#rural livelihood
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Navigating the Urban Jungle: Improving Livelihood in Cities
Living in the city can be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, urban areas provide individuals with access to numerous amenities, opportunities, and social connections that are not available in rural areas. On the other hand, navigating the urban jungle can be a daunting task, especially for those who are new to the city.
In this article, we will explore some strategies for improving livelihood in cities.
Understand the Local Community Understanding the local community is an essential first step in improving livelihood in cities. This means learning about the culture, customs, and traditions of the local people. It also means understanding the social and economic structures of the community. By doing so, individuals can better integrate into the community and find opportunities that may not be immediately apparent. Develop a Support Network Building a support network is critical for success in the city. This can include friends, family, and colleagues, as well as local organizations and businesses. Developing strong relationships with these individuals and organizations can provide individuals with a sense of belonging and access to resources and opportunities that may not be available otherwise. Utilize Public Transportation Public transportation is a vital component of life in the city. Whether it be buses, trains, or subways, using public transportation can save individuals time and money while reducing their carbon footprint. It also allows individuals to better explore the city and access opportunities that may not be available in their immediate area. Find Affordable Housing Finding affordable housing is often one of the most challenging aspects of living in the city. However, there are strategies that individuals can use to find affordable housing. This can include looking for shared living spaces, renting a room instead of an entire apartment, or moving to an up-and-coming neighborhood. Pursue Education and Training Pursuing education and training is an excellent way to improve livelihood in cities. This can include enrolling in college or trade school, taking online courses, or attending workshops and seminars. By doing so, individuals can develop new skills and knowledge that can lead to better-paying jobs and more significant opportunities. Get Involved in the Local Community Getting involved in the local community is an excellent way to improve livelihood in cities. This can include volunteering, joining a community organization or club, or attending local events. By doing so, individuals can meet new people, develop new skills, and find opportunities that they may not have known existed. Explore the City's Green Spaces Urban areas are often associated with concrete and steel, but many cities have beautiful green spaces that are perfect for relaxation and recreation. Whether it be a park, botanical garden, or nature reserve, exploring these areas can provide individuals with a much-needed break from the hustle and bustle of the city. Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is critical for success in the city. This includes eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and getting enough sleep. By doing so, individuals can improve their overall health and well-being, which can lead to greater success in all aspects of life.
0 notes
Text
SUNDESH NGO conducts income generation programs for rural people by offering training in various skills like cutting & tailoring, beauty care, beekeeping, vermicomposting, etc
#livelihood promotion#income generation programs#rural livelihood#sustainable livelihood#Sundesh NGO#NGO conducting income generation programs#ngo in uttar pradesh
0 notes
Text
A Tale of a Thousand Stars answers the age-old question: What if Hallmark movies were good?
#and recognized the geopolitics of rural aid work lol#atots#1000 stars#earthmix#it has every cliche but invests in it until its fresh and meaningful again#did the city girl go to the countryside?#yes#(and then she came back and got hit by a car and her heart got transplanted into a spoiled bratty bottom)#did the protagonist find a more meaningful way to live?#also yes#(but it took effort and support and numerous trials and failures and disruptions to the whole village's livelihood#because of his ignorance and the corrupt economic systems at work)#did the protagonist find true love?#also also yes#(but it was gay and it was as much about self-forgiveness as love for that man and others#plus he had to accept his other responsibilities outside of the village and leave rather than simply running away from the world)#i'm just saying#also no one in hallmark movies is giving the kind of performances that earthmix deliver here#a tale of a thousand stars
74 notes
·
View notes
Quote
Although over 8% of India's population belongs to a tribe, according to the latest census, tribal communities are increasingly being squeezed to the margins of society. "Despite more than two decades of impressive GDP growth, India's growth has remained confined to enclaves of prosperity surrounded by vast hinterlands of deprivation. Indigenous communities of India have been pushed farther away from alluvial plains and fertile river basins into the harshest ecological regions of the country like hills, forests and drylands,” a "tribal development report" from the Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation (BRLF) reads.
