A New Government
The new government was formed on 26th of May 2014. BJP came to power very strongly and may have exceeded even their own expectations. In spite of a large section (69% of the total votes) of people not voting for them, they got majority alone and did so with the lowest vote share ever. [1] People had great hopes from the Government. They expected that the new Government would take strong actions against China and Pakistan. In the current global scene, where terror has been greatly linked and made to link with Islam, the people expected Zero tolerance towards terrorism from the new Government. Former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and several other UPA leaders have several times quoted the limitations of a coalition Government regarding their actions (and inaction). [2] [3] Thus people expected that BJP will take decisions for development without any pressure. Being headed by a right-wing party, Indian economy was expected to boom. Mr. Modi and his team has been successful to create his image of a tough PM. Every effort put up by INC (and that was way too less than that by BJP) and other parties was proved to be nothing compared to the those by Mr. Modi and BJP under the umbrella of the Sangh Parivaar. The electoral results forced INC to think if their image has been that of anti-Hinduism and of the perception about its minority bias that was hurting its chances. [4]
Cabinet and conduct of the Ministers
The formation of new Cabinet was a grand event. Nearly 4,000 guests, including heads of the Government of 8 countries (7 from SAARC), all 777 MPs of both the Houses, the outgoing PM and his council of ministers, all Governors, Chief Ministers, ambassadors and other constitutional authorities like the chief justice of India were present at the event. [5] Mr. Modi has promised for 'minimum Government maximum Governance'. He began with the 1st part right when he kept only 45 ministers (excluding himself) in his cabinet as opposed to 77 of the previous Government (It was increased to 66 later on). [6] [7] Cabinet was smaller as they did not need to please other parties. However there were some controversies regarding selection of Ministers. There was only one Muslim minister in Mr. Modi's cabinet, and that too for the ministry of minority affairs. Further Muslims representation has decreased in Assemblies too. There is only one Muslim among 151 Ministers in BJP-ruled States. [8] Some people doubted credentials of Mrs. Smriti Irani, selected as HRD minister, to be on that post and the controversies of her claim to have degree from Yale University and conflicting statements regarding her graduation degree didn't help the matter. There were several minister with serious criminal charges against them. 14 in the cabinet formed at the beginning and 8 more of the 21 new faces added later on have declared criminal charges against them. [9] Some ministers added to the troubles of BJP and Mr. Modi, with their stupid statements like Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde referring the probable mastermind of Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed (26/11) with titles of honor 'Mr' and 'Shri'. [10] Mr. Babulal Gaur stirred controversy by describing rape as a social crime which is “sometimes right, sometimes wrong”, Mr. Giriraj Singh by calling Modi’s critics Pakistanis, Mr. Mohan Bhagwat said “Hindustan is a Hindu nation. Hindutva is the identity of our nation and it can incorporate others in itself”, Yogi Adityanath, said that communal riots happen in the places where a particular minority community constitute 20-40 percent of the total population. [11]
The First Steps
Right from the beginning, Mr. Modi gave an indication of a man with vision. He began with 100 days target for the ministers. He launched an ambitious scheme, The Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, that asked MPs from both Houses to identify and develop one village as a model village by 2016, and three by 2019 from their constituency. [12] It is a good mission if carried out in an inclusive and planned way. However, here again controversies erupted when it was reported that many BJP MPs (including Mr. Modi) had adopted villages with no Muslim population at all, and several others adopted the same with mostly Hindu population. [13] Mr. Prakash Javadekar, in line with the Mr. Modi administration's drive to push for greater punctuality in government offices, visited his office of Information and Broadcasting ministry one day suddenly at the office opening time and found many absent, who were used to arrive late, and asked them to take casual leave when they came. [14] Further, Mr. Modi also called for a more efficient and capable bureaucracy. He has a history of stabilizing team in the chief minister’s administration, which drew its strength mainly from a powerful bureaucracy. [15] There were indications that the country will run again on track.
