or much of the past year Poonam Mahajan, BJP Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP), has had to be content spending weekends with her family in Mumbai. When she’s back after a hectic week in Delhi, it isn’t unusual to find her 11-year old son Aadya dropping by on a Saturday at her ground floor office in Worli’s Bhima Building, sometimes with his father in tow, trying to whisk the first-time parliamentarian away from work. The family lives upstairs in the building overlooking the Arabian Sea. “I have created this office so that people can meet me easily,” Mahajan says, and adds: “My son has given up on me”.

As Aadya settles down beside her, Maha-jan starts talking about another first time MP, Babul Supriyo. The singer-turned poli-tician was made a minister in the Modi gov-ernment’s first reshuffle. A resident of Mumbai for his Bollywood career, Supriyo now has to shuttle between Delhi and his constituency, Asansol, in West Bengal. “He

has to sing, he has to tend to his constitu-ency and also do his ministerial work. I was telling Babul this is the Modi Sarkar and none of us have any time [for anything else],” Mahajan says.

She’s right. Narendra Modi usually sets a scorching pace. Not just for his party’s MPs or ministers but often for the Opposition.

Therefore, it was no surprise that when a study by ET Magazine and conversational research firm MavenMagnet found that of the 11 themes that dominated online con-versations over a 12-month period, at least nine were those either coined or created by Modi himself (go to page 12 for the entire study). It is a different matter that not every

theme elicited a positive response, but clearly Modi was largely setting the agenda.

Mahajan, 34, says she finds the Modi ap-proach refreshing: “I always talk about a public-politician partnership. The past year has given me a lot of opportunity to make the public stakeholders in governance — be it the Jan-Dhan Yojana or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. People want to be part of the sys-tem. There is a culture of positivity since the last Lok Sabha polls. This is different from the populism of the last 10 years.”

The ET Magazine-MavenMagnet study looked at online conversations (see How we Did it) from April 7, 2014, when campaign-ing started for the Lok Sabha elections up to April 7, 2015. The overall vibe was 48% net positive with 74% favourable and 26% unfa-vourable (turn page for the pie chart).

A Mixed BagThe study is a mixed bag of strong positive vibes for some triggers and strong nega-tives for others. Ritu Ghuwalewala, manag-ing partner at MavenMagnet, compares the Modi brand to a cult label such as Apple. “We have observed a very high polarity in conversations — they are either strongly for or against Modi Sarkar. The fans are a zeal-ous lot of evangelists who not only vehe-mently support prime minister Modi and his government, but also furiously defend

Foreign Policy SuccessesPradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana

Make-in-IndiaSwachh Bharat

Ganga RejuvenationNITI Aayog

Land Acquisition BillBlack Money

Union Budget 2015Auctions of Spectrum and coal Reserves

Ghar Wapsi

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Foreign Policy has Got the most Favourable Response

F A V O U R A B L E U N F A V O U R A B L E

MAY 17-23, 2015

10

impressionsFirst

The PM’s brand shines on, as an ET Magazine-MavenMagnet

study of online conversations over the past year indicates,

although it’s respected more than it’s trusted — and the

expectations are only piling up

SU

NE

ES

H K

F:: Suman Layak

criticism by the skeptics.”One significant highlight of the study is that the aspirations and perceptions of the young-er, internet and social media savvy popula-tion is often at variance with what industry captains expect and look out for. Take the Make-in-India initiative, for instance. While Grant Thornton’s national managing partner Vishesh Chandiok feels industry is still look-ing out for clear incentives to boost manufac-turing, the social media conversations do not reflect such expectations, with 70% of con-versations on the topic having a positive tone.

On the other hand, the Union budget pro-posals for 2015-16, and spectrum and coal auc-tions have earned kudos from investors and sections of industry. The young and aspira-tional middle-class on social media, however, fear the amounts bid during the auctions could be a trigger for inflation as companies will be forced to up prices to cover their costs; the auctions attracted a 63% unfavourable chatter, second only to the Ghar Wapsi issue.

