Modi governments 100 days Modi government has completed 100 days in office and although it is too early to comment whether the new government has met the expectations of the people of the country or not, the actions (or inactions) of the government in the first 100 days indicate towards its long term intentions. Here are the positives and the negatives of the Modi government according to me. First, the positives: 1. Showing Pakistan its right place: By unilaterally cancelling secretary level talks with Pakistan after the Pakistani ambassador met with Hurriyat separatists from the Kashmir valley despite warning against such an action, Modi government has sent a strong signal to Pakistan that they can either talk with India or with the separatists, never to both. 2. Fitting reply to repeated cease-fire violations by Pakistan by giving a free hand to our armed forces to retaliate in exactly the same manner and intensity to their provocations. This forced the Pakistani army to a flag meeting with the Indian army. This has also boosted the morale of our armed forces. 3. Jan dhan yojna: A move to enable crores of rural populace to open maintenance-free bank accounts so that the cash benefits of governmental subsidies can reach them directly. Since this is a part of the Aadhar card (unique ID) project, I suspect that this was already in the pipeline of the plans of the previous government, but kudos to the present government for executing it with efficiency 4. No nonsense approach towards corruption: No one really knows the absolute truth behind the recent incident that involved Rajnath Singh’s son for which the HM himself had to come out and speak to the press and clarify his situation, but it is believed that the PM had snubbed Pankaj Singh for accepting bribes for transferring of officials in his dad’s constituency- something which is being seen as a reason for refusal of a ticket to him for UP by-polls. 5. Reviving economy: for the general public, the simplest and the most accurate indicator of the prevailing economic situation in the country is how the stock markets are behaving. Ever since NDA’s thumping victory in the LS polls, the stock market has been in the up move. This was also long overdue after the market depression that started in 2008, but a strong and stable government at the centre has certainly boosted the sentiments of the markets. The FIIs are returning to our markets and so are the retail investors and the domestic fund houses. Now, the negatives: 1. I think team Narendra Modi feels that the overwhelmingly large number of seats that BJP won in UP in the LS polls was because of successful polarising strategies of Amit Shah &co, the most prominent of which was the Muzzafarnagar situation. However, the truth is that not only in UP, but even in Gujarat, a large number of Muslims voted for the BJP or its allies. BJP had reached out to the Muslims before the LS polls and the Muslims had responded positively to that initiative. However, with the kind of steps that the current team Modi is taking in UP and elsewhere in the country, it seems plentifully clear that he has either no vision beyond the first five years in the office or he’s cock sure of winning without Muslim votes next time round. Here are the steps taken by Modi government or the BJP that might not go down well with the Muslims. a. Unleashing Yogi Adityanath on the people of UP. By making him the person in-charge of the upcoming by-polls in the UP, BJP has sent wrong signals to the Muslims of the state. He is the one person who is at his vitriolic best when it comes to anti-Muslim rhetoric. b. Love Jihad: Inter-religious marriages are not a new phenomenon but the BJP’s men have displayed extreme islamophobia by coining this term and negatively charging the communal atmosphere by spreading rumors that the Muslims are out to forcefully convert Hindu women by the way of deceitful inter-religious marriages. All this only on the basis of one or two stray examples. The deafening silence on this issue by the government’s high offices reeks of its tacit support on all this nonsense. c. Irresponsible statements by BJP’s mentoring outfit- RSS: Ever since BJP’s forming government at the centre, RSS has been issuing statements in an attempt to undermining the identity of Muslims in India. Mohan Bhagwat has said that all Hindustanis are Hindus and India is a Hindu nation and it should follow the one nation one identity policy. These statements are in stark contrast to the provisions of the constitution which strongly advocates pluralistic democracy in India. All these are forcing the Muslims into the back-foot and I’m sure all those Muslims who voted for the BJP are already ruing their decision and probably resolving never to vote for BJP again. This does not augur well for the BJP in the future electoral battles. d. Pampering the Muzzafarnagar riot accused Sangeet Som with a Z category security cover has further sent a wrong signal to the future perpetrators of rioting. It is a signal that says that you are free to indulge in rioting because we’re there to provide you with Z security if the need arises. e. Reinstatement of tainted police officers like Abhay Chudasma who were removed from their posts pending enquiry about fake encounter cases. Also, the bail of Maya Kodnani, convicted in 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre on health grounds sends a wrong signal to the minorities. Same is the case of Aseemand’s bail who is an accused in the 2007 Samjhauta blast case. These bails and reinstatements are clear indicators of the government’s anti-minority stance. 2. Modi losing charm with the electorate: Out of 21 seats that went to by-polls after 16th May only 8 have been won by the BJP. So if Modi can’t bring ‘acche din’ even for his own party, how can he do so for the nation? 3. Modi’s autocratic style of functioning: People in Gujarat know very well how Modi functions: With complete autocracy. Surrounded only by his few very trusted associates. Now, on national level too, by making his man Friday, Amit Shah, the president of the BJP, and the chairman of the BJP’s parliamentary board, he has literally the party in his pocket and calls the shots on everything. The recent examples are how he snubbed his home minister Rajnath Singh in his son’s case. Then immediately, he over-ruled his HM on a key posting in the north-east. So, I’m not sure for how long and how far his autocratic style of functioning will carry him in his career. 4. Falling short on promises: Modi, like any other politician made a plethora of promises in his election speeches. None of those are yet to be materialised. One of them was bringing back black money from foreign shores to India within 100 days of forming the government (the claim was made by Baba Ramdev, but Modi had not refuted the claim). One BJP MP has even gone on to declare on the floor of the house that it is impossible to bring back black money to India. Of course it is too early for the current government to fulfil its promises but at least the intentions of fulfilling those promises must have been clearly visible by now. All in all, the functioning of Modi’s government has been a mixed bag of sorts with some negative surprises for the minorities, who had better expectations from him.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 05:49:56 +0000
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