Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says India has the lowest Covid death rate in the world! His Jordan counterpart resigned after six Jordanians died gasping for oxygen. But the chorus in India is not for Harsh Vardhan’s hide. The shout-out here is for Pradhan Sevak Narendra Modi’s head. So much so, it’s got difficult to think of Modi as Prime Minister! As it is, the ‘Chowkidar’ hoodwink was ‘scratch and throw.’

Post-West Bengal elections, Social Media is full of anti-Modi hashtags, highlighting his “apathy”, and his alleged “incompetence” – his singular disregard for precious human life. Especially that of the West Bengal BJP ‘karyakarta.’ Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah vanished from the radar like the proverbial promise when “TMC goons” went on the rampage post-election results.

And somebody tweeted “Hindu Lives Matter” when #spinelessmodi and #resignmodi trended. JP Nadda sat on a dharna, a throwback to Noakhali, 1947! Not surprisingly, Modi turned deaf, dumb and blind. If anything, he tweeted his “congratulations” to Mamata Didi. The last straw for the “andhbhakts.” ‘Shameless’ and ‘coward’ and other derogatory references followed.

Calls for Modi’s resignation went through the roof. Arundhati ‘Booker’ Roy wrote him a letter, asking him to quit for somebody else to take his place. Even the BJP base sought his departure with one of them tweeting “What’s the process to get a PM removed mid-term?” For the BJP ‘karyakarta’ and BJP supporters, Narendra Modi lost his yen to lead. He had also blown their trust. “We did not give you 303 seats to watch BJP karyakartas get killed,” tweeted an entrenched “Modi-bhakt.”

Another mocked him for being a “serial failure.” From #shaheenbaghfailure to #dilliriotsfailure; from #republicdayfailure to #farmersbillsfailure. And, now, #westbengalfailure! For all purposes, it appears like Modi’s goose is cooked. And the writing’s on the wall: Modi has been caught napping – ‘vinashakale vipreet buddhi.’ If elections were to be held tomorrow, the BJP would lose.

Like one foreign publication noted: “Modi’s arrogance did him in.” Narendra Modi thought himself infallible. Beyond reproach. A rightwing voodoo, who like Donald Trump thought he could get away with the impossible. But, now, we know: There’s a threshold even for Narendra Modi. And he crossed it, or fell short of it, when he lost track of Covid-19 and went on that electioneering binge. He fell for ‘Didi-O-Didi’ and now he cannot get up and stand for anything.

Other things assumed, the fact of the matter is, Modi couldn’t stop gloating at the sight of the huge crowds at the rallies and roadshows in West Bengal. Even TMC turncoat Suvendu Adhikari couldn’t help but marvel. Modi forgot there was a pandemic. He had gotten his two Covaxin shots, and in that frame of mind, whoever would have thought of a second Covid wave – a virtual Tsunami?

Modi was caught unprepared. Caught unawares by the sheer numbers. The record daily death counts. Day after day – relentless. The ‘killat’ or scarcity of life-giving oxygen. Heart-rending pictures of desperate relatives of the gasping Covid-19 ill. The funeral pyres burning bright in the dead of the night. The cremations in public parks. On the pavements of major thoroughfares.

The paparazzi are having a field day. Getty images are buying and selling death for thousands of dollars. The Washington Post, the Time magazine, the New York Times, The Guardian, all of them wrote of ‘Modi’s failures. China’s communist party mouthpiece Global Times mocked, and laughed. Cartoonists spoke volumes with pencil and paper sketches transplanted on the web.

Modi’s flowing Tagore beard caught the imagination, but it did not impress after a few days. On the contrary, it became a symbol of his vanity. Was it deliberately allowed to grow, to impress the Bengali bhadralok voter? And, now, he cannot take the scissors to it. People will laugh. But keeping it will remind him of ‘Didi-o-Didi.’ Worse, the BJP base is stuck with him. There’s an underlying feeling they want the Modi of old – tough and unforgiving, the Hindu Hriday Samrat!

However, things are not so easy. Opposition parties have smelled blood. Mainstream media believe they finally have the man in the crosshairs. They are snapping at his heels. And for the first time in seven years, Modi looks utterly-butterly vulnerable. The West Bengal showing did not help. But it’s Covid-19 that could end Narendra Modi’s 19/24 run. Covid-19 and the bad press have Modi boxed in – cornered. (IPA Service)