Murali Krishnan, ‘India's tribes living on the margin of society’, Deutsche Welle
#Deutsche Welle#Murali Krishnan#India#tribal communities#deprivation#Indigenous communities#Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation#Land dispossession
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Went to the farmers market at 7:30 AM three weekends in a row to buy fresh produce and talk to the local farmers.
Every time I walk down the street through the market seeing the same farming families that passed their farms from generation to generation spanning my whole life, my soul is healed a little bit more. Sure living in Chicago for school was great, but there’s something indescribably beautiful about a community space built around sharing your livelihood for others sustenance.
Hoping that someday you guys get to experience something like that too❤️
#City queers could never make me hate our rural communities#sharing our livelihoods#reentering our agricultural communities is healing me#farm to table#farmers market
0 notes
Text
Rural Challenges Need to be Addressed for Inclusive Growth
We are delighted to cite that Indian is the fifth largest economy in the world by ignoring the fact that nearly 70% population out of 1.4 billion lives in villages. There are many 600,000 villages in India and 640 districts. Predominantly, villagers depend on agriculture and related activities. Monsoon is the key factor for farming in India. And, monsoon is very fastidious, a well-known fact despite so many technological advancements, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) fails to predict it on time.....read more
#rural challenges in India#rural people in India#rural livelihoods india#inclusive growth of economy India#70 percent people live in villages#unemployment in rural India is huge
1 note
·
View note
Text
Tourism and Rural Development: A Policy Perspective.
Tourism has high potential to stimulate economic growth and social change in rural areas because it contributes to local economies, support other products value chains, distributes benefits across both seasonal and geographic grounds, and promotes the conservation of cultural and natural heritage. Through the UNWTO Tourism for Rural Development Programme, the Organization seeks to enhance these and other opportunities that tourism can bring to rural areas. To devise adequate actions and develop impactful initiatives, it is essential to have solid knowledge and data to help support and monitor the evolution of this important agenda.
#: rural tourism#Tourism policy#support mechanisms#investment#entrepreneurship#good practices#planning#opportunities and challenges#Tourism sector#tourism economy#social cohesion#environmental#cultural exchanges#natural ressources#livelihoods#cultural heritage#tourism infrastructure#connectivity#digitalization#tourism products#tourism prospects#future of tourism#sustainable development goals#unwto#Rural tourism#rural areas#sdgs#globalgoals#sdg1#sdg8
1 note
·
View note
Text
#PM At Sashakt Nari-Viksit Bharat Event#Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana#Lakhpati Didis#National Rural Livelihoods Mission#Narendra Modi news
0 notes
Text
Shakti Krupa | Trustees | Guiding Compassionate Initiatives
The compassionate leadership of ShaktiKrupa's Trustees, guiding transformative initiatives for social empowerment. Explore the vision of our trustees.
#Empowerment through compassion#community upliftment#and social justice.. Our focus extends to rural development#ensuring sustainable livelihoods and advocating for equality. grassroots initiatives
0 notes
Text
Business opportunities in rural areas
There is no doubt that India is home to thousands of villages and impoverished regions. A sizable portion of the population still lives in rural India and works in small-scale industries in the local villages. This portion is a sizable contributor to India's GDP and is sometimes referred to as the country's economic engine. So, using a variety of small business concepts for rural areas can help more than 70% of Indians who live there.
If you want to open a business in a rural location, there is no need to move to a big metropolis because starting a small business in a village can give you an equal opportunity to make money and get a good return on your investment. We will discuss some of the top business concepts with rapid growth rates in this blog post.
Fertilizer business
Starting a fertilizer and pesticide business makes excellent economic sense because agriculture accounts for a big portion of the rural Indian economy. In addition to giving plants nourishment, fertilizers increase the yield of many crops, including maize, wheat, and rice. You must apply for and receive the necessary licenses and permits from the local government to launch this firm. To help your business expand, you can also sell seeds in addition to fertilizer and pesticides.
Poultry farm business
The poultry farm industry is the most profitable small business with the potential for small communities that require little capital, land, and labor. Culturing poultry and cattle is indeed the best business to start in a rural region where you can grow it gradually.
