Work is worship. The admirers of Narendra Modi believe that the prime minister is working hard to save India from the second wave of a virus that has brought the nation to its knees. However, given the reality on the ground, their devotion has acquired a touch of the absurd. Several members of the Union cabinet as well as leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party recently shared a column attributed to the outfit’s media relations convener that assured India that Mr Modi, who, unlike his usual self, has been avoiding the limelight recently, has been hard at work. The evidence of the prime minister’s Calvinist spirit accompanied the piece, just in case Mr Modi’s critics — the legion of anti-nationals according to BJP lore — remain unconvinced. For instance, readers were reminded that Mr Modi’s government had promised to build several All India Institutes of Medical Sciences.

It is curious that the BJP’s minders feel that there is a need to give proof of Mr Modi’s achievements. Perhaps that has something to do with the shadow that often falls between the prime minister’s utterances and his deeds. The AIIMS that Mr Modi promised, for instance, are yet to come up even though several years of his golden rule are already over. Mysteriously, all the hard work that Mr Modi is putting in seems to be bearing a bitter harvest. Mr Modi had declared that India had emerged victorious over the virus in January. Months later, the total caseload has now risen past 23 million while the death toll surged past the grim milestone of 2,50,000. The nation’s health infrastructure has been overwhelmed. There is shortage of oxygen and other medical supplies. The economy is expected to suffer as much as citizens. But the nation must rest assured. Mr Modi is at work.

The consequences of the prime minister’s labours are showing. The international press — the Indian media are still looking for their lost spine — has been roasting Mr Modi for his ineptitude. There is concern that Brand Modi has taken a beating too. That perhaps explains the urgency to create a counter-narrative. Propaganda, after all, is necessary to burnish the prime minister’s Teflon-coated image. A desire to control the narrative that is to be disseminated among a suffering people has been common among totalitarian regimes. This hoax needs to be countered by a robust public engagement on the part of India’s Opposition. Some sort of a beginning seems to have been made with several Opposition parties sending a letter to Mr Modi, making specific demands for relief for Indians. This momentum has to be maintained and searching questions posed to the prime minister. A leaf can be taken from the book of the chief minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, who remarked with refreshing candour that the prime minister, on a call with Mr Soren, only indulged in mann ki baat without listening in return. India, along with Mr Soren, is waiting for Mr Modi to do a bit of kaam ki baat instead.