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Yes, the 4th pillar was there, standing tall, as there was no press censorship like during the emergency to suppress it. But almost reminding Charles Shovraj’s assertion, ‘In India, money speaks louder,’ Indian media could be tamed and even converted to business houses like in the US. After all, what was globalisation for? It was so well managed that even their most critical articles on Modi were neutral. Yes neutral. What else can we expect from the media? Not sure who gave it, but they even liked the nickname ‘Godi Media’. In the winning spree, the opposition wasn’t seen as equal and opposite, like the Labour Party and the Conservative Party in the UK. With the crash course from Cambridge only looking like a local board promising fluent English in a week, the man of the house, Rahul Gandhi, just remained the man of the house alone. But it’s not that Rahul gave up, and did nothing. He did cross country walks that benefited his health and his politics. But the creation of I.N.D.I.A, was only seen as an alliance of corrupt and directionless opportunists who came together to oppose Modi. Yes, the opposition wasn’t strong, but internal leadership contenders were. Being farsighted, he not only demoted stalwarts like Ranjhe and Sivaraj but also promoted the ever-so-obedient and indebted novices to lessen future competitors. Yes, even if everything else was discarded, being called a Hindu nationalist leader by the ever-trusted BBC, he very logically saw the compulsion of Hindus to vote for the BJP as they had no choice. But then, he wasn’t unkind to them either. He gave them the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the corridor to the Siva Temple in Benares, and even the Hindu transfer of the power symbol Sengol to the astrologically jinxed triangular parliament! Even if the Shankaracharyas and the speaker didn’t get their places, the head of the RSS, who even propped him up in 2014, almost taking a wife's place, was strongly present there, right in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Temple. If nothing else, even its timing just before the election could itself be termed a masterstroke. He thus not only created an army of Modi Bhakts who idolised him and some even saw him as God incarnate, he created a Modi family too. If everything was fair in love and war, he had done everything fairly. There was, therefore, nothing at all to stop him. In fact, if there was anything called ‘I am the monarch of all I survey’ it was him and his land. And when he gave the slogan ‘Abke baar 400 paar’, not only he or his party but even the opposition almost believed in it. That was not even a long time ago, for God’s sake—just a few months ago! Looking at his charisma rather than the charts properly, even astrologers had a field day in predicting a good political harvest for the supremo. Yes, with everything favouring him, if there was any fear, it was that the man could be a dictator and change the constitution. Arguing it was necessary, many even okayed that! There was not even a single child who said, ‘The emperor is naked’. That would be left for Rahul to do on July 1st. The election: After all was said and done, unlike the lucky Saudi prince who was easily and endlessly injecting atheism into his kingdom –the centre of Islam--Indian leaders were compelled to face a democratic test. But then, almost proving the presence of God, whatever the atheists may say, like a divine retribution, as rapidly as his trains attained super speed, a bear market of his popularity ensued that even showed a free fall. Let alone a Nobel Prize, achieving even a PM post was getting harder. Love for Modi would be the domain of Modi Bhaktas and now the Modi family alone. But again, it’s not that Modi was dumb and did not have an indication of things. In fact, with the election stretching like the longest-lasting battery, that itself gave him the time to reflect and plan on how to prevent a disaster. Having learned it from the American talk show, he shed tears in Benares to ask for votes where only four years ago he was the king and Kejri had to flee with his tail tugged between his legs. Furthermore, almost like Owaisi grabbing his name for media interest and thus prominence, he went to the southern tip of the country to meditate and invoke Swamy Vivekananda’s name. The six cameramen that he took did not disturb his meditation or his poses. His master-showmanship was proven once more. The election results. It wasn’t all that bad, though. As if there were a light at the end of the tunnel, several exit polls propped up out of nowhere and said what Modi wanted to hear. Rejoicing wasn’t for him alone, for astrologers said, ‘Look, I told you so, and the stock market guys made millions in the projected bull market. But, almost tracing ‘all good things come to an end’ or airing, the 4th of June was too early to be as good as the 4th of July, the results coming out on the 4th were not good. The actual result on that day was worse than what even Modi’s gut feelings suggested in many ways. It was bad for him and his party, the BJP. Yes, the feared constitution-changing dictator in waiting person’s party did not even manage to cross the majority mark! Not only that. The worst part was that it was not a fight among equals like the Labour and Conservative parties in the UK. It was a fight between a party that was perceived to have done so much for the country and a party that had sold just one slogan, ‘garibi hatao’ to remain in power for five generations. Even I.N.D.I.A looked like a show of unity against Modi alone. It looked like a grouping of a bunch of desperados. Thus, a defeat against them was a fight between unequals, and the result was thus much more painful. Fair enough, he became a third-term ruler like Nehru, but unlike the latter, he was forced to beg for coalition support for the first time in his life. Now it was the EC’s turn to rejoice and say, ‘We told you we are neutral’.

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