Numerous lenders are assisting people in establishing livestock and poultry farming enterprises by providing small business loans. However, opportunities are endless on the demand side, in both urban and rural locations, which will increase your profits in your business.
Diagnostic Center
Another fantastic option for rural people is to establish a diagnostic center in their communities so that people do not have to rush here and there. With the help of health care centers, people can regularly conduct health examinations, which can aid them in maintaining a nice and healthy lifestyle. Moreover, opening a diagnostic center can be a manageable financial commitment. The initial investment covers the rent for the facility, the cost of the medications, the staff's salaries, and a current certification.
Flour mill business
A flour mill business is also a suitable choice as flour is consumed by each individual. If you start this business, then rural residents don't need to purchase pricey packaged flour from large corporations. Nonetheless, India's flour mill sector is highly profitable and has tremendous growth potential. According to estimates, the Indian flour mill market is valued at Rs. 15,000 crores and expanding at a CAGR of 5%. It is undeniably a basic human need that aids in their development. A single flour mill can also sell the finished goods to other villages to increase its earnings.
Related Daily Booster Article| study24hr.com
Dairy business
All of us know that milk is a basic necessity that households require daily. In our nation's villages and rural areas, milk is widely available. It is one of the most profitable business ventures you may launch. You can start a dairy business by buying milk from villagers and selling it to businesses in cities. A lender can offer cheaper lending rates and customizable repayment terms on loans for the initial money needed. This village-based small business has the potential to be very successful in the long run.
Electronics store
Because rural people are a part of this digital era, they are aware of the most recent scientific discoveries, technological advancements, and innovations. Many rural communities use modern devices on par with city dwellers. Since mobile phones have become a basic requirement in this modern era, opening an electronics store in a small town is a great idea. However, the vast majority of people in India are village dwellers, and practically all of them desire to speak with their families. The Mobile Shop enterprise is thus among the top small business concepts to launch in rural locations.
To get educational help from the top online educational portal, kindly connect with "study24hr.com." It is a remarkable platform where learners and teachers can connect and interact in an effective learning environment. The primary goal of the website is to improve students' academic performance and understanding
In light of this, "study24hr.com" provides its learners with access to various study materials such as mock test papers, daily boosters, academic notes, tutorial videos, and many more. Furthermore, teachers and educational institutes are permitted to post their course structures on their websites to solicit feedback from prospective students.
Chemist store
Opening a medical supply store is another business opportunity for people living in rural areas. Typically, individuals travel great distances to adjacent cities to purchase the precise medications that their doctors have advised. So, it will be advantageous for you and the residents if you open a pharmacy in the village itself. You can make a nice living by providing all available medications for blood pressure, diabetes, insulin, and other conditions. Also, you can order drugs from your supplier on a just-in-time (JIT) basis if there isn't a high enough demand for them.
Conclusion
These were a few creative small company concepts for Indian small towns. We hope you learned something about each of them. If starting your own business has always been your ambition, now is the time to make it a reality. Remember, if the circumstances are favorable, starting a small business in an Indian hamlet or rural area can be lucrative.
Make sure you put a lot of effort into accomplishing your objectives, whether you create a mobile shop or a medical store. Set your mind to it and strive to achieve it. It doesn't matter if you don't get it right away because nobody succeeds on their first try. Always keep in mind that failing isn't about giving up; it's about losing your position. So, never give up on your dreams because only you can make them come true. Hence, start your journey today!
#rural life#business opportunities#rural areas#poverty#villages#India#business#livelihood#education#fertilizer business#investment
0 notes
Text
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE - YUVA RURAL ASSOCIATION
Our focus on land, water, and plant resources, and is environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable.
