From Mass Appeasement in 2014 to Large Public Protests in 2020 : How BJP is losing its Magic touch..
We all remember Arnab’s interview with Rahul Gandhi & the horror it entailed for Congress during the 2014 General Elections. Since then, we have witnessed Modi’s strong oratory and crowd maneuvering skills. Be it Left or Right, everyone recognizes these skills & is a fan at heart.
But recently why, more & more people have started pouring into protests, coming out on streets & venting on social media? Suddenly the cornerstone of Modi & his associates has been struggling to survive, leading to large-scale public outrage ranging from Citizenship Amendment Bill to Farm Bill 2020. I would pin this on to the lack of communication on the government part.
No denial India has grown tremendously in the past 70 years. Whether Nehru or Atal Bihari, everyone has contributed to India’s success. While lawmakers still struggle with corporate lobbying & minority appeasement, I believe that every law getting drafted has some positives, and these positives should be highlighted during parliamentary sessions, news interviews & public rallies from time to time. So, how come this government has lost its touch with the public?
I would attribute this to the following:
- Too much centralization of power with PMO office, resulting in lower public appearance of leaders such as Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal & Ravi Shankar Prasad — Indians have never been good with the chain of command & authority. Today, Modi is blamed for every small thing ranging from cockroach in Midday meal to larger problems such as the Clash with China in Galwan. Along with this pre-existing condition, the centralization of power has exacerbated the situation. With 6 years at a corporate, I have learned that asking questions to a responsible person is the best way to make them accountable & improve such future encounters. This government needs to decentralize power from the top & make people feel responsible for their actions to de-stigmatize people of their false notions of this autocracy by Modi in this democracy.
- Less In-depth reading of Bill & its salient features by NDA spokespersons, causing mockery during Live debates & interviews — During a recent interview, A congress spokesperson asked Sambit Patra(BJP National Spokesperson) a fairly decent question — How many zeros are there in a Trillion — to my surprise Sambit could not answer this question. What is keeping these people from enumerating the benefits of the recent National Education Policy(NEP) & the decision to go ahead with NEET & JEE even during this pandemic? Why every matter is being taken to Supreme Court to get a final stamp of larger public good on it. Maybe it has to do with less reading & more speaking of spokespersons. Had they been more prepared, they would have made less of a joke of themselves during such public debates with millions of followers.
- Too much to chew with too little resources, creating clutter among the public — India was already struggling with current account deficit & currency devaluation before Modi came to power. In addition to this the reformist nature of government, bringing, IBC, GST, Article 370, CAA, Education Policy, Farm Bill, coupled with monumental decisions by SC such as LGBTQ, Ram Mandir, Sabrimala Temple, Aadhar Validity has created clutter among public & brought already crippled public departments of India on their kneels. India has witnessed an 8% growth in the last decade, doubling the India Economy. I believe current infrastructure is inadequate to cater to this & would require reforms to accommodate more investment queries, land acquisition requests & environmental clearances. Hence, this government needs to scale up its administrative resources to bring it on par with its reformist agenda.
I am not a Modi fan, but I believe in accommodation of policies that are leading to large scale public benefit. With approximately 45% vote share & 335 Lok Sabha seats, NDA is comfortably positioned on the Right side of parliament currently & in foreseeable future. While I understand the importance of strong opposition, I am aware that there is currently none. So, despite either blindly following or hating the government, let’s take time to evaluate it on its shortfall while praising its achievements. I guess this will lead to a better tomorrow.
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