Modi e il Mahatma: la manipolazione del messaggio e della figura di Gandhi nel discorso politico del primo ministro indiano

This article analyses the intriguing relationship between Narendra Modi and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Since Modi's beginnings as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001, Gandhi's image and discourses have been a constant reference in the BJP leader's political rhetoric. Through an analysis of Modi's discursive landmarks and of the recurrent themes in his propaganda, this article explores the way Modi has juxtaposed himself to the figure of the Mahatma. It suggests that Gandhi played a central role in the construction of an imagery of India based on a partial and stereotyped reading of the past, functional to claim for himself and for the country a role of moral leadership in the global world. In this framework, the omnipresent Gandhi in Modi's discursive and visual rhetoric has become a political seal to disguise an exclusivist politics, intolerant of dissent and closed to diversity and dialogue.