Moa Jamir
On May 16, 2014 when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi thundered to victory in the 16th Lok Sabha elections, it was described, among others, as a ‘seismic political shift’ ushering a new era for change and development. A historic mandate, the BJP passed the 272 marks needed to form the government on its own and 336 seats with National Democratic Alliance.
As the euphoria swept its supporters, Modi confidently declared, “The age of divisive politics has ended, from today onwards the politics of uniting people will begin.”
“We want more strength for the wellbeing of the country ... I see a glorious and prosperous India,” he predicted.
Exactly two years down the line, there is an dejected realisation even among his ardent followers that the promises were just electoral rhetoric and the self-assured hubris lay shaken on the ground. The intervening year has been neither prosperous nor uniting.
The ruling party got caught spending more time defending its misadventure(s) rather than display confidence as the party in majority, a self-belief luminously exuded by Modi when it took the helm of Government.
Courting controversy on the verge of hyperbole and defending its infirmities with a reactionary hyper- nationalistic rhetoric based on majoritarianism has become a personal predilection of the ruling party.
As the day passes, the PM looks more a beleaguered warden trying to keep in order a bunch of unruly hostellers determined to have their ways. On key issues, he chooses to maintain a conspicuous silence, a far cry from the fiery orator and tech savvy politician he assumes when the tides are flowing smoothly.
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies,” goes a well-known quote on politics. Interestingly, the Party seems to revel more in such (mis) adventure as a substitute for governance and development it guaranteed with aggressive self-assurance.
Instigating political crisis to topple state government; the stirring of religious and cultural pots; continuous confrontation with students and interference in educational institution; the diplomatic faux pas… the list goes on. Even the welfare programs introduced under the current regime, critics alleges, are rehashed and renaming of existing schemes.
Consequently, it was found wanting both in formulation and implementation of policies.
“So why is the Prime Minister allowing the diminishment of the mandate he was given for change?” wrote Tavleen Singh, a self-confessed Modi admirer in Indian Express maintaining that ‘parivartan’ (change) has not begun to happen in officialdom despite Modi’s promise of ‘minimum government and maximum governance.’
Commenting on Indian Express, Pratap Bhanu Mehta argued that “It is using nationalism to crush constitutional patriotism, legal tyranny to crush dissent, political power to settle petty scores, and administrative power to destroy institutions,”
Social scientist Shiv Visvanathan, writing in the Economic Times, was more direct in his assessment stating that, “The Narendra Modi regime has emasculated democracy into a demagogic and threatening majoritarianism.”
“...At a different level of culture, ecology, health and education, it has created ruptures that may take years to remedy... By stirring the cultural pot, the Modi regime has hidden its own mediocrity, temporarily. No government in recent times has had such an impoverished intellectual apparatus,” he continued.
Instead of informed debates, dramatic theatrical tactics and grand presentation has become the modus operandi of the government. When the tides are down, while countless army of ‘trolls’ are unleashed online in defence, subtle and overt techniques are used to vilify non-conformist offline. The existence of countless fringe elements and growing allegation of interference from Nagpur has not eased the party’s burden.
Is confrontational disposition a overt strategy to divert the populace from issues necessitating more attention or part of bigger game plan sole grounded on majoritarian politics? Only time will tell, but a course correction is sorely needed if Narendra Modi does not want to enter into the record book as the Prime Minister who withered away historic mandate in a single tenure.
For any comment, drop a line to moajamir@live.com.
