Modi Govt - 1st Year Opinion card - Part 3 (End)
Crisis Management:
This is one area where this
government has been brilliant. Soon after the new government took over the NDRF
was literally cleaned out with a broom and did earn some criticism. But not
being so important in the eyes of the public or media the issue died a quick
death.
However successive crisis be
it the nurses saved from Iraq, airlift from Yemen, Nepal earthquake were
handled with aplomb, quickly and most importantly efficiently. Many will argue
that India has done such things earlier too. True but there were crucial
differences from past such efforts.
Firstly the government acted so swiftly that it was almost in real
time. Government was acting faster than media
could complain or raise as an issue. Secondly the government demonstrated that
they were in charge, leading from the front and the ministers concerned worked
like frontline soldiers rather than like the back stage welcome reception
delegation that received people when they landed and got photo ops. Thirdly the
ministers communicated in real time with those seeking help and enabled many individuals
to gain huge confidence and strength that a minister was actually replying
directly, giving solutions and proving that they were involved by actually
helping the more critical cases. Both Sushma Swaraj and Gen VK Singh covered
themselves with glory which is unmatched in recent Indian history. Unfortunately a rather irresponsible TV
media did sour the mood but then with social media people are soon starting to
ignore media.
That the PM also led from the
front is obvious and for the first time in a long time the people can have
confidence that in most crisis issues this government has a workable system
already in place.
The government deserves
nothing short of 10 out of 10 on this.
Parliament:
With a majority in Lok Sabha
after something like 28 years the Indian politician has forgotten what
democracy is all about. So we have reputed and prominent leaders bitterly complaining
about the tyranny of the majority as they term it. This is not only shocking
but also dangerous since for long this country had gotten used to the tail
wagging the dog. A rag tag handful could dictate what this country could or
could not do. No area was sacrosanct. Be it foreign policy or defence the
centre had little say in what they wanted to do. This was taking the country
down a road that could only end in disaster and a decisive majority stopped
this slide.
Every shade of opinion, every
concern and every section of society must be heard and given the opportunity to
articulate its views, the views must be debated, their concerns must be
addressed and the effort must be to carry everyone along. But to expect that a
government can function only with 100% support by all and solely based on
agenda of opposition is being impractical. Democracy is all about a majority
opinion prevailing when consensus eludes.
That the majority in Lok Sabha
helps move bills faster is good but we should see more passionate debates with
facts, figures and solutions rather than emotional diatribe aimed at the
supporters outside and giving “breaking news” to media and an evening of TV
news soap opera over non issues. Here the opposition also has a role to play
and the government must goad and push this agenda since with live Lok Sabha TV
people can see what their representatives are doing.
The minority status in Rajya
Sabha is proving to be the anti thesis of what happens in LS again without
informed debate often. Added to this
the tantrums of allies like Shiv Sena is not helping in the least.
Emotion and blind
support/opposition seems to rule the day on most issues and this government has
a chance to encourage, nurture and persist with more debates and discussions
and the government can advertise asking people to watch these live on TV. Over
time this can have a sobering effect and bring back a vibrant parliament.
The government deserves a 6
out of 10 on this not because of not trying enough but its early days yet.
Communication, Politics & Others:
The government even before it
came to power harnessed the power of social media and timely, effective
communication and it was a big factor in their success. That continues. It’s always a challenge to decide how much
communication is required. The battle of little or more will always be there
and this government also faces the same battle. However on the whole the
government has made a better job of communicating but the same cannot be said
of its ministers and MP’s.
In a situation where the
economy, defence and foreign policy arms of the country needed 100% focus some
of the MPs and BJP party workers have communicated the wrong things at the
wrong time in the wrong way. Each of their
issues over which many media sound bytes have been aired is nonsensical and diverts
attention from the real challenges on hand. It is a fact that the UPA
government handcuffed this crowd and with its band of supporters shouted down
their views and concerns which resulted in a rather broad opinion gaining
ground that the Congress/ UPA was anti Hindu. But that is no excuse for acting
like someone unshackled and behaving exactly like your opponents. The issues be it conversion, communal issues
and other emotive subjects should have been allowed to be debated. Issues
raised as debating points and not to rile up emotions. Emotions will not get any person or country
anywhere except towards disaster and failure. Every so called success is temporary
and illusory.
The opposition has gained the
upper hand on issues like Land Acquisition Bill and its baffling that this
government did not depute its MP’s to fan out across the country and address
the farmers with facts/figures and proof with documents. It has been left to a
handful of spokespersons in TV studios who get shouted down and an opposition
that gets media coverage on its version of the facts.