Assembly Elections
After getting a clear majority General Elections in 2014, Performance of BJP in State Elections has been great. With Congress thrown to the brink of shambles, AAP not yet being a national party and other parties scattered, BJP got great advantages in the state elections. The Brand Modi had not yet faded. This supplemented with fierce campaign of BJP, (and other parties failing to do so) improved their performance significantly in most of the states. BJP got clear majority in Jharkhand. In Maharashtra they broke alliance with ShivSena and fought on their own. However, after failing to get clear majority in spite of being the largest party, they became ready to take outside support from NCP, the party they had labeled to as 'National Corrupt Party' before the elections, and formed the Government without their regular ally Shiv Sena as there were conflicts in their terms. It didn't last long and Shiv Sena formally joined BJP Government soon after. Their performance improved considerably in J&K, where they were the party with maximum vote share and marginally behind PDP in number of seats, but failed to make a breakthrough in Kashmir valley. [16] In spite of several meetings and efforts for negotiations, no one could form Government there and finally it ended in President's rule. However, BJP got a big setback in assembly by-polls in Uttar Pradesh, where they failed to defend 8 of the 11 seats vacated by them. This loss was attributed to the communal path taken by some of its leaders like Yogi Adityanath (like the use of the term Love Jihad) and absence of BSP from elections, which didn't split the votes against it. [17]
Black Money
There was much hype regarding the issue of Black Money before elections. BJP used it fiercely in their electoral campaign, accused INC of corruption and promised to bring back Black money within 100 days of coming to power. [18] Mr. Modi also claimed that every poor person will get Rs. 15-20 lacs for sure if black money comes back to India. [19] However, they failed to keep their highly ambitious (and nearly impossible to fulfill) promises made before the elections. BJP President, even admitted that the promise of Rs. 15-20 lacs for every poor was just an electoral gimmick, which raised severe criticism from the opposition and demand for public apology. A Special Investigation Team was ordered by BJP immediately after they came to power, as per the instructions of Supreme Court. BJP took the credit for their swift action and Supreme Court praised them for making progress on black money. [20] However, their behavior before and after the elections was quite different. From promising a certain amount of money for every poor before elections, to the statement that they didn't know how much black money was there in Swiss banks, BJP raised huge controversy and raised eyebrows on its false electoral promises. Due to their reluctance to reveal names and submit the list even to the SIT, they were pulled up by the Supreme Court. It ordered the Government to reveal the names and refused to exempt the government from not disclosing the names of the people where criminality is not found. [21] After much drama, BJP announced 3 names to the public and submitted the list of 627 Indians holding accounts in Swiss banks, regarding which SIT chairman said that, that contained no new details. [22]
Pro-Hindutva
India has always been respected for her religious tolerance. However, this image has got a setback in recent times. Several pro-Hindutva groups have become fiercely active after the formation of the new Government. BJP may be a liberal Hindutva party, but the religious intolerance of its core supporters and partners like RSS, VHP, Hindu Mahasabha, etc. is well known. There have been great controversy regarding Ghar Wapasi and Love Jihad. Earlier conversion to Hinduism has been heard of rarely. Historian Romila Thapar said in an interview to national daily - The Hindu, that conversion to Hinduism was invented recently and the phenomenon was problematic because of the caste system. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's director-general S. Ramakrishnan, said "I don't think there is any mechanism for conversion to Hinduism. Hindus never converted anybody." R. Ramagopalan of the Hindu Munnani defends it by saying "You just have to practice the Hindu way of life. You don't need a formal entry" and avoids the caste aspect by saying that, that is a hypothetical question. [23] All this chaos led to demand of ban on forced conversion, thus creating even more controversy as it was seen as a threat to choice of religious practice. The term Love Jihad was spread where pro-Hindutva groups claimed that Hindu girls were being lured in love and converted to Islam. However, its effects were not encouraging and the use of the term was nearly stopped, but the concept remained. Hindu Mahasabha said that it will convert inter-religious couples to Hinduism on Valentine’s Day. [24] Further, Mohan Bhagwat of RSS and Pradeep Togadiya of VHP, said that they would make India a Hindu Rashtra and efforts will be put up to increase the percentage of Hindus in India. [25] Recently the efforts by Hindu Mahasabha to honor Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, by making movie on his life and installing his statues at public places have shocked th people and shook the base of religious intolerance in India. It is true that in a Democracy everyone is free to spread their ideas. But where do you put the limit? The concern for India's religious intolerance is not limited within its boundaries only. US president Mr. Obama, also raised concern regarding increasing acts of intolerance in recent years.
Prices
International crude oil prices reduced by more than half (nearly 60%) from $ 114.77/bbl to $46.18/bbl in a span of the first 6 months of BJP Government. However, the same has not been reflected in the Indian market despite prices being regulated by the market rather than the Government. State-run oil marketing firms were reluctant to cut prices of fuels because of inventory losses as they purchase crude in advance and the value of crude oil purchased at higher rates falls in step with global prices. They process the same after about 30-40 days. [26] Rail fares were also increased by 14.2% right before the rail budget. BJP did the same thing for which they had criticized UPA when it was in power. Still, I consider it a welcome move as railways were facing heavy losses in public transportation and had to make up for it from goods transport. They promised more and better facilities, however significant changes are yet to be seen. Further prices of several important medicines were deregulated. 108 drugs used in treatment of cardiac and diabetes-related ailments were removed from the list of price control drugs, [27] which brought about fierce criticism from the opposition.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
PM Modi Launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a nationwide cleanliness drive on 2nd of October 2014 with a great hype and publicity in media. It is always welcome to spread the awareness for cleanliness. However, this mission has become more of a way to promote than solving a critical issue. Several celebrities and politicians have posted their pictures on social media cleaning or holding broom. However, there have been some controversies related to it too. Some politicians have allegedly made garbage being littered on clean areas and then symbolically cleaning it. [28] We are taught of cleanliness right from our childhood by parents and teachers. There are several NGOs working on the same. The Ugly Indian, a group of anonymous people did a great job by taking initiatives to clean several filthy areas on their own, without seeking any help from officials or the Government. This mission by the PM brings about more encouragement for the people to promote cleanliness, but we can't expect the things to change a lot in near future. One man or a program can't change a lot of things and this problem calls for a collective work and shared vision. There have some positive steps but what is targeted to be achieved is a far cry for now.
