Whither achhe din? The Statesman 21 Dec 2014 simantini krishnan It may be only six months since the Modi government took office amidst optimism and good cheer, but the number of red flags are already far too many. Official discourse has alternated between communal rhetoric and damage control, blurring the lines between elected representatives in government and their ideological affiliates. The doublespeak continues unabated as the Prime Minister recently urged his MPs to remain within bounds even as senior spokespersons of the BJP confirmed the inevitability of a Hindu renaissance, notwithstanding Mr. Narendra Modi’s singular focus on development. On the economic front, the Modi government has received a shot in the arm from the precipitous decline of international oil prices. No doubt, there will be benefits in the short term from easing of inflationary pressures, though the absence of a clear direction for economic development is likely to catch up sooner or later. On the eve of the New Year, there appear enough reasons to temper optimism with caution. There is much speculation about the relationship shared by Mr Modi with the RSS. Assertions that the Sangh Parivar organisations are independent entities outside the Prime Minister’s sphere of authority do not tell the entire story. At the very least, the set-up has emerged as a parallel establishment that can roll out its agenda without accountability. There is no denying that the BJP’s unprecedented electoral victory came on the back of a Modi-wave that swept aside caste and regional considerations. The electorate heeded his call for all-round development for all sections of society without the slightest hint of fear or favour. Then, for him to maintain a studied distance from those who are trampling on his mandate can have no justification. The anomaly is further heightened when one considers Mr Modi’s reputation as a master communicator who turns down no opportunity to connect with the people. The majority enjoyed by the BJP in the Lok Sabha has acquired the characteristics of a double edged sword. It has on the one hand afforded the government the luxury of doublespeak on issues such as religious conversions. After all, the intense scrutiny of its actions in matters relating to price rise, corruption, education, health and infrastructure can be mitigated by making communalism a part of the mainstream political discourse. It also serves to consolidate a majoritarian vote-bank operating according to the very same principle of appeasement that the BJP denounces its political adversaries of perpetrating. On the flipside, however, the party is flirting with the danger of alienating a large section of the electorate that voted the Modi government to power expecting good days ahead. On the economic front, Mr Modi’s report card is not entirely satisfactory. His mandate for reviving the economy received a boost when international crude oil prices dropped sharply, triggering an immediate decline in inflation. The government took this opportunity to eliminate diesel subsidies and impose taxes on fuel, keeping in mind the targeted fiscal deficit of 4.1 percent. So the decline in fuel prices in India was not proportionate to the drop in international prices, but it has been cause for some immediate relief. Not surprisingly, the government has claimed credit for these developments. On other fronts, however, the going has been far from smooth. Heightened expectations of crack-down on black money received set-backs early on, generating a fair degree of cynicism about the government’s intent in tackling crony capitalism. The sole focus on Swiss-bank accounts merely blurred the issue as far as reforms in sectors such as real estate were concerned. Of particular concern has been the realm of education policy. The sheer misuse of regulatory authority has been evident across a spectrum spanning schools, colleges, universities as well as autonomous institutions of higher education and research. Directives to schools on occasions such as Teachers’ Day and Christmas are tied to propagation of the ruling party’s ideology as is the drive to rewrite history or impose Sanskrit. These have come to coexist with misguided attempts to curb the autonomy of universities in utter contravention of the norms and procedures for functioning of such institutions. Smriti Irani’s HRD ministry has in fact become testimony to how the marriage of ideological excess and administrative dysfunction can sow the seeds for destroying public education in the country. There could be a lesson or two for the Prime Minister in Mamata Banerjee’s waning popularity in Bengal. The promise of poribartan catapulted her to power, with the middle-classes rallying solidly behind the new regime. After nearly four years of a government steered by sheer lumpenism, the wheels are coming off thick and fast. Mr Modi’s promise to usher in change is besotted with controversies, what with no attempts to silence the loony tunes being played out on a daily basis by various Sangh affiliates as well as his own functionaries in government. How long will it be before his supporters begin to question their mandate delivered on the back of an aggressive campaign, which promised to bury the politics of caste and religion under the grand edifice of economic development? The writer is a London-based political scientist
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 13:34:31 +0000
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