The scene took place on Thursday March 9, 2023 in Ahmedabad, a city of six million inhabitants in Gujarat in northern India, the stronghold of Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister welcomes his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanian, visiting for four days. He does so in the cricket stadium which, in 2021, was renamed after him: Narendra Modi Stadium, 130,000 seats, arguably the largest stadium in the world. Already it is not common: owning a stadium in his name during his lifetime, there are few examples in history, apart from Benito Mussolini and Saddam Hussein. And it does not stop there. In front of the crowd (about 80,000 people, the stadium is not full, but still), Narendra Modi receives a portrait of himself. Then to the cheers of the crowd, he goes up, with his Australian counterpart, on a kind of carnival float, sporting golden wings. The motorized tank starts moving. Narendra Modi parades around the pitch, cheering, waving to the crowd. Looks like a Roman emperor before the circus games. The scene is truly mind-blowing. It bears witness to the growing personalization of power in this India of 1.4 billion inhabitants, which this year will become the most populous country in the world.
The politics of the cricket world cup
The choice of a cricket stadium owes nothing to chance. There is a pretext is that this stadium in Ahmedabad has been hosting a test match between India and Australia since Thursday morning and for five days, the fourth and last test in a series, where India leads 2 at 1. The key to understanding is to know that cricket is by far the most popular sport in India, played all over the country. The rivalry with Australia is very strong, especially as India is preparing to host the Cricket World Cup next October. The BJP, the Hindu party of Narendra Modi has every intention of making it a springboard for a third consecutive electoral victory next year, in 2024. The competition promises to be sumptuous and very instrumental politically. The television audience will be colossal in India: hundreds of millions of viewers.
Narendra Modi ultra favorite for the 2024 elections
It is difficult to see for the moment who can prevent Narendra Modi from winning again next year. He will leave favorite, it is certain, to chain a third term at the head of the country, he has already been in power for 9 years. The opposition is divided and lacks a charismatic leader. Conversely, Narendra Modi is surfing on the affirmation of the strength of India, now the world’s fifth largest economy with nearly 7% growth announced this year again. He assumes his ideology of Hindu domination. Muslims are the first victims. The Indian Prime Minister is also not shy about imposing censorship on what bothers him, for example against a recent BBC documentary highlighting his responsibility for the riots against Muslims in Gujarat 20 years ago. Finally Narendra Modi therefore arises from now on, we can see it clearly with these images, like the reincarnation of a Roman emperor crossed with a religious sage. It is impressive and disturbing at the same time.