Broligarchy

A page from Time

Broligarchy is a new word I learnt from the latest issue of the Time magazine one of whose lead stories is titled ‘American Broligarchy’. Wikipedia teaches me that ‘broligarchy’ is “a neologism and portmanteau combining oligarchy and broism describing the rule of government by a coterie of extremely wealthy men (occupying leadership roles in the tech companies and tech-enabled businesses).”

The Time article informs us that Trump’s greatest “bros” are Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, the three men who were given the most prominent seats, ahead of Cabinet members, at Trump’s Presidential inauguration. These wealthy businessmen play crucial roles in Trump’s way of governing America. They pump a lot of unregulated money into politics for their own selfish reasons. A menacing outcome is an unhealthy (for the public) expansion of presidential power with fewer checks on the Congress. The Time laments that this “would be a recipe for more corruption under any President, but there are special dangers when they combine with Trump’s explicitly transactional approach to wielding power.”

India’s Prime Minister rushed to my mind as I read the Time article. Isn’t India a broligarchy under Mr Modi?

Who governs India in reality? The Parliament or a few individuals like Modi, Amit Shah, Gautam Adani, and Mukesh Ambani?

Both Ambani and Adani have been diehard supporters of Narendra Modi since his tenure as Gujarat’s chief minister. Adani funded much of Modi’s election campaigns, especially from 2014. He made his own private aircraft available for the campaigns.

As a result, the Adani Group has seen exponential growth in sectors like ports, power, and infrastructure, winning major government contracts and acquiring key assets like airports and coal mines. The meteoric success of Ambani’s Jio in India’s telecom revolution was facilitated by policies made by the Modi government just for the purpose.

Many government policies, such as relaxed environmental clearances, privatisation moves, and infrastructural projects, have often benefited Adani and Ambani ever since Modi became India’s PM.  Even the farm laws (now repealed) were formulated to favour these corporate players.

Neither Trump nor Modi is doing any good to the system of democracy with their functioning styles. When billionaires fund political campaigns, control media narratives, and influence policymaking, elected governments tend to forget the welfare of the public. Elon Musk goes around shutting down agencies and firing workers like a dictator. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance has significantly expanded its presence in the media sector through several strategic acquisitions and mergers. Invading NDTV and handing it over to Adani was one of the most dastardly acts of Modi ever in his media conquests.

The death of democracy in India is almost certain in the hands of Narendra Modi. If an online publication like Vikatan cannot publish a cartoon showing Modi sitting in shackles beside Trump, then we have serious reasons to be concerned. After all, the cartoon was only referring to the ‘consignment’ of Indians carried by American military aircrafts and Modi’s silence over the inhuman treatment of Indians. Who does Modi rule for? Who does Trump stand for? That’s the question in the end.

Indians returned by Trump's military aircraft - The Hindu