In less than four weeks we will ring out 2015 and look forward to challenges and opportunities that a new year will bring to us as a country and individuals. It will also bring the Modi government closer to completion of its second year in office. While the government will claim to have made significant strides towards tackling a sense of despondency that had set in during the last years of UPA rule, it will have to now look at actionable ideas for implementation. Two major trends that stand out in 2015 are: the Bihar defeat for the BJP and the growing perception of the Modi government as “illiberal”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a valiant attempt last week in Parliament when he addressed multiple stakeholders; political opponents, foreign governments, Muslims, liberal Indians and even the RSS. The much awaited intervention by Modi was welcomed by most, but the issue is how he would like the perception about his government to develop in the coming year.
It is a given that until the next Parliament elections in 2019, the Modi government will have to work with a Rajya Sabha dominated by Opposition parties. All legislative work will have to be carried out in a non-combative style and in a collaborative spirit instead. Many ministers who still behave as if they are in the Opposition will need to be lot more careful and circumspect in their behavior and responses, both within and outside Parliament. Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s ill-thought of and uncalled for comments in the Rajya Sabha over Congress MP Kumari Selja’s reference to her Dalit identity did not befit a cabinet minister.
Modi’s invitation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh to discuss the GST Bill, and his subsequent speech in the Rajya Sabha are indicative of a ‘change’ in Modi’s style of approaching the Opposition, and of approaching issues on which there are political differences. But, there needs to be a re-look at priorities and issues that generate much sweating among BJP leaders/government.
With 19 months of the NDA government over, the prime minister will have to ensure that his ministerial team and the party are focused on delivering on electoral promises that would make them politically stronger in the coming months, and not focus on scoring debating points with Congress spokesmen and its leaders.
The mandate which brought Modi to power, the expectations that were built among the people about Modi’s ability to address their concerns and issues, the new class of first-time voters that hitched their wagon to Modi’s stars along with a shift by a section of Congress voters to BJP cannot be ignored or taken for granted. The Modi government’s responsibility to respect a historic mandate in May