Branding and Media
BJP and Mr. Modi have proved to be great in branding. The transition of Mr. Modi from a raging Hindu nationalist politician to a brand and the most popular PM candidate has been spectacular and carefully charted out. [29] Being popular attracts media and vice-versa, thus enabling Mr. Modi to reach great heights of popularity. However, there has been allegations of paid media too. With support of several corporate giants, and the effect they have in media, several of them made sense. Mr. Modi also started a monthly radio address to the people of India as mann ki baat. It is a welcome move by the PM to talk to the people of your country. Whatever its intent may be, its role in popularizing brand Modi can't be denied.
To be Continued.......
Yours
Vikram Varun
References:
[1] BJP's 31% lowest vote share of any party to win majority, TNN, May 19, 2014; URL - http://goo.gl/xhWiJN
[2] Limitations of coalition government hampering reforms, Interview of Dr. Manmohan Singh, rediff business news
URL - http://goo.gl/NQt4mk
[3] Manmohan Singh Quote, izquotes; URL - http://goo.gl/gy9rho
[4] Congress to seek feedback on its ‘anti-Hindu’ perception, TNN | Dec 26, 20; URL - http://goo.gl/2rjVez
[5] With a 45 member strong cabinet, India's 15th PM Narendra Modi takes charge, dna webdesk, May 26 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/iTre6N
[6] 21 new Ministers inducted into Modi Cabinet, The Hindu, November 9, 2014; URL - http://goo.gl/dly5zk
[7] List of the 78-member council of ministers, oneindia, May 27, 2009; URL - http://goo.gl/qfzkP9
[8] Just one Muslim among 151 Ministers in BJP-ruled States, The Hindu, Nov 5, 2014; URL - http://goo.gl/lbvmge
[9] Half of Modi's new ministers face criminal cases, majority are crorepatis, Amit Agnihotri, India Today, Nov 11 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/4UHz0c
[10] For home minister Shinde, Hafiz Saeed is 'Mr' and 'Shri', PTI | Dec 17, 2012; http://goo.gl/HQcwF
[11] Haramzada and 4 other controversial comments that Narendra Modi govt found difficult to defend,
Express News Service, Dec 3 2014; URL - http://goo.gl/uZwroQ
[12] Modi launches village adoption scheme for MPs, The Hindu. Oct 12 2014; URL - http://goo.gl/yBXIB8
[13] Like Modi, many BJP MPs adopt all-Hindu settlements under model village scheme, Dhirendra K Jha,
Nov 19, 2014; URL - http://goo.gl/ziU9fj
[14] Prakash Javadekar catches latecomers in I&B ministry, asks them to take leave, ET Bureau Jul 1, 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/K8SbKy
[15] It's power to bureaucrats in Narendra Modi govt, Hindustan Times, New Delhi, Oct 5 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/Gqy7dZ
[16] PDP largest party in hung Jammu & Kashmir assembly, BJP to form govt in Jharkhand, TNN | Dec 23, 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/dve2Ct
[17] By-poll Results: Samajwadi Party Wrests BJP Seats in UP, Wins On PM Modi's Turf, NDTV India, Sep 16, 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/pSgtMZ
[18] Will bring back black money in 100 days: BJP chief Rajnath Singh, Zee News youtube channel, Apr 1, 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/lrNyWa
[19] Shri Narendra Modi promises to people that BJP will bring the black money back to India, Jan 9, 2014,
Narendra Modi youtube channel; URL - http://goo.gl/6W54FJ
[20] Supreme Court praises Modi for making 'progress' on recovering black money, dailymail, Aug 20 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/j1BA5i
[21] Black money: Supreme Court orders Centre to reveal all names by tomorrow, TNN | Oct 28, 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/vuH2Yj
[22] Black money case: Government submits list of 627 foreign account holders’ names to Supreme Court; SIT chief
says no new information, dna India, Oct 29, 2014; URL - http://goo.gl/LbG258
[23] How Do You Convert To Hinduism?, The Outlook, Nov 18 2002; URL - http://goo.gl/h1MqST
[24] Hindu Mahasabha takes aim at Valentine’s Day, The Hindu, Meerut, Feb 4 20115, URL - http://goo.gl/vqfVIX
[25] RSS, VHP committed to make India 'Hindu nation', Modi yet to break silence on conversion row, IBN live,
Dec 22 2014; URL - http://goo.gl/4GbS8a
[26] Petrol, diesel prices may slump as oil tumbles to $45 per barrel, Rajeev Jayaswal, ET Bureau Jan 14, 2015
URL - http://goo.gl/gfrKH8
[27] Aam Aadmi Party stages protest seeking price control on drugs, The Hindu, January 21, 2015
URL - http://goo.gl/J68XwG
[28] Swachh 'photo-op': Delhi BJP leaders dump garbage, then clean-up, Nov 7 2014, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
URL - http://goo.gl/06EsSH
[29] The making of Brand Modi, Business Stasdard, Devina Joshi & Masoom Gupte' May 12, 2014
URL - http://goo.gl/QcI2H9