The Intelligence from The Economist Silver-year strongman: 25 years of Narendra Modi
Oct 30, 2026
Tom Sasse, The Economist’s South Asia bureau chief, examines Narendra Modi’s 25-year rise, India’s Hindu-majoritarian shift, economic record and mounting democratic strain. Daniella Raz, a US politics correspondent, tours overlooked midterm battles involving abortion, insurance and federal workers. Ann Wroe, an acclaimed biographer and obituaries editor, recalls Cicely Gemmell’s colorful years serving Winston Churchill.
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Why Modi Differs From India’s Earlier Strongmen
- Modi resembles Indira Gandhi in his institutional dominance and personality cult, but differs by replacing secular liberalism with Hindu majoritarianism.
- That ideological shift marks a fundamental change in India’s political direction.
How Hindu Nationalism Remade Indian Politics
- Modi fused religious nationalism with politics, making India more explicitly Hindu and less secure for its roughly 200 million Muslims.
- The Ram Temple project and tolerance of anti-Muslim violence have been central to this transformation.
India Grew Without Creating Enough Good Jobs
- Modi modernized India through digitized payments, nationwide tax reform, fiscal stability, and roughly 6% average annual growth.
- Yet manufacturing, formal employment, wage growth, and graduate job prospects have not transformed as promised.