How to Impress PM Modi

Oh the heartburn! An entire battalion worth of PM Modi’s army is disappointed.  Not because he won’t kowtow to their chosen right wing expectations, but because he won’t acknowledge their (genuine) efforts in helping get him elected by kowtowing to their preferred right wing leanings.

Some are expecting a piece of the action, others would like their ideological preferences reflected in his government’s policies and actions, still others would prefer government appointments to be made along sharp ideological lines.

Based on observing (almost obsessing over) the PM over the past 12+ years, what follows is a primer on how to impress the PM (if you wish to snag a place in the new dispensation)

• Don’t ask for it
  • Nothing annoys the PM more than individuals who demand a position.  Any position.  With the exception of a few top BJP leaders, few have had much success with lobbying for a position.
  • An indirect attempt won’t make much headway either.  Getting your flunkeys to raise a din will only annoy the man and push you further up his shit list and off his short list
  • Let your work speak for itself. 
• Toil in silence and obscurity shunning the limelight
  • Despite targeting by MSM Amit Shah has kept away from hogging the national limelight
  • CMs Khattar and Fadnavis elicited a ‘Khattar/Fadnavis who?’ when they were mentioned as front runners
  • NaMo prefers the old Sangh sanskar ‘Work without bothering with the fruits of your labor’.  He himself was a virtual unknown when BJP brought him to Gujarat as CM. 
• Lead a simple lifestyle
  • Mr. Modi is an ascetic, leading a no-frills lifestyle.  Living the good life doesn’t go down well with him.  Right through the recent state polls, his right hand man Amit Shah sought and maintained accommodation in 3 star hotels as a mark of austerity
  • DM Parrikar similarly leads an uneventful life
  • Ditto with CM Fadnavis
• Don’t speak to the media.  Don’t speak. Period
  • CM Modi always preferred making the his case directly with the people
  • His suspicion of the media may have been muted since taking office as PM, but it remains alive and kicking behind his politically correct pronouncement
  • His disdain for MSM is reflected in the use of DD and AIR as the primary channels for govt expression
  • Bottom line:  Don’t talk to the media or patronize media personalities
• Focus on your job
  • You may have great ideas.  Surely you should share them with the man.  But the responsibilities assigned to you are Job #1.  Getting distracted by side projects or political games is guaranteed to put you on his $%@&# list
• No job is too small
  • For a pracharak who toiled across the length and breadth of India in service of the nation, what attracts his attention is doing the little things.  Doing them well, with the same enthusiasm and passion as if it were a high profile undertaking.
• Produce Results
  • ‘Excuse’ is not a word in PM Modi’s dictionary.  Delete it from yours.  NDA has a mere 36 months to complete key projects.  It will take 18 months for results to register within and another 6 months to market these accomplishments across the country
  • Without results, you’re out.
• Have no personal agenda
  • There’s a very good reason why PM Modi can ask even his most ardent supporters to take a hike.  He has no personal agenda.  No family to ‘feed’, no friends to impress/enrich, no women to keep.  When a man’s only mission is the mission, he can afford to be ruthless.  Leaving your personal agenda at home will get you one step close to impressing the man.
• Finally suck it up and be prepared to work your tail off.  When the boss works a 80 week, 2 hour lunch breaks and extended weekend getaways are a luxury only UPA ministers and the first family could afford
• Eschew the temptations to put your hand in the cookie jar
  • This is a no brainer.  Nothing pissing him off more than public servants who treat people’s wealth as their own piggy bank.  Witness how none of the usual suspects have been allowed anywhere close to the ATM ministries. 
  • But this revulsion extends to even those fringe indiscretions which have become accepted behavior across govt bodies.  When the man himself donates every gift he receives what does that tell you?  Just stay away from even a hint of graft taking.

Hope these insights help you in snagging that much coveted position.  Best of luck.