But now the question is coming from all directions. And ‘Vinaashe Kale Vipreet Budhi’ has taken hold. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24 equated terror outfits Indian Mujahideen and Popular Front of India with I.N.D.I.A and while at it asked, "Did not ‘East India Company’ also have ‘India’ in its name?"

Truly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take a chill-pill. A rose by another name will still be a rose and the analogy fits ‘India’ and ‘I.N.D.I.A’, too. By Modi's logic, why have ‘India’ in the ‘Republic of India’, and why not ‘Republic of Bharat’?

Did not Modi go berserk with ‘India’ in ‘Start-up India’, ‘Stand-up India’ and ‘Khelo India’? The PM was throwing 'India' into the mix like it was confetti at America's got talent. People have no time to waste unless it's Arnab Goswami whose Modi-Prem is unrivalled.

Goswami by any other name is still sycophant. And Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioning Indian Mujahideen and the Popular Front of India for having ‘India’ in their monikers was tarnishing 'I.N.D.I.A' by association. But it boomeranged. It has started reminding the people of India that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, perhaps, scared the majority of India will vote for I.N.D.I.A and that will be the end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 10 year experiment with "India that is Bharat"!

You see I.N.D.I.A is a brand guru’s dream come true. Whoever dreamt it up broke a glass ceiling. I.N.D.I.A looks set to smash Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aura of invincibility. And it’s showing in his reactions. The Prime Minister is speaking a lot of rubbish including comparing the India in “IM, PFI and EIC” with the Opposition's 'I.N.D.I.A'.

The fact is, Modi and nobody else can stop another bunch of Indians from floating yet another terror outfit with ‘India’ part of its name or should it be "back to school" for Modi for not getting this simple fact right. The problem for Modi is 'I.N.D.I.A' having the upper hand and knowing beforehand how India will vote come 2024.

Is Modi & Co., apprehensive that the ‘inclusive’ in I.N.D.I.A connects the dots – and that the meaning is clear: The BJP looks set to lose control of India because of I.N.D.I.A? And Prime Minister Narendra Modi is rattled for the first time in 10 years. It is a reverse déjà vu from 2014! The Prime Minister complaining “What’s the big deal, there is an ‘India’ in ‘Indian Mujahideen’ and ‘Popular Front of India” is a sign of defeat staring him in the face.

In Modi’s book, name does not lend credibility. If that is so, what was the need to get Rahul Gandhi out of the way? All that the Gandhi talisman did was call a Modi a Modi – a spade a spade! Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi aren't PM Modi’s relatives, what was the panic then for? It was stupid to believe calling them “thieves” would reflect on those with the “Modi” surname?

The extrapolation was designed to remove Rahul Gandhi from the electoral arena. Including the ‘India’ in the East India Company is really taking it a bit too far. Who wants to remember EIC anymore? This is the age of Artificial Intelligence and here’s Modi losing himself in the past. Is age catching up on Modi. July 24, a Modi sycophant said Prime Minister Modi will rule till 2047! But listen to Modi himself and it’s like “Ghalib ye Bhikyaalacha Hai”.

The Prime Minister made fun of the Opposition’s I.N.D.I.A – Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance – by comparing it with the ‘Indian National Congress’, stating that the Opposition was “desperate and directionless”, adding that it was “clear indication of NDA returning to power” but aware that I.N.D.I.A was a threat.

The fact is, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his work cut out for him. He cannot escape the Manipur noose. From now on till 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on his toes and let there be no doubts, it will be his toughest election to date for him.

The Prime Minister’s desperation is showing. A couple of more electoral jolts like the one in the Karnataka assembly elections and there will be need for a pacemaker. As it is Chhattisgarh looks hard. Ditto Rajasthan. And Madhya Pradesh is not a cinch as is being spoken about. Manipur will reverberate in all the assembly elections as will I.N.D.I.A, the catch all vote-encashment net.

That said, Modi’s statement that “the Opposition has decided to stay in the opposition for a long time” signals that willy-nilly Modi wants to remain in power come what may. His riddle “when one is driving on a clear road without anything in sight, one should drive responsibly” doesn’t speak of good intentions. Modi’s statement that foreign countries are expecting the same government to “return to power” does not bode well for democracy. Prime Minister Modi talking of “this is the time of a new dawn, a new awakening” does not sound like a referendum on I.N.D.I.A. This gets obvious when prime-time Modi bhakt, Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, seconds the Modi megalomania and signs off with Bharat that is India.(IPA Service)