Political Diary
New Delhi, 2 June
2020
Serenading Success Or
Ruing Failure
THE BUCK STOPS AT
MODI’s DOOR
By Poonam I Kaushish
If you can’t dazzle
them with brilliance battle them with bull. A truism which comes to mind as the
Modi Sarkar rolls out its first year
report card nee facts, figures, data and statistics of 2.0, no matter
statistics are unreliable facts from reliable figures.
Sure, the Prime Minister can
overwhelm with his speaking skills and optics continuing to ride the wings of
glory and fame for a new order of aache
din. The message must be resounding and messianic. If his first tenure was
about ‘Swachch Bharat’ to ‘Make in India’, now it’s Aatma
Nirbhar,
and ‘Go vocal on local.’ Namo’s progress is a study in chutzpah and grandeur.
Certainly, he's the smartest
politician since Indira Gandhi, has won two full majorities, projects himself
as protector and father figure and
has contempt for the Lutyens lobby and Khan Market Gang. His macho “56 inch ke chhathi” persona is built on
his oratory skills, decisiveness and his connect and identity with the aam aadmi.
Perhaps,
that explains his perceived arrogance running a one-man rock band albeit
concentrating power in the PMO. A one-way street full of staccato monologue, no
dialogue and questions are a strict no-no. He uses Modisque 'direct marketing'
format and delivers a speech every 1.9 days (45.6 hours) and counting.
He has destroyed all Opposition
which is in shambles, fragmented, leaderless and directionless in its elusive
quest for a coherent narrative to take on the BJP defines Modi's first year of
2.0 in office. He has saturated airwaves, social and digital media with his
relentless onslaught of ushering in change.
Yet when one draws up
the balance-sheet of his Government, can the Prime Minister brush under the
carpet the fact that the situation sadly continues to remain stagnant ---status
quo ante? Has Modi walked his talk of Saath
Hai, Vishwaas Hai…Ho Raha Vikas Hai and delivered? Has he brought about
inclusiveness, made minorities comfortable and won their confidence? And where
are the jobs, the promised development, infrastructure, quality education even Aache Din? Or, should one believe his
detractors who see Modi as a filibuster of a “fundamentalist Party”?
As
the BJP Government marks its first anniversary 2.0, the year is likely to be celebrated,
though subdued, for fulfillment of its decades-old “core” ideological Hindutva
demands of building a Ram temple at Ayodhya (judicial order) and nullification
of Article 370, which gave the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir special
status.
Two
other achievements were criminalising the practice of instant divorce among
Muslim men and successfully pushing through the contentious Citizenship
(Amendment) Act which seeks to grant citizenship to Hindu, Jain, Sikh,
Christian and Parsi from Muslim majority Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh on
the ground of religious persecution,
Politically, while the
BJP juggernaut rolls on, the electoral rewards show the Party wanting, whereby
it underperformed in 5 State Assembly polls compared to its massive 303 MPs Lok Sabha win. With the NaMo factor
absent the Party performed below par in Maharashtra, where its traditional ally
Shiv Sena joined hands with the Opposition NCP and Congress to form the Government
and in Haryana it was forced to ally with Chautala’s JJP to rule.
The
Party suffered a big defeat in Jharkhand where it lost power and fared poorly
in Delhi. It however, managed to turn tables in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh as
defections from the JD(S) and Congress saw veteran saffron warhorses
Yediyurappa and SS Chouhan as Chief Ministers.
Undeniably,
as the heart-wrenching migrant crisis continues to unfold it exposes the
Government floundering and dithering. Stories abound of men and pregnant women carrying mal-nourished
children begging for water and food, driven by hunger and joblessness, pushed
around by police as they trudge slowly back home on foot or packed in
container trucks; run over by goods trains and speeding trucks on highways or
falling dead out of exhaustion.
It's been nine weeks since this exodus began,
and no one from the Government has reached out to these millions with even
empty sympathy. Instead, they preen around reeling figures of the Shramik
trains, money deposited under various schemes like the Garib Kalyan Yojana. Yet
the urban and rural poor continue to suffer.
It took the pandemic to showcase that India is
grappling with catastrophic suffering on two fronts: Health and economic. On
both counts the level of Government preparedness is as non-existent now as it
was earlier. We
barely have a health infrastructure which is plagued by heartlessness, lethargy,
corruption and bereft of cure and consolation. At best it is rickety. Think. Public
investment in health is barely 1% of the GDP? Consequently, public health is in
the ICU despite, Government’s cut throat projections and assertions of ‘all’s good.’
Appallingly, the country is crippled by
shortage of over 600,000 doctors and two million nurses. there is
only one allopathic doctor per 10,189 people, one hospital bed per 2046 persons
and one State-run hospital per 90,343 people, one million allopathic doctors
for 1.3 billion people of which only 10% work in public health sector and 700 million
have no access to specialist care as 80% of specialists live in urban areas.
Startlingly,
Modi has still to address key developmental issues that continue to exercise
people: employment, enforcing basic state functions like law and order,
preventing crime against women and children, inflation, illiteracy and
ill-health which are the touchstone of the much-hyped and illusionary deal of roti, kapada aur makan. Look at the
irony. Cellphones go abegging, yet people continue to beg for food.
The
most notable failure of the Government is that its catchy slogan of minimum
government, maximum governance touted as a new power paradigm of providing
baggage-free good governance to unshackle moribund laws and State has come to
bite him and how! Today, alas, the Government has its fingers in all economic
and social policies for change. Down to deciding if people should eat meat and
drink.
Moreover,
there is political disquiet over Modi’s failure to curb his fringe rabid
Hindutva brigands who espouse communal polarization. This has corroded
inter-community relations, to an extent where discrimination against the
minority community seems to be par for the course. Less said the better about
allegations of Saffronisation of education.
What next?
Politically, can Modi change India? Certainly, he is no magician who can cure
India of its over 70 years ills expediently, despite his brand of politics. Towards
that end he needs to relive what he ad nauseum chants, “The real meaning of
politics is not power but service.” He needs to invigorate the system and
fortify democratic institutions.
There is no
gainsaying that NaMo and his Hindutva cahoots can no longer afford to be
complacent or traditional as the young voters do not have the patience for
inane diatribe, they demand a better deal for their tomorrow. He can enhance
his Government’s performance by addressing weak areas and can covert threats
into opportunities.
Time now to stop being smug, ostrich-like cocooned in the
misconception that ‘all is well’ as it reels of statistics, umpteen yojnas and continues to pat itself for a
job well done. Milking ‘Go vocal on Atmanirbhar’ will not fill malnourished
hungry stomachs. People need roti, kapada, makaan
and naukri. Besides, Saath
and Vishwas alone about Vikas will not usher Achhe Din.
All in all, the task
is cumbersome and steep. The clock continues to tick as shrewd Modi continues
his promises juggernaut. He has to live up to huge expectations generated by
his 3D media campaign on twitter, U tube, social networking sites and Man ki baat.
Certainly
he has redefined politics and promises further change. Importantly, can and
will Modi be able to reconstruct the language of democracy. Remember, leaders
don’t build democracies; people do. ----- INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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