The UPA also showed utter disregard for Indian ethos. India, where the cow has been considered sacred since time immemorial, silently became the number one exporter of beef. This notorious development came as a big jolt. Subsidies were liberally given to beef exporters while farmers were committing suicide.
The nation witnessed such discrimination under the garb of secularism. People were fed up with leaders who read out scripted speeches containing the same old rhetoric without delivering on any promises. Rahul Gandhi barely attended parliament and was never available during any national crisis. In sharp contrast, the conviction and confidence with which Narendra Modi spoke about development was just the change people were looking for. He proudly proclaimed his faith and expressed his commitment to the entire nation. While the Congress tried its best to portray him as the perpetrator of the 2002 Gujarat riots, it became clear 10 years later that the local Congress head was involved in triggering this violent episode.
Pictures of Mahatma Gandhi feature prominently on Congress hoardings all over the country, but two of his most important ideas - prohibition and banning cow slaughter - have been implemented only in Gujarat under Modi's leadership. With a solid record in good governance, what further endeared him to the masses was that he spoke from the heart and thus became the natural choice for the people. Coming from a very poor background where his mother was a domestic help, his rise to the highest office of the world's largest democracy has instilled hope in the country's poor.
It is not that the Congress has not done any good at all - it took some very progressive initiatives but the volume of wrongdoings washed them all away. It is time for the grand old party to rethink its strategy, get rid of sycophancy and be true to democracy.
