he had made to the nation but had failed to fulfill. When Cameron reiterated that “acche din zaroon aaiyaga”, good days will definitely be here, he underlined the hard fact that Modi’s election slogan had yet to see the light of day.  
Cameron was speaking at reception at Wembley stadium during Modi’s  visit to the United Kingdom. But India and Indians did not need Cameron to tell them what they have known for some months now. They had learnt to live with the absence of achche din but, at the same time, not bargained for bure din, bad days.
Modi’s eighteen-month rule has been quite that. India did not see good days but a great deal of what was also reversed. Prices of essential goods sky-rocketed; intolerance peaked and blood spilled on the issue of beef. This is not the India people had bargained for when they voted in Modi and his achche din slogan.
 If one were to assess crowds on his trips abroad, one would be forced to conclude that Modi’s popularity is intact. But crowds Modi attracts overseas should not be mistaken for his in-house popularity as it were. That Modi is a showman is a given. That he can say the right things at the right time in the right place is also well known. One cannot undermine the fact that the his supporters are first rate organizers and getting crowds together in large numbers is, for them, child’s play be it in the USA or at Wembley stadium in the UK.
The Wembley event, reportedly, the largest ever Britain had seen for a foreign leader, was organized by British-Indian community along with private players and corporate sponsors including the Tatas. The mega event was dubbed as the “Olympic style” ceremony. In the enthusiasm, the reality about Modi being barred from Britain for almost a decade, following his role in the Gujarat riots, became history.
Back home the picture is not as rosy for Modi. The downslide had begun some months ago. The Delhi debacle, when BJP managed only a three seat win out of 70 in the Assembly early this year, the writing on the wall was clear. But the Modi led BJP, though shocked did not set its house in order. Oblivious, it was business as usual.
The leadership was smug in believing that Modi has no competitors and the Delhi debacle was more because of Arvind Kejriwal’s popularity than Modi’s failures. Consequently, complaints of arrogance and inaccessibility of party bigwigs fell on deaf ears.  Rumblings within,  according to the leadership, were the handiwork of disgruntled elements with little semblance to reality.
Things worsened with communalism backing inaction. On the one hand, rising prices was making life difficult for the common man; on the other communalism backed with intolerance was taking effect. Killings and bloodbath are, in Modi’s India, the order of the day. Beef eaters were lynched and freedom of expression curtailed.
Intellectuals are up in arms and awardees have registered protests by returning national awards. Till before the Bihar election outcome there was content in the allegation that the protests were stage-managed to blacken Modi and his team. But the results, a disaster for the BJP, substantiated that there was content in the anger that manifested itself in the poor numbers that showed up. In the 243-seat assembly, BJP managed barely 53 seats. The shocker was that it was only 26 seats ahead of the Congress that had recovered lost ground rather steadily.
That morning when the results were tricking in Modi was with BJP’s L.K.Advani wishing in a happy birthday. Little did he know that the pleasantaries exchanged would turn sour shortly. After the debacle Advani was among those who issued a statement with other veterans stating that the party had been “emasculated” and was forced to kowtow to a handful. The statement also spoke of the consensual character of the party being destroyed.
Modi had launched an aggressive campaign in Bihar and addressed over two dozen rallies. That his charisma was on the wane was clear from its dismal performance. With non-starter Rahul and the Congress getting 27 seats and Modi just double of it, went to prove the extent of BJP’s drubbing.
The knives were out and this time around the statement by party elders, Advani included, was not seen as an expression of the disgruntled but one that said what others within felt but were afraid to articulate. Therefore Advani and company touched a chord that went down well within the rank and file as well as the country as a whole. This time around it was not seen as an attempt to checkmate “poor Modi” but one seen as showing him and his minions a mirror.
It was one that was an attempt to showcase the bleak future of the party in the hands of Modiwallahs. Of course the statement did not name anyone but the message was clear: Modi had proved to be a disaster and his dictatorial ways meant doom for the country. While on the last, it is ironic that Advani had some months ago, hinted at the possibility of an Emergency like situation gripping the country yet again. Then he was criticized as one who was making it difficult for Modi to govern but this time around what he and the others have said went down rather well: “Theekh kah rahe hai” they are right, being the common refrain.
But the issue is not only within the BJP: the danger is  outside too. With the Grand alliance of three parties, namely the Congress, JD(U) and RJD, nearly routing BJP in Bihar, alarm bells have rung. For the non BJP parties it is good news but for the BJP a death knell. This is because this election is not about Bihar alone; it is about a national message: it is about stating that Modi has, in Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s thrice sworn in Chief Minister, a competitor who can match him in governance and development.
The Bihar model of development, statistics show, is comparable to the much-touted Gujarat model, achieved without fear or favour. Bihar took strides taking the minorities along in a spirit of camaraderie as against Modi’s divide and rule policy; it went ahead and propagated tolerance against Modi’s intolerant policy and more so showcased Nitish as a mature, sane leader against Modi’s antics, histrionic and dramatics.
More importantly it has projected Nitish as a national contender and one who has the capacity to take on Modi and if the situation warrants to unseat him. In Nitish, Modi has a national challenger, in him he has a political rival and a nation who would moot for a non communal, secular leader like Nitish against a dictatorial, intolerant Modi. Therefore, the move to replicate the Bihar model of the Grand alliance with like-minded regional parties across the length and breadth of the country could be on the anvil.
The countdown has begun and Modi needs to concentrate and shift focus within India rather than revel in praise that comes from people who live outside it. To them Modi is a photo-op but to those living in India he is a Prime Minister who has yet to deliver on his promises.  Add to this the Nitish-threat becoming real by the minute, and it is enough to give Modi sleepless nights.  

The writer is a senior Indian
journalist, political commentator and columnist of The Independent. She can be reached at: ([email protected])