Yuva Rural Association Email - [email protected] More Details - +91 7083328154 Visit - www.yraindia.org
#ruraldevelopmentngo#yraindia#yuvaruralassociation#helpingpeople#ngoinnagpur#rural&tribaldevelopment#conservation#sustainableagriculture#livelihoods
1 note
·
View note
Text
Energizing Communities in Bajura: The Power of Transformation
Unlike many of her friends in her village, 21-year-old Krishna Pariyar never had to depend on her husband financially. Pariyar, a resident of Pilichaur in Jagannath Rural Municipality-1, Bajura, didn’t have to depend on anyone from her maternal home either. Her life took a turn for good when her tailoring business took off. She had invested Rs. 20,000 ($150) in the business. “Previously, I would…
View On WordPress
#AEPC#Alternative Energy Promotion Center#Badigaad Hydropower Project#Bajura#Electricity-powered mill#Japanese government#Kaasgada Hydropower Project#Malagad hydropower cooperative.#Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihood#RERL#UNDP
0 notes
Text
Empowering Rural Livelihoods: WOTR Impact
WOTR is dedicated to empowering livelihoods in rural areas. that provides sustainable livelihood opportunities to communities in rural areas. The program works with communities to identify and develop sustainable businesses that can provide income and improve the quality of life. So Contact us
1 note
·
View note
Text
The Role of NGOs in Supporting Rural Development and Livelihood in India
In a country as diverse and vast as India, rural development and livelihood support play a crucial role in uplifting the marginalized sections of society. While the government's efforts are commendable, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have emerged as critical stakeholders in driving sustainable rural development. With their grassroots-level interventions and community-centric approaches, NGOs have been instrumental in bridging the gaps between rural communities and essential resources. This article explores the vital role of NGOs in rural development and livelihood support in India, highlighting the challenges they face, their significant contributions, and showcasing notable projects implemented by Indian NGOs.
Advocacy and Awareness: NGOs play a crucial role in advocating for the needs and rights of rural communities. They create awareness among the marginalized sections, empowering them with information and knowledge about their entitlements, government schemes, and available resources. By organizing workshops, seminars, and awareness campaigns, NGOs ensure that rural communities are well-informed and can actively participate in their development.
Capacity Building: NGOs focus on capacity building by providing skill development training, entrepreneurship programs, and vocational education. They equip rural communities with the necessary skills to engage in income-generating activities, fostering sustainable livelihoods. By imparting knowledge and technical expertise, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) help people and communities improve their socio-economic status by breaking the cycle of poverty.
Access to Essential Services: Need for access to vital services like education, healthcare, and sanitation is a significant challenge for rural communities. NGOs work towards ensuring that these services reach the rural population, often through innovative approaches. They establish healthcare centers, mobile medical units, and schools in remote areas, improving rural inhabitants' overall quality of life.
Challenges Faced by NGOs
While NGOs play a crucial role in rural development and livelihood support, they face several challenges that hinder their effectiveness:
Limited Funding: NGOs heavily rely on funding from external sources, which can be uncertain and insufficient to meet the diverse needs of rural communities. They often need help to secure long-term funding for sustainable projects, hindering their ability to make a lasting impact.
Infrastructural Barriers: Rural areas in India are characterized by poor infrastructure, including inadequate roads, electricity, and internet connectivity. These challenges make it difficult for NGOs to effectively implement their projects and communicate with stakeholders, further hampering their efforts.
Government Regulations: NGOs in India face regulatory challenges regarding compliances, approvals, and bureaucratic processes. Obtaining clearances and permissions for their projects can take time and effort, slowing down the pace of implementation.
Contributions of NGOs in Rural Development and Livelihood Support
Despite the challenges, NGOs have made significant contributions to rural development and livelihood support in India:
Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship: Many NGOs have initiated projects to promote self-employment and entrepreneurship among rural communities. They provide training, mentorship, and access to microfinance, enabling individuals to start small businesses and become self-reliant.
Women Empowerment: NGOs have been at the forefront of empowering rural women by promoting gender equality, imparting skills, and providing income-generating opportunities. Through initiatives like self-help groups, microfinance, and vocational training, they enable women to contribute to household income and decision-making processes.
Sustainable Agriculture: Several NGOs promote sustainable agricultural practices among rural farmers. They introduce modern techniques and organic farming methods and support adopting climate-resilient practices. These NGOs enhance rural livelihoods and ensure food security by improving agricultural productivity.