While the government gets 6
out of 10 on communications the individual MP’s get not more than 2 out of 10
for both wrong and lack of communication.
This government has tried to
empower the bureaucracy. Enough and more
has been written about how the PM is over ruling or ignoring ministers and
dealing with the bureaucracy directly. While on the face of it this may seem
incorrect this again is one of the best decisions taken by this government. It
must be remembered that over a 30 to 35 year period the ministers, MP’s change
7 times without taking into account reshuffles etc. But the officers who man the various departments
and drive the policy as well as implement them, the men in uniform who guard
our society from internal crime, traffic, law and order don’t change. They stay
for 30 to 35 years rising to the top and are the foundation of our system. This
foundation had been severely eroded and if action wasn’t taken to bring
confidence and independence to these officers, over time India would have become a banana
republic.
Hence Modi’s decision to empower the bureaucracy and give them the requisite confidence is of utmost importance and the PM personally deserves a 10/10 for this initiative.
This brings me to the last and
an important aspect – media. The media is the fourth pillar of democracy and an
essential ingredient for a prosperous society.
Over the last few years they have taken very clear political positions
and this has upset the bedrock of journalism in India. But truth be told this
bias is evident in a section of the fraternity and they unfortunately have got
undue attention and focus thus making it seem that the entire fraternity is
sold. Also for various reasons the
society by itself has also got polarised politically. Just as one has BC and AD in our calendar, Indian
society today can be termed as AM and FM meaning Against Modi and For Modi.
Vast sections of society have got so polarised and emotional that even if
someone is making a point on a issue with a neutral mind, the recipient judges
the views as AM or FM. Social media has
made many a journalist try to get popular and share their views online which
obviously (should) differ from their reporting where they are expected to be
neutral and convey news. But when the
leadership team in media circles have become poster boys/girls of journalism
and wear their politics on their sleeve in social media to the extent that some
even openly bluff, the youngsters don’t
see anything wrong in giving vent to their opinions. So the problem as we see
is more widespread across society of which media is a part. Without getting into who is wrong or right
the bigger issue is that media is a
essential part of the societal fabric and with people power gaining ground due
to social media, mobile phone cameras this is a transitional phase for India
and with time will mature into something
hopefully better, responsible and a strong tool to strengthen democracy.
It would be very easy for the government
especially someone as vilified as Modi to wish away the media and take an
antagonistic position as has been projected. His decision of doing away with
taking the media on his private plane has also attracted flak in media but any
mature far sighted media person would agree that it is the best decision by
this government. Media must get a chance to maintain its independence, ethics,
honesty and being beholden to government is NOT the best way to show it. In the short run while the government can
rightly take an egoistic position against the media it would be shortsighted
and self defeating. The media with its
own ego and sense of power to make/break reputations can also rightly take
decisions to teach the government a lesson.
But either of them taking any
such egoistic decisions can only harm democracy, society and the nation at
large. The faster both sides sense this
and start shedding ego and work towards creating a more professional
relationship where there is less distrust and more balanced reporting instead
of sensation the better for this nation.
On these issues the government
rates a score between 4 to 7 out of 10.
Conclusion
In conclusion what is apparent
is that this government has islands of excellence surrounded by mediocrity and
garbage often washes up on the shores.
Some brilliant ministers, apart from those named above, not withstanding
some blips and mistakes have been Mrs. Nirmala Sitaraman, Mrs. Smriti Irani, Mr.
Suresh Prabhu and Mr. Rajnath Singh. Each deserve marks for trying hard, making a
difference, knowing facts and figures at
their finger tips and charting unknown waters and taking decisions that appear
popularly to challenge status quo traditional thinking.
While there can be credence to
the opinion that Modi doesn’t like others to hog the limelight fact also is
that none seem to be working as hard as him. Modi continues to be the face of
this government and not just because he is the PM but barring those ministers
named above none of the others has shown initiative, leadership and presence
and when some have it has been for the wrong reasons. Modi winning the elections swimming with the
tide against Congress was just one part. To win a second term the entire team
must pull its weight together and work hard. Modi magic can only get them so
far and no more.
In short the notable feature
of the Modi government and its politics has been what can be termed “Disruptive
politics” like disruptive technology. His government and himself in person is
rewriting the rules of how to play politics, how to react to situations and
taking many initiatives and risks that few dared to do so far. Case in point
the recent E-visa for Chinese when conventional diplomacy demanded a quid pro
quo. Also the government doesn’t seem
afraid to take U turns which the media and opposition may mock but these are
brave decisions where course correction is being initiated very quickly and
egos not coming in the way. It’s a government that appears nimble, flexible and
learning on the fly.
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