The ET Magazine-MavenMagnet study also offers a Brand Association Meter, on which the Modi government scores a negative 7% on trust, a positive 6% on respect and a positive 19% on hope. Ghuwalewala explains: “Al-though many people respect the Modi govern-ment, not all of them trust it. And a large num-ber are actually hopeful that the government will do something good even though they do

not have either respect for it or trust in it.”A year after a sweeping victory that resulted

in euphoria and massive expectations, there appears to be dawning a realisation that the NDA has no magic wand. Harsh Goenka,

chairman of RPG Group points out: “A slug-gish economy, inadequate opportunities and an overall sense of gloom got the better of the voters and they expected the Modi govern-ment to trigger growth the way a missile

shoots into the sky.”Chandiok has few doubts about the current

government having a roadmap, although he acknowledges that there have been some wrong turns. “We have never had a clearer vi-sion, supported by amazing actions behind that vision in under 365 days from a new lead-ership before. Of course some errors of judge-ment have been made like the recent retro-spective FII MAT issue. How swiftly mistakes are addressed is often more important than not making mistakes.” Early this week, the Income-Tax department put on hold all fresh notices after setting up a committee to exam-ine past cases of minimum alternate tax (MAT) on foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

Burden of Expectation Adi Godrej, chairman of Godrej Industries, sees many positives: “Most sensible observers are convinced that the government is on the right economic path.”

However, punters on Dalal Street are show-ing their disappointment by selling aggres-sively, resulting in an over 10% slump in the benchmark indices over the past two months. Nirmal Jain, founder and chairman India Info-line, feels there are downside risks in the short term. He told ET Magazine: “When the new government came to power, market euphoria was also fuelled by falling commodity and global oil prices. The sharp correction now is

n Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay’s excellent biography of Narendra Modi, published in early 2013, the author asks Modi what he thinks of the widening religious divide in Gujarat. Mukhopadhyay sets up the scene perfectly and clues us in on how difficult it is to interview Modi, especially on a topic like communalism.

Modi’s response is telling. “There is one conspiratorial group which keeps this emotional hurt alive by digging up the wounds,” Modi told Mukhopadhyay. “When that group stops their work, the wounds will automatically get healed.”

The problem, Modi seems to be suggesting, is that people are talking about the problem. A year into his tenure as prime minister, there have been articles debating what Modi has and has not achieved. This is an important discussion, no doubt, but we should also be asking: what is happening to the space in India to raise critical questions of this govern-ment? And what does Modi’s handling of criticism say about the way the new government is heading?

One of the most exciting things about last year’s election was watching Modi evolve as a politician. I remember hearing him speak in Ahmedabad in December 2012, shortly after he won his third term as Gujarat chief minister. He clearly had a national audience in mind: he spoke in Hindi, softened his jabs at the Congress, abandoned his overt references to Hin-du nationalism, and made allusions to other states. What he also did was to tell his own story, something he did more and more of as the campaign advanced.

When I worked in the US Congress, I often sat in on meet-ings where elected officials gave advice to young constituents who wanted to run for office. Only come to Washington, they would say, if you already have a famous name (or better yet, a tonne of money). If you do not have this, then you better be able to tell a powerful story.

Modi understood this and did this brilliantly. He told an ir-resistible tale: a boy who worked at a chai stall, with no family in high places, rising to the highest position. It perfectly ech-oed his campaign’s message that India deserves better and

can do better. As political scientist PB Mehta observed, “The central anxiety that Narendra Modi honed in on, with persis-tence and clarity, was that there was a yearning to defeat de-featism.”

Today, that optimism has largely dissipated and Modi seems bent to defeat any criticism. In April, Modi addressed a meeting of High Court justices and chief ministers and cau-tioned them against being swayed by “five-star activists.” Ear-lier this year, Modi spoke of the importance of healthy criti-cism in a democracy but also added, “The more we allege, the more we lose our strengths, and weaken democracy.”

Modi’s comment echoes what he once conveyed to Mukho-padhyay: that India will progress only when it does not talk openly about its problems. It is a clever strategy. If you stigma-tise criticism, you divert attention from your own guilt and

shift blame to the complainant. It is this type of ar-gument — that India should not be given a bad name outside — that many used to justify blocking the powerful anti-rape documentary “India’s Daughter” from being shown in India.

