Like many countries, even those enjoying a large measure of social cohesiveness, India lives in many self-contained echo chambers where group-think prevails. This is partly a consequence of sheer size and socio-economic diversity but what adds to the muddle is the willingness of people to believe what they hear in everyday conversations and imbibe received wisdom from the media. The pressures and strains of everyday life rule out the luxury of taking a step back and reflecting on their own experiences as either individuals or members of a community. The only time there is a greater willingness to reflect on either the region or the nation is during the election season when opinions are crystallized.

Occasionally, but only very occasionally, this introspection happens during moments of national crisis, so grave as to affect the daily life of a citizen.

India is nowhere close to a general election. The Narendra Modi government elected in May 2014 has not even run halfway through its term. The bouts of political instability that gripped India, particularly during the nightmare years of 1989 to 1991 and 1996 to 1999 seem a long time ago. The prime minister's position is secure and his leadership of both the Bharatiya Janata Party and National Democratic Alliance is unchallenged. Not since Rajiv Gandhi stepped into his mother's shoes and won a resounding five-year mandate in 1984 has India witnessed such predictability at the top.

More to the point, the Modi government shows absolutely no sign of either floundering or running out of steam. Much was rightly made of the likely difficulties in governance that would arise from the government not having a majority in the Rajya Sabha. Indeed, there were times when the Congress gave the impression that it would use its Rajya Sabha numbers to stall the normal functioning of the government. However, the unanimous passage in the Rajya Sabha of the constitutional amendment to facilitate the goods and services tax was an indication that political tact and resilience pay dividends. The Congress is not an ineffective Opposition; it has merely shifted tack away from being a disruptive Opposition. Equally, the gamut of powerful regional parties such as the Samajwadi Party, AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal and Trinamul Congress appeared to have matured to the point where they can combine political opposition to the BJP with constructive cooperation.

The Kashmir crisis is another example of the political class as a whole playing a constructive, rather a non-disruptive, role. Despite the apparent show of indignation directed against the government's inability to stem the stone-pelting and the flamboyant display of pro-Pakistan sentiment, there appears to be a private understanding among the government and Opposition that the hands of the executive should not be tied and that the political dialogue involving various stakeholders in the troubled Kashmir Valley cannot precede the reassertion of State authority. There is also recognition that the disturbances following the killing of the terrorist, Burhan Wani, have little to do with a yearning for greater regional autonomy, but is an assertion of a new form of Islamism.

Do the trends suggest a suspension of politics in the mid-term? To believe so would be facile. Even if the political class is in a mood to keep its powder dry at this juncture, the positioning game has neither ceased nor become less intensive.

The past few weeks, for example, have witnessed renewed interest in the atrocities against Dalits and the vigilantism of gau rakshaks. The unfortunate incident in the Una village of Gujarat became the trigger for widespread concern over cow protectors taking the law into their own hands and settling private scores. The phenomenon was significant enough for the prime minister to break his silence and launch a frontal attack on the "anti-social" elements who were using the cover of Hindutva to launch private wars. It would seem that the BJP leadership was sufficiently alert to the possibility that the very impression that it was somehow anti-Dalit would be politically catastrophic. Moreover, there was the learning experience from last year's "intolerance" kerfuffle that led to the revolt of the intellectuals and earned the government a great deal of unfavourable international publicity.

For many commentators, the defining hallmark of the Modi government is identity politics or, in plain language, Hindu nationalism. They are inclined to over-interpret the importance of the intemperate comments by "bhakts" on the social media, and these examples of posturing as the government's priorities. Every little dispute over appointments to academic and quasi-academic bodies are magnified into sinister plots, and TV talking points in contrived studio debates converted into policy pronouncements. The media, ruing their loss of privileged access to the corridors of power, have been in the forefront acting as the custodian of liberal democracy, even at the cost of wanton misreporting. Occasionally, politicians have bitten the bait and foolishly pursued the media agenda. Earlier this week, for example, Omar Abdullah (always quick with his Twitter posts) and the Congress spokesman, Manish Tiwari, flayed a purported comment by the finance minister, Arun Jaitley, on the Kashmir stone-throwers, only to realize that the reportage was spurious - and subsequently admitted to be so by the publication.

The point that the prophecies of impending fascism appear to miss is that the single-minded focus of the Modi government is on the economy and on strategies to make India an economic powerhouse in the region. Regardless of how the pundits have interpreted the 2014 verdict, the prime minister seems reasonably clear in his mind that it was a vote to get India moving in full throttle, including finding meaningful jobs and opportunities for the one million Indians who enter the job market each month. The flurry of activity on Make in India, Swachh Bharat, Jan Dhan Yojana, Skill India and other programmes may appear to be showmanship for the sceptics, but the undeniable reality is that there is a spurt of energy that is propelling state governments to try and get their act together. The Centre, on its part, has notched up successes in road building, power generation and improving the ease of doing business. Most important, corruption at the top has come down exponentially. Some of these achievements may be gradual and the benefits may be felt in the medium term but, in political terms, the real message is that India is moving.

In 2019, Modi is certain to be taunted by his opponents over the extent of achchhe din he has succeeded in bringing to families and communities. What will sway the electorate is not so much what has not been achieved, but the overall impression that India is on the right track and very much in the race for a better future. In this game of perception, Modi's sincerity, single-mindedness of purpose and leadership qualities will count for a great deal in distinguishing him from a dispirited, amateur-led Congress and the fractious Third Front or Federal Front alternative. What will not help the prime minister is any impression that the BJP's real interest lies in identity politics.

Modi has to battle on many fronts, not least of which is the hothead wing of his party that sees India's glory in narrowly sectarian terms. He also has to guard against any repetition of the triumphalist India Shining plank that rebounded so horribly on the BJP in 2004. But most important, he has to also neutralize those forces that have painted the government in the most offensive of colours. These forces see Modi as a five-year passing show, after which India will revert to its plodding and corrupt ways. In the run-up to 2019, Modi will have to ensure that optimism prevails over despondency and disgust.