Amit Kushari IAS (Retd)
16th May 2014 appears to be a real landmark date in the history of politics in India. All calculations, equations and relations seem to have gone topsy turvy after the smashing victory of Narendra Modi and his allies.Modi crushed his political opponents and virtually decimated them. In the Hindi heartland as well as in the mainland part of India political opponents like Samajwadi party, Bahujan Samaj Party, RJD, JDU, RLD, National Conference, NCP were reduced to zero or near zero positions. Even Congress, which was the biggest national party is now sitting in one distant corner of the Lok Sabha with 44 seats only and is unable to get even the status of the leader of the Opposition. Modi’s BJP even started knocking on the doors of non Hindi bastions like Mamata’s Bengal, Naveen Patnaik’s Orissa and Jayalalitha’s Tamil Nadu. BJP increased its vote share by more than 100% even in these areas to frighten the regional satraps. Two non Hindi States like Assam and Karnataka were also swept by the Modi flood. The only State in India which could resist the Modi wave and which could stall the Modi chariot is Kerala. Even the Muslim majority State of Jammu and Kashmir had to part with 3 out of 6 seats as an offering to Shri Modi. All the opponents of Mr. Modi are green with jealousy but they are confused and do not know how to stop this giant bull dozer. Sworn enemies are now joining hands to find out as to what could be done in this extraordinary situation. In Bihar Nitish Kumar, a sworn enemy of Mr. Modi reached out to his bitter rival, Shri Lalu Yadav and wanted to make friends with him. Lalu first mocked at Nitish and said,” Nitish ke ghar mein lagi aag, woh dhoond raha hai dumkal”. Later he realised the gravity of the challenge posed by Modi and agreed to help Nitish in winning two seats in the Rajya Sabha.
In Bengal, Trinamul Congress and Left Front had always been at daggers drawn and were certainly not on talking terms. Now the situation has changed after BJP captured 17% of the votes. Didi agreed to meet the Left Front leaders for the first time in the Secretariat and discuss the dangers posed by BJP to both the Left and the TMC. Not only did she meet the Left leaders politely but also served them hot coffee with fish fries. A Minister also saw them off near their car. Congress also is trying to make advances to the TMC which was quite unthinkable earlier.
Many prominent persons made unwarranted comments against Modi and when we remember those we are filled with shame. Famous Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen announced on TV that he didnt want to see modi as PM and that he would vote against him. By such comments he only belittled himself. Congress leader Mani shankar Iyer said on TV “is shatabdi mein modi kabhi PM nahi banenge nahi banenge nahi banenge” I dont know how he can show his face again if he has any shame! At least Rahul Gandhi is better. He has fallen silent after the defeat and so is Arvind Kejriwal. The worst comments were perhaps made by the CM of Bengal. She called Modi ‘The Butcher of Gujrat’. She also said that she would tie a rope around Modi’s waist and drag him to a police station. After Modi’s victory she did not send even a congratulatory message or a bouquet of flowers which Chief Ministers of Orissa and Tamil Nadu sent. Now I do not know whether the PM will accept West Bengal’s request for special financial assistance.
More than three weeks have now passed after Modi assumed charge. Now his ship of governance has started moving forward. It is only natural that he will not have a smooth ride and he will hit against rocks and boulders. After all he has inherited the economy in a very bad State and naturally he will have to take a few unpleasant corrective decisions for curing the economy just as a doctor performs painful surgeries on a patient before taking him on a path of recovery. He has ordered a steep hike in railway fares. At least the opposition now has something concrete to talk about. Congress is a bit silent.
They have to be, because Modi has just reproduced the orders of the Congress issued in its last days but kept in abeyance because of the elections. The new Government has been put to some embarrassment by the young Minister of State from Rajasthan. A woman has alleged that she had been raped by him in 2011. The Minister is denying this and the Law Minister is enquiring into the matter in detail. Congress is raising this issue vehemently. Such things do go on in every government. The biggest challenge is the new budget which is likely to come on 11th July. The whole country is waiting for it.
(The author is former Financial Commissioner J&K. Feedback to the author at 9748635185 or amitkus@hotmail.com)
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