Endgame
The primaries process for candidate selection was all digital via the Nayi Disha app. As candidate after candidate was announced, even the laggard constituencies caught up, and very soon and much before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, all 543 candidates had been identified. These were women who until a few months ago were leading their regular lives. The excitement and opportunity to do something about India’s future had brought them to the forefront. As their profiles started becoming public, even the naysayers started coming around. Here were qualified Indians (who just happened to be educated women without a political background) who stood a good chance of transforming India – provided they could win the elections against the established national and regional parties.
She was one of those 543. Till mid-2023, she had been working as a marketing executive in one of India’s fast-growing startups. Her dream then was to become an entrepreneur and build her own company. And then along came Nayi Disha’s app. She signed up. Her love for reading since childhood and public speaking in college helped her rise through the ranks. She came into her own in the digital debates. Her sharp intellect and calm rebuttals shone through, and she made her way up to win her primary. She won people over with her distinctive articulation of the Nayi Disha agenda. “This election is about you and your future. You are capable of a lot but have been chained by government rules. Politicians and their parties kept you poor. They make money in your name. They take away many times more than what they give you. You don’t need the government welfare schemes as a crutch. You need Dhan Vapasi and the economic freedom that the Nayi Disha agenda will bring you. For the next few years, the single focus we in India need is wealth creation. Not A vs B, not India v China. It is not a zero-game. For you to get more, you have to work so others also become better off. This desire and drive for betterment is what should drive us all.”
She was one among the 543 candidates. Similar stories of passion and persuasion were played out across the country. This was a new kind of politics. There was no single leader, no God-like face. But hundreds of local leaders, each supported by thousands. What had started off as an app had become a movement, an irresistible and unstoppable force for change and good. It blew away everything in its path – every established leader and party was soundly defeated in the 2024 elections.
She won the internal battle for leadership to become Prime Minister. She had just made her first speech in Parliament. The agenda was clear. She represented the hopes for a billion Indians – hungry for change, seeking jobs and opportunities, wanting a tomorrow better than today. She was going to make it happen. She, with her 542 colleagues, would transform India.