Projects Related to Rural Development and Livelihood Support by Indian NGOs
Pradan: Pradan works towards rural development by partnering with communities and implementing programs in livelihood enhancement, women's empowerment, and natural resource management.
CHINAR International: CHINAR International focuses on the holistic development of rural communities, particularly in conflict-affected regions. They implement livelihood support, education, health, and skill development projects.
SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association): SEWA is a trade union and NGO that empowers women in the informal sector. They provide training, financial services, and support for entrepreneurship to improve the socio-economic conditions of rural women.
Gram Vikas: Gram Vikas implements sustainable rural development projects focusing on water, sanitation, housing, and livelihood support. They adopt a community-centric approach and prioritize the involvement of local communities in decision-making processes.
Conclusion
NGOs play a vital role in rural development and livelihood support in India. Their advocacy, capacity-building initiatives, and provision of essential services have significantly impacted the lives of rural communities. However, challenges such as limited funding and infrastructural barriers must be addressed to enhance their effectiveness. By partnering with NGOs and supporting their initiatives, stakeholders can collectively work towards sustainable rural development, ensuring inclusive growth and improved livelihoods for marginalized sections of society.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Livelihood Skills Training: Boost Your Career Prospects
Livelihood skills training programs aim to empower individuals with the practical and technical knowledge required to succeed in their chosen careers. In today's rapidly changing job market, it's essential to stay ahead of the curve and keep your skills up-to-date. Enrolling in a livelihood skills training program can give you a competitive edge and boost your chances of securing a high-paying job.
What are Livelihood Skills?
Livelihood skills are the abilities and knowledge an individual needs to succeed in their chosen career. They can range from technical skills, such as coding or website design, to soft skills, such as communication and teamwork.
Why are Livelihood Skills Important for Career Success?
In today's job market, competition is fierce, and employers are looking for individuals who have a diverse range of skills. Having a strong set of livelihood skills can set you apart from other job seekers and increase your chances of securing a high-paying job. Additionally, continuing to develop your skills through training and education can help you stay ahead of the curve and stay competitive in a rapidly changing job market.
What Kinds of Livelihood Skills Training are Available?
There are many different types of livelihood skills training programs available, including online courses, certification programs, and in-person workshops.
Digital Marketing
Web design and development
Graphic design
Project management
Leadership and team building
Customer service
How can Livelihood Skills Training Boost Your Career Prospects?
Improves job prospects: By gaining new skills, you can expand your job options and increase your chances of securing a high-paying job.
Enhances marketability: Employers are more likely to hire individuals who have a diverse range of skills. By enrolling in a livelihood skills training program, you can demonstrate your commitment to continuous learning and improvement.
Increases earning potential: Individuals with solid livelihood skills are often in high demand and can command higher salaries.
Helps you stay competitive: The job market is constantly evolving, and it's essential to keep your skills up-to-date. By enrolling in a livelihood skills training program, you can stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive in the job market.
#alternative livelihoods#livelihood opportunities#livelihood programs#National Rural Livelihood Mission
0 notes
Text
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, by some measures, the most popular leader in the world. Prior to the 2024 election, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held an outright majority in the Lok Sabha (India’s Parliament) — one that was widely projected to grow after the vote count. The party regularly boasted that it would win 400 Lok Sabha seats, easily enough to amend India’s constitution along the party's preferred Hindu nationalist lines.
But when the results were announced on Tuesday, the BJP held just 240 seats. They not only underperformed expectations, they actually lost their parliamentary majority. While Modi will remain prime minister, he will do so at the helm of a coalition government — meaning that he will depend on other parties to stay in office, making it harder to continue his ongoing assault on Indian democracy.
So what happened? Why did Indian voters deal a devastating blow to a prime minister who, by all measures, they mostly seem to like?
India is a massive country — the most populous in the world — and one of the most diverse, making its internal politics exceedingly complicated. A definitive assessment of the election would require granular data on voter breakdown across caste, class, linguistic, religious, age, and gender divides. At present, those numbers don’t exist in sufficient detail.