Equally alarming, Modi is now considering implementing a programme, modelled after one used in China, where thousands of journalists would receive training to encour-age them to fall into line with the state. But it is not just jour-nalists who fear the ire of speaking against Modi. Last week, the crackdown on NGOs like Greenpeace, the Ford Founda-tion, and the Gates Foundation, drew rebuke from the US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, who said he had “deep concern” over the targeting of NGOs and warned about the “chilling effect” this may have on Indian democ-racy.

Of course Modi is not the first to rein in criticism or to con-trol foreign NGOs. The British magazine The Economist pointed out that former prime minister Manmohan Singh “accused American NGOs of being the black hands behind anti-nuclear protests.”

Modi fans love to argue that everything bad happening in India today was once done before by the Congress. It is largely true, as well as an important point, but it is also a di-versionary tactic. What Modi promised was a break from the Congress style of politics. So far this has not happened.

Granted, it is unfair to expect all that given the economic mess he inherited from the UPA government, as well as the tall nature of his promises. But what Modi could have achieved in his first year was to keep the spirit and the opti-mism of his campaign alive. Instead, we see a man throwing punches at all those trying to enlarge critical discussions about India.

Last year, Modi managed to make many voters feel like he was right there with them, listening. Today I suspect few would still say the same. �

(The author is a freelance journalist and is writing a book on Gujarat)

I:: Zahir Janmohamed

Business FriendlyFiscal Policy

Foreign Economical PolicyModi’s Authenticity

CleanlinessPro-Hindu

Embezzlement / FraudPatronage

Financial InclusionsEnvironmental Sustainability

Modi’s Vision

0% 5% 20%10% 15%

Top Drivers of Modi Sarkar’s Imagery

Overall Brand Association with Modi Sarkar

F A V O U R A B L E U N F A V O U R A B L E

TRUST RESPECT HOPE

–7% 6% 19%

TTRUSTTRUST

7%77 9%

HOPE

19196%

SPECT

66

MavenMagnet Association MeterTM shows on a scale of -100% to +100% consumer experience and emotive association of the Modi Sarkar brand with a particular factor as reflected by the tone of their conversations.Please note that trust is the highest order emotion and encompasses the association with respect and hope; followed by respect that encompasses hope.

first impressionsMAY 17-23, 2015

11

Speak No EvilWhat the Modi government’s handling of criticism says about the way it is headed

The bar graphs indicate the percentage of con-versations within the total sample that were discussing a topic, and also indicates what share was favourable or unfavourable

AN

IRB

AN

BO

RA

Brand Association Meter shows on a scale of -100% to +100% the experience and association of individuals

