Pratim Ranjan Bose
For a student of Indian
politics, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech before the newly elected
353 MPs of the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance), at the Central Hall
of the Parliament, on May 25; should be of archival value.
Because it gives a complete
outline of why the government was returned to power with a historic, the
responsibilities ahead, and why it is of utmost importance for this government
to succeed, so as to restore the faith of voters on the political class.
“Until now elections were kind
of a contract system where voters used to pick up someone to run the country
and replaced him at the slightest pretext. This has been replaced by a
relationship of trust,” the Prime Minister said.
He is indeed correct.
Having crossed 72 years, India’s
electoral democracy is now matured. From the post-Independence euphoria, the
tumults 1960’s and 1970’s, marked by a series of wars and abject poverty; to
the days of coalition politics and weak governments at the Centre and the return
of a strong Central government in 2014; Indian voters have tasted it all.
During this long journey, they
saw the political narrative changing time and again. The fall of Indira Gandhi
in 1977, in the hands of Janata Party – an amalgam of anti-Emergency forces –
shifted the power balance from the Centre to the States, giving rise to
regional forces.
Rajiv Gandhi misused the huge
mandate in stoking the religious fire. In 1985, he amended the law to reverse a
Supreme Court order for payment of alimony to the repudiated wife, overruling
Muslim personal law. Later, he opened the locks of the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri
Masjid bringing religious divide out in the open.
The short-lived V P Singh
government divided Hindu votes along the caste lines. This, coupled with the
rising aspirations of the post-Liberalisation (1991) period, triggered an era
of coalition politics at the Centre, which was broken in 2014 with the arrival
of Narendra Modi.
Looking back there were broadly
two factors behind Modi’s rise.
First: the unrelenting criticism
of Modi for the post-Godhra (where 59 Hindu pilgrims were burnt alive in a
train) riot, in Gujarat, despite being cleared of all charges by the courts.
The political attack on him became sharper, as Modi proved to be one of the
finest Chief Ministers of his time. A section of Hindus felt he was persecuted.
Second: Modi used the focused attention of the
Congress-led coalition and other Left-socialist forces to hog the limelight and
project himself as a strong, incorruptible leader who could steer the nation to
growth in the face of any adversity
He changed the political
narrative of the country in 2014 riding on these factors. For the first time
since 1989, the caste barriers were broken. Not only Hindus, but even a small
section of Muslims voted him to power in the hope of a corruption-free strong
government.
Did Modi live up to his
promises?
The proof lies in the pudding.
Barring some exceptions, he had been BJP’s vote machine over the last five
years and in 2019 election, which took the shape of a referendum on Modi; he
improved his tally. All caste and religious equations of a fell flat as BJP
increased both vote and seat share against a near-unified Opposition.
What is the reason behind the
stupendous success? Why did Indian media fail to gauge the public mood? Is it
due to the religious divide, as the Left-liberal elites allege? The answer lies
in the changed narrative.
Don’t forget that if religious
divide held the key to success in India; then BJP should have come to power in
1989 and 1991, 1996 etc. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led a minority government to
power in 1998.
Don’t forget either that despite
having majority, Modi left it on court to decide on controversial issues
ranging from Ram Mandir to Article 370; and focused his attention on offering
cooking gas, electricity to the poor; pushing development agenda, building
roads, taking decisions like tax reforms or arms purchase which were pending
for decades.
The most important thing that
Modi did was instilling a sense of pride among Indians. Elites may not like it,
but his call to give it back to the terrorists was well received by the common
Indians who were tired of living in constant fear of terror for the last 40
years.
India is a vast country with
varied expectations. Modi touched them all. Some were benefitted bu direct
benefit transfer or financial inclusion or cheap healthcare programme. Some
more were drawn into the start-up rush.
Some rich industrialists are
negatively affected as Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code allowed Banks to
forcefully recover their dues.
The relationship was not based
on the government dole. Many forget that here came a leader at whose call, 1.25
crore prosperous Indians gave up their cooking gas subsidy.
The air strike on terrorist hideouts
in Pakistan may be an icing on the cake, but that’s not all and sundry about
Modi’s popularity. He is successful in gaining the trust of people. And the
Opposition made the mistake of suspecting that in the 2019 election. Voters
made an extra effort to see Modi winning.
Normally negative voting leads
to high polling percentage. But this year rush to elect Modi saw polling
percentages reaching an all-time high.
Modi now has to live up to the
expectation he himself created. And, rest assured it wouldn’t be an easy task.
In the first term, people pardoned him for failures, if any.
In the second term he will have
less excuses. People will expect take
the country to an unprecedented height, which will be a challenge in the
current global atmosphere. Modi is fully aware of it and he outlined the task
ahead in his very first speech.
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