The Sun Is Still Rising on Modi–Shah—And Blinding Their Critics.

When propaganda is dressed up as journalism, it often looks like The Wire’s latest piece of melodrama: “The Sun is Setting on the Modi–Shah Duo.” The headline itself screams wishful thinking rather than reporting. If one reads beyond the theatrics, it is clear this is not analysis—it’s obituary writing for a leadership that remains firmly in command of India’s politics, economy, and international stature. Let’s puncture this bubble of selective half-truths with cold, hard facts.

BJP’s Expanding Political Horizon

The Wire claims that BJP’s hold is waning. Reality: the BJP and NDA have only expanded their dominance.

• 2025 snapshot: BJP directly governs 16 states/UTs, and with allies the NDA commands 21 governments, covering 69% of India’s population and nearly 70% of land area.
  
  
• Key victories: The BJP’s historic win in Delhi in 2025 ended decades of opposition dominance, further cementing its national grip.
  
  
• Comparison: In 2014, the BJP ruled barely a handful of states. Today, it is the central pole of Indian politics.
  
  

The Wire spins this into decline. In reality, it’s consolidation unmatched in India’s post-independence history.

Economy: Data vs. Drama

The Wire’s hand-wringing about “meagre economic results” collapses under numbers.

• GDP Growth: 9.2% in FY 2023–24, followed by 7.8% in Q1 FY 2025–26—well above global averages.
  
  
• Unemployment: 5.2% in July 2025, down from 5.6% a month earlier; rural unemployment at 4.4%, a historic low.
  
  
• Global Contribution: India contributed 17% of global growth in 2024, projected to cross 20% in 2025.
  
  
• Poverty Reduction: World Bank data confirms India has lifted 415 million people out of poverty since 2005—most of it during Modi’s tenure.
  
  

The much-mocked “MIGA” slogan—Make India Great Again—isn’t “inelegant,” it is translating into one of the fastest growing major economies. The Wire’s version reads more like astrology than economics.

Foreign Policy & Security: Strength, Not Surrender

The article suggests despair on the military and diplomatic front. Here’s the record:

• China: Post-Galwan, India forced Beijing into restraint. The 2025 resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after five years marked a thaw, but only on India’s terms.
  
  
• United States: Trade frictions under Trump’s tariffs are about American protectionism, not Indian weakness. India’s bilateral trade with the US still stood at $212 billion in 2025, with robust defense and technology cooperation continuing.
  
  
• Global Stage: India is now the 5th largest economy and a G20 consensus builder, leading on climate action, digital economy, and counter-terrorism.
  
  

Far from floundering, Modi’s foreign policy has cemented India as a decisive global power.

Bihar & the “Crisis” Myth

The Wire paints Bihar as the duo’s Waterloo. Facts disagree:

• Poll projections: NDA vote share pegged at ~50% in upcoming assembly polls, higher than 2024 Lok Sabha levels.
  
  
• BJP gains: Analysts predict BJP alone will add significant seats while allies hold steady.
  
  
• ECI integrity: The Special Intensive Revision of rolls was transparent—98% coverage, door-to-door verification, and 33,000 re-inclusion applications processed. Even the Supreme Court acknowledged the transparency.
  
  

The “vote-theft” bogey raised by Rahul Gandhi and amplified by The Wire is nothing but conspiracy peddling.

Rahul Gandhi’s Mirage

The Wire romanticizes Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra as a turning point. Facts:

• 2024 Lok Sabha results: BJP – 240 seats; NDA – clear majority. Congress – 99 seats, a minor improvement, still irrelevant nationally.
  
  
• Electoral record: Since the Yatra began, Congress has lost 80+ elections across states.
  
  
• UP dominance: BJP still controls the assembly and remains the state’s primary force.
  
  

Rahul’s Yatra made for nice photo-ops, but it hasn’t dented the Modi–Shah machine.

The Wire’s Veteran Bias

Anand K. Sahay may quote Gramsci and Marx, but ideological sermonizing cannot bury the data. Modi–Shah’s governance has delivered—whether in historic reforms (GST, Article 370 abrogation, Ram Mandir completion, UPI revolution) or in geopolitical stature.

If anything, it is The Wire’s credibility that is in twilight, reduced to publishing politically-motivated obituaries while India marches confidently forward.

The Sun Rises Higher

Far from setting, the Modi–Shah leadership continues to blaze across India’s political sky. They preside over an unprecedented electoral mandate, an expanding state footprint, a booming economy, and elevated global influence. The only eclipse here is The Wire’s descent into partisan fiction.

Author : Sandeep Gandotra, is a serial entrepreneur, startup founder, social media influencer and political analyst with 25 years of overall experience. Tweets at Sandeep Gandotra