that is reflected by the tone of their conversations

10,250 conversations among 9,500 individuals were analysed for the study

Un

fav

ou

rab

le

Un

favou

rable

Unfavourable

Unfavourable

Unfavourable

Unfavourable

Fav

ou

rab

le

Favou

rable

Favourable

Favourable

Favourable

Favourable

Un

fav

ou

rab

l

Favou

rable

Favourable

Favourable

Favourable

F

Fav

ou

rab

le

Un

favou

rable

Unfavou

rable

Unfavourable

U

Unfavourable

Unfavourable

58

%

56%

60

%

60%

63%

75%

42

%

44

%

40%

40%

37%

25%

ON

E Y E A R O F M

OD

I

centrespreadMAY 17-23, 2015

12MAY 17-23, 2015

centrespread 13

The overall vibe for Modi Sarkar is 48% net positive

Foreign Policy Successes

PRADHAN

MANTRI JA

N-DHAN Y

OJaNA

MAKE I

N INDI

A

SWACHH BHARAT

NITI AAYOGLAND

ACQUISITION

bILL

UNION BUDGET 2015

AUCTIONS OF SPECTRUM AND COAL RESERVEs

GHAR WAPSI

bLACK

MONEY

Unfavourable

Unfavourable

Unfa

vourable

Un

favo

ura

ble

Unfavourable

Unfavourable

Favourable

Favourable

Favo

ura

ble

Favourable

Favourable

Favourable

26%

74%

relationshippower

awarenessjobs

infrastructuremanufacturing

FDI

best

red tapecampaign

partnershipglobal

investors

visionsuccessful

tourism

Ambani

feku

AdaniRSS

industrialists

VHP

crony

common man publicity

corruptiondevelopment tax

growthpromises

initiativecorporate

farmers

hopeclean hindu

benefit

middle classimplementation

poor

religious

deficitcompanies

economicUnfa

Unfa

vourable

Un

favo

ura

ble

Unfavourable

Unfavourable

Foreign Policy Succe

urableFavourable

avou

SWBHAR

Fa

ARAT

Favo

ura

ble

AR

PRADHAN

MANTRI JA

N-DHAN Y

OJaNA

Fav

IN IN

DIA

Favourable

vourable

MAKE IN

Favourable

P

92%

69%

67%

73%

70%

8%

31%

33%

27%

30%

TRUST

RESPECT

HOPE

11%

27%

17%

BRAND ASSOCIATION METER

Respect is the primary emotion associated with Foreign Policy Successes

TRUSTTION METTRUST

11%

HOPE

7%77

sseHOPE

1711117

RESPERESPECT

27%27

TRUST

RESPECT

HOPE

3%

28%

20%

BRAND ASSOCIATION M

ETER

Respect (for NaMo) is

the prim

ary

emotion associated with

Jan-Dhan Yojana

TRUST

3%

OCIATIO

MTRUST

3%

HOPE

22020

HOPE

2

RESPECTCT

28

RESPEC

2

TRUST

RESPECT

HOPE

–15%

8%

13%

BRAND ASSOCIATION METER

Mistrust and Hope are the primary emotions associated

with auction of spectrum and coal reserves

B

TRUST

5%

UST

%

HOPE

1313%

RAND ASSO

trust a

131

OPE

RESPECT

888%%

SPEC

8888

TRUSTRESPECT

HOPE

–17%–29%

–1% BRAND ASSOCIATION METERDisrespect and Mistrust are the primary emotions associated with Ghar Wapsi

TRUST

777%%%77777–17

RUST

111777

HOPE

%

pa

G

1%

OPE

%

PECTCTR

29%

RESPECT

9%%

TRUST

TRUST

TRUST

TRUST

TRUST

RESPECT RESPECT

RESPECT

HOPE HOPE

HOPE

RESPECT

RESPECT

HOPE

HOPE

–6%

–12%

–4%

–28%

–21%

–4% –4%

–1%

20% 10%

7%

15%

–2%

43%

0%

BRAND ASSOCIA

TION M

ETER

BRAND ASSOCIATION METER

Hope is th

e primary

emotion asso

ciated w

ith M

ake-in-In

dia

Mistrust is the prim

ary emotion around Union Budget;

People was alm

ost equally divided on either sides of Hope

TRUST

–66%

DASSOCIA

the p

TRUST

66%%

fa

TRTRUST

DASSO

SSOCIA

is thehe

2%

UST

%%

TT

4%

RUST

%

RUST

%%

TRUST

28%

TRUST

%

Fa

bILILL21%

TRUSTTRUST

%

CTRE

4%

ESPEC

%

ESPEC

%%

CTRE

4%

ESPEC

%

ESPEC

%%

RESPECTT

–1%

7RESPEC

%

H

20%

HOPEHOPE

2222

H

10%

HOPEHOPE

111

HOPE

77

HOP

77

HO

e-in-I

ke-i

43

HOPE

444

HOPE

0%

et;

