Pritam Dhar(202)

Section A

INDIA brims with colourful politicians, but none has quite the sense of political theatre of
Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He swept into Varanasi, Indias most
ancient city, on May 17th pledging to clean the Ganges, its holiest and filthiest river. Three
days later, in Delhi, BJP parliamentarians chanted and roared unanimous support for him,
and he broke down in tears in mid-speech. After that he called on Indias president, Pranab
Mukherjee, who agreed to swear him in as Indias 14th prime minister on May 26th. Mr
Modi won the election by a margin almost nobody imagined possible. Last year he spoke of
an aandhi, a storm blowing in our favour. The storm broke, marking a national political
shift as big as any since independence in 1947. Mr Modi smashed the long domination of
Congress. In no previous national election had any single party got more votes than
Congress; this time the BJP stunned its rival, winning 31% of the votes to Congresss 19%.
No single party other than Congress had ever before won an outright parliamentary
majority; this time the BJP alone took 282 of 543 seats (see map). Add its closest allies in
the National Democratic Alliance and the tally is a handsome 336. Congress got just 44. Mr
Modis victory has disproved an article of political faith from the past three decades: that
Indias messy democracy, cursed by strong regional and caste-based parties, could produce
only fragmented outcomes and weak coalition governments. This, the clearest result since
1984, should mean stable, decisive and predictable rule. Mr Modi, not one to hold back,
hints at being in office for a decade or more. The scale of Congresss defeat means that is no
idle ambition. In Amethi, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) constituency of Rahul Gandhi, Congresss
young leader, voters sharply cut their MPs once-huge margin of victory. Villagers there
said they wanted economic development, not feudal charity. Everyone had expected
Congress to slump to a historic low, but its collapse is so complete that some doubt it can
even act as an opposition. Mr Gandhi and his mother, Sonia, gracelessly failed to
congratulate Mr Modi. Their perfunctory offers to quit party posts on May 19th were
refused by Congress sycophants. None of that suggests a party ready to learn from failure.
But in this election Mr Modi has accomplished much more than just the defeat of Congress.
In Varanasi, where he was elected as MP, he flattened the anti-corruption campaigner,
Arvind Kejriwal. Mr Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party got only four seats nationally, all in
Punjab. There are many reasons why Mr Modi won so convincingly. His slick, expensive
campaign shaped local media coverage: the BJP will not say, but it probably spent $1
billion. He is a gifted public speaker, vocal and strong. An outsider, he brings an enthralling
story of rising from being a mere tea-sellers son. His lowish caste, as an Other Backward
Class, played well, especially in caste-obsessed UP. Hindutva, a doctrine of Hindu
supremacy, also counted, appealing to voters proud of their heritage and often antagonistic
to Muslims. Mr Modi mostly eschewed anti-Muslim language, aside from barbs at
Bangladeshi infiltrators. But his credibility among the Hindu right was long ago
established, so he needed do little more than devote attention to Varanasi and Maa
Ganga (mother Ganges), or pose with a big portrait of Lord Ram near the controversial
site of a ruined mosque.
Hindu nationalist volunteers from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to which Mr
Modi has belonged since childhood, also helped, lifting overall turnout to a record 554m, or
66%. Meanwhile Mr Modi made no special effort for religious minorities. Just seven of 482
BJP candidates were Muslim, and none won. The new Parliament has fewer Muslim MPs
than any since 1952.
Some more reasons are:
ECONOMY: India's once-impressive economic growth, averaging above 8 per cent over the
last decade, slowed to below 5 per cent in the last year while inflation rocketed into double
digits. The BJP and Modi, who has run the state of Gujarat for 12 years, maintained a laser
focus on the economy throughout the campaign, hammering the Congress party for stalled
development projects while touting Gujarat as a model of success. In fact, Gujarat's growth
has been mediocre compared with others of India's 28 states. But Modi's message
resonated with an electorate aching for change and upward mobility, and India's corporate
leaders backed Modi as the decisive administrator needed to revive industrial growth.
CORRUPTION: Indians are incensed over the enduring culture of corruption at every
level of government, from bureaucrats who demand bribes for basic services to MPs
embroiled in huge scandals involving public funds. Anti-graft protests encouraged a fierce
anti-incumbency wave among voters and even inspired the launch of a new political party.
But while some scandals have involved BJP members, Modi and his reputation are
unscathed. Voters believe Modi has the political strength to curb any corrupt tendencies
within his government.
YOUTH: India's electorate is particularly young, with half the country's 814 million voters
under 35 and eager to secure employment with promise. They are also impatient with
India's political tradition of whipping up communal loyalties to secure votes from certain
socio-economic groups, castes or religions.
TECHNOLOGY: The BJP and Modi ran a breathless and tech-savvy campaign that dazzled
and engaged voters directly through social media. Modi snapped campaign selfies that
went viral and even appeared as a holograph at campaign events. He has tweeted daily for
years. By contrast, his main rival from the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, shunned Twitter
himself while his party took to the site only this year.
INFRASTRUCTURE: India's crumbling roads and ports, plus lack of adequate electricity
supply, were high on the list of problems that make business projects hard to get off the
ground. They are also of paramount importance to voters, one-third of whom now live in
cities. In Gujarat, Modi made infrastructure improvements a priority, building thousands of
kilometres (miles) of highways and attracting investment to build up the country's largest
modern port. He promised to bring the same focus if elected prime minister.

Section B

1 - I'm going ............ at the new hairdresser's
to get my hair cut


2 - She needs to ........
have her car repaired

3 - I really must get ....... the central heating
somebody to fix


4 - They ought to have ........ replace the broken window
somebody to

5 - He ......... while he was away on holiday
burgled his flat

6 - I .......... my phone repaired after I dropped it
had


7 - She didn't have time to get to the shops and .......
get her film developed

8 - It took ages to get ...........
somebody do it


9 - I'll ....... John to do it when he arrives
get


10 - She ......... on the underground last week
got her purse stolen

11 - He .......... tickets sent to his home address yesterday
had

12 - You should .......... a long time ago
have it fixed

13 - They couldn't .......... anyone to fix their burst pipes
have


14 - They had it ....... by the same person who decorated their old house
done

15 - After winning a fortune, she ....... her family to do everything for her
has

16 - I ......... the house redecorated if I could afford it
would have had

17 - He got a friend ........ him at the airport
to meet

18 - The teacher ...... him do all the work again
got

19 - He ....... his bags loaded onto the train by a porter
had


20 - I had my car ......... a fortnight ago
serviced