But after looking at the information that is available and speaking with several leading experts on Indian politics, there are at least three conclusions that I’m comfortable drawing.
First, voters punished Modi for putting his Hindu nationalist agenda ahead of fixing India’s unequal economy. Second, Indian voters had some real concerns about the decline of liberal democracy under BJP rule. Third, the opposition parties waged a smart campaign that took advantage of Modi’s vulnerabilities on the economy and democracy.
Understanding these factors isn’t just important for Indians. The country’s election has some universal lessons for how to beat a would-be authoritarian — ones that Americans especially might want to heed heading into its election in November.
-via Vox, June 7, 2024. Article continues below.
A new (and unequal) economy
Modi’s biggest and most surprising losses came in India’s two most populous states: Uttar Pradesh in the north and Maharashtra in the west. Both states had previously been BJP strongholds — places where the party’s core tactic of pitting the Hindu majority against the Muslim minority had seemingly cemented Hindu support for Modi and his allies.
One prominent Indian analyst, Yogendra Yadav, saw the cracks in advance. Swimming against the tide of Indian media, he correctly predicted that the BJP would fall short of a governing majority.
Traveling through the country, but especially rural Uttar Pradesh, he prophesied “the return of normal politics”: that Indian voters were no longer held spellbound by Modi’s charismatic nationalist appeals and were instead starting to worry about the way politics was affecting their lives.
Yadav’s conclusions derived in no small part from hearing voters’ concerns about the economy. The issue wasn’t GDP growth — India’s is the fastest-growing economy in the world — but rather the distribution of growth’s fruits. While some of Modi’s top allies struck it rich, many ordinary Indians suffered. Nearly half of all Indians between 20 and 24 are unemployed; Indian farmers have repeatedly protested Modi policies that they felt hurt their livelihoods.
“Everyone was talking about price rise, unemployment, the state of public services, the plight of farmers, [and] the struggles of labor,” Yadav wrote...
“We know for sure that Modi’s strongman image and brassy self-confidence were not as popular with voters as the BJP assumed,” says Sadanand Dhume, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who studies India.
The lesson here isn’t that the pocketbook concerns trump identity-based appeals everywhere; recent evidence in wealthier democracies suggests the opposite is true. Rather, it’s that even entrenched reputations of populist leaders are not unshakeable. When they make errors, even some time ago, it’s possible to get voters to remember these mistakes and prioritize them over whatever culture war the populist is peddling at the moment.
Liberalism strikes back
The Indian constitution is a liberal document: It guarantees equality of all citizens and enshrines measures designed to enshrine said equality into law. The signature goal of Modi’s time in power has been to rip this liberal edifice down and replace it with a Hindu nationalist model that pushes non-Hindus to the social margins. In pursuit of this agenda, the BJP has concentrated power in Modi’s hands and undermined key pillars of Indian democracy (like a free press and independent judiciary).
Prior to the election, there was a sense that Indian voters either didn’t much care about the assault on liberal democracy or mostly agreed with it. But the BJP’s surprising underperformance suggests otherwise.
The Hindu, a leading Indian newspaper, published an essential post-election data analysis breaking down what we know about the results. One of the more striking findings is that the opposition parties surged in parliamentary seats reserved for members of “scheduled castes” — the legal term for Dalits, the lowest caste grouping in the Hindu hierarchy.
Caste has long been an essential cleavage in Indian politics, with Dalits typically favoring the left-wing Congress party over the BJP (long seen as an upper-caste party). Under Modi, the BJP had seemingly tamped down on the salience of class by elevating all Hindus — including Dalits — over Muslims. Yet now it’s looking like Dalits were flocking back to Congress and its allies. Why?
According to experts, Dalit voters feared the consequences of a BJP landslide. If Modi’s party achieved its 400-seat target, they’d have more than enough votes to amend India’s constitution. Since the constitution contains several protections designed to promote Dalit equality — including a first-in-the-world affirmative action system — that seemed like a serious threat to the community. It seems, at least based on preliminary data, that they voted accordingly.
