Of kings and commoners

When politicians are out among commoners, shaking hands, taking selfies and enjoying bus rides, it can only mean we’re in the silly season of elections. Prime Minister Modi took a metro ride to Delhi University last week, and we got to see him do all the superhuman things we do every working day of the year: pass through turnstiles, up escalator, jump into coach and, if lucky, sit side-saddle on the hard bench and numb the brain with Insta reels. He didn’t have to jostle to get in, had ample space in which to wag his left forefinger and was watched over by Black Cat commandos lest someone pull a pointed question at the PM. His fellow riders looked every bit the Potemkin passengers rounded up for the photo-op, looking rather bashful about sharing the dank air with such eminence.

Alas, Modi was not original. It was Rahul Gandhi who started this thing in Bengaluru eight weeks ago, jumping into a KSRTC bus, wangling a Ladies Reserved seat next to a nurse, and asking sympathetic questions while being recorded by his soc-med team. He reprised this a week or so later by stealing in to a Delhi University hostel and charming the proctor over a mess meal. Then, in the US, he hitched a truck ride from DC to NYC, learning the life story of the trucker all along the way.

It was quite a spree by Rahul Gandhi and now PM Modi seems poised to outdo him in the accessibility sweepstakes. It’s understandable why powerful men would take a break from whatever it is they to do to appear among the janta doing everyday things. For one thing, it must be a change from sitting through boring briefings or suffering sycophants. More accurately, they are likely being importuned to do this stuff by their image consultants, for whom this is an easier way to earn their corn bill than to perform some real heft on their client’s approval ratings. The images of such exercises go viral, earn some gush from TV anchors and seduce even hard-boiled newspaper editors. It’s easy-peasy publicity.

But in terms of achieving anything substantial, there is no evidence that walkabouts make a difference. If they did, the British royal family’s popularity wouldn’t be falling so precipitously. Their princes do more walkabouts than any other but those with a republican mindset are not impressed that they occasionally deign to discuss the weather with bystanders. In India too, there’s no evidence that public opinion swings to such easy capers, and at election time voters are notorious for voting for ‘what’s in it for me’ rather than that nice man they met on the bus.

However, it indeed is good excitement for a day or two, especially for the chattering classes. WhatsApp minders and Facebook keepers are quite taken when powerful politicians appear amidst the people, performing chores that characterise our humdrum lives. Thus are the PMs of Scandinavian countries popular in India—even if their names cannot be pronounced and are not remembered—because they seem to be standing in queues and cycling to work all the time.

However, Indian politicians are best advised not to take this too far. Much as we might swoon over a minister queuing up for rations, the delight can be short-lived. The gods must answer only to prayers and appear in dreams. Ask any film star, familiarity breeds contempt. Has anyone ever seen Shahrukh Khan appear on the balcony of Mannat, towel-clad and brushing his teeth?