0%

OPE

RESPECT

15%

ER assoESPEC

5

RESPECT

RE

2%

Ra

on a

%%%

SPEC

TRUST

HOPE

3%

40%

BRAND ASSOCIATION METER

BRAND ASSOCIATION METERBRAND ASSOCIATION METER BRAND ASSOCIATION METER

BRAND ASSOCIATION METERHope is the primary emotion associated with Swachh Bharat

Hope is the primary emotion associated with Ganga Rejuvenation

Hope is the primary emotion associated with

NITI Aayog

Mistrust is the primary emotion around Land

Acquisition Bill

Mistrust is the primary emotion associated with Black Money

TRUST

8%

TRUST

88%%

RUST

8888888%%

3%

TRRUST

3

RUST

333

HOPE

23%

HOPE

232322222

OPE

4

HOPE

444

RESPECT

10%

PECTT

RES

101%

SPEC

1011111

RESPECT

4%4%

SPECTS

4444

Economic Strategy

and Modi’s

Leadership are the

most prominent

consideration factors

associated with Foreign

Policy Successes

Financial Inclusion is the prim

ary driver

associated with Jan-Dhan Yojana

Economic

Strate

gy an

d Modi’s

Lead

ersh

ip

are t

he most

prominen

t consid

erati

on facto

rs

asso

ciated

with

Mak

e-in-In

dia

Measurable Econom

ic Development

is the primary consideration factor

around Union Budget 2015

Social Development

Strategy is

the primary

consideration

factor associated with

Swachh Bharat

Abhiyan

Corruption

was the primary

consideration

factor that

drove the

assessment of

Modi government

around Black

Money

gANGA rEJUVENATION

Social Development Strategy is the most prominent consideration factor

Administrative Efficiency is the primary

consideration factor associated with

NITI Aayog

Economic Strategy and Corruption are the

primary consideration factors associated with

Land Acquisition Bill

Economic Strategy

and Corruption are

the most prominent

consideration factors

associated with auction of

spectrum and coal reserves

Secularism is the primary consideration factor associated with Ghar Wapsi

opposite. W

hile trust may have waned a bit, respect has inched up. And hope st

ill rule

s

If fore

ign p

olicy

initiatives have got the Modi government the most favourable re

sponse

, G

har W

apsi

did

th

e

How we Did itMavenMagnet is a Mumbai and New York based big data research agency that uses digital conversations to uncover consumer and market insights across a cross-section of demographic and psychographic segments. MavenMagnet’s Conversational ResearchTM methodology aggregates and analyses data from a wide range of sources including the social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and more broadly to include communities, forums, blogs, chat rooms, press, etc.

MavenMagnet identified the most impactful initiatives by the Modi government during the first year in government (until April 7, 2015). It analysed more than 10,000 conversations among 9,500 individuals around Modi government during the same period to understand its imagery on social media.

Brand AuraTM for Modi Government(the bigger the size of the word, the higher the impact)

on account of dismal cor-porate earnings growth, a spike in crude prices from low levels, forecast of w e a k e r m o n s o o n , amongst other factors.”

Yet, Jain is quick to add that the Modi government has shown tardy progress in key areas such as public sector reforms including recapitalisation of state-owned banks and restruc-turing of state electricity boards.

And the huge contro-versy around land acquisi-tion seems to have queered the pitch for the NDA on corruption (led by patronage). These two drivers (corruption and patronage) are also promi-nent in the discussions around auctions of coal and spectrum. Even as the government tom-toms its achievement of raising some `3 lakh crore via these auctions, the survey records 63% of unfavour-able responses on this front.

Chandiok tries to dispel the inflation bogey associ-ated with the auctions. “Inflationary pressures aren’t necessary because market pressures mean higher input costs can’t always be passed onto the consumer.” Perhaps, but try explaining that to the hyperactive youth on so-cial media.

No study built around Modi Sarkar can be com-plete without the con-joined twin subtexts of ‘secularism’ and ‘pro-Hin-du’. The trigger Ghar Wap-si scored the largest pro-portion of negatives for this government (75%).

But then these are first impressions of a govern-ment that has at least four more years to go. As Goenka says: “Let us not be overtly critical and prejudiced and throw the baby out with the bath water. Maintaining a bal-ance between growth, fis-cal prudence, divest-ment, subsidies, arrest-ing corruption and meeting expectations of the people lowest in the economic strata requires the skills of a dextrous driver.” It’s clearly time to shift gears.