The Dalit vote is but one example of the ways in which Modi’s brazen willingness to assail Indian institutions likely alienated voters.
Uttar Pradesh (UP), India’s largest and most electorally important state, was the site of a major BJP anti-Muslim campaign. It unofficially kicked off its campaign in the UP city of Ayodhya earlier this year, during a ceremony celebrating one of Modi’s crowning achievements: the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of a former mosque that had been torn down by Hindu nationalists in 1992.
Yet not only did the BJP lose UP, it specifically lost the constituency — the city of Faizabad — in which the Ayodhya temple is located. It’s as direct an electoral rebuke to BJP ideology as one can imagine.
In Maharashtra, the second largest state, the BJP made a tactical alliance with a local politician, Ajit Pawar, facing serious corruption charges. Voters seemingly punished Modi’s party for turning a blind eye to Pawar’s offenses against the public trust. Across the country, Muslim voters turned out for the opposition to defend their rights against Modi’s attacks.
The global lesson here is clear: Even popular authoritarians can overreach.
By turning “400 seats” into a campaign slogan, an all-but-open signal that he intended to remake the Indian state in his illiberal image, Modi practically rang an alarm bell for constituencies worried about the consequences. So they turned out to stop him en masse.
The BJP’s electoral underperformance is, in no small part, the direct result of their leader’s zealotry going too far.
Return of the Gandhis?
Of course, Modi’s mistakes might not have mattered had his rivals failed to capitalize. The Indian opposition, however, was far more effective than most observers anticipated.
Perhaps most importantly, the many opposition parties coordinated with each other. Forming a united bloc called INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), they worked to make sure they weren’t stealing votes from each other in critical constituencies, positioning INDIA coalition candidates to win straight fights against BJP rivals.
The leading party in the opposition bloc — Congress — was also more put together than people thought. Its most prominent leader, Rahul Gandhi, was widely dismissed as a dilettante nepo baby: a pale imitation of his father Rajiv and grandmother Indira, both former Congress prime ministers. Now his critics are rethinking things.
“I owe Rahul Gandhi an apology because I seriously underestimated him,” says Manjari Miller, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Miller singled out Gandhi’s yatras (marches) across India as a particularly canny tactic. These physically grueling voyages across the length and breadth of India showed that he wasn’t just a privileged son of Indian political royalty, but a politician willing to take risks and meet ordinary Indians where they were. During the yatras, he would meet directly with voters from marginalized groups and rail against Modi’s politics of hate.
“The persona he’s developed — as somebody kind, caring, inclusive, [and] resolute in the face of bullying — has really worked and captured the imagination of younger India,” says Suryanarayan. “If you’ve spent any time on Instagram Reels, [you’ll see] an entire generation now waking up to Rahul Gandhi’s very appealing videos.”
This, too, has a lesson for the rest of the world: Tactical innovation from the opposition matters even in an unfair electoral context.
There is no doubt that, in the past 10 years, the BJP stacked the political deck against its opponents. They consolidated control over large chunks of the national media, changed campaign finance law to favor themselves, suborned the famously independent Indian Electoral Commission, and even intimidated the Supreme Court into letting them get away with it.
The opposition, though, managed to find ways to compete even under unfair circumstances. Strategic coordination between them helped consolidate resources and ameliorate the BJP cash advantage. Direct voter outreach like the yatra helped circumvent BJP dominance in the national media.
To be clear, the opposition still did not win a majority. Modi will have a third term in office, likely thanks in large part to the ways he rigged the system in his favor.
Yet there is no doubt that the opposition deserves to celebrate. Modi’s power has been constrained and the myth of his invincibility wounded, perhaps mortally. Indian voters, like those in Brazil and Poland before them, have dealt a major blow to their homegrown authoritarian faction.
And that is something worth celebrating.
-via Vox, June 7, 2024.
#india#narendra modi#pm modi#modi#bjp#lok sabha elections#rahul gandhi#democracy#2024 elections#authoritarianism#anti authoritarian#good news#hope
732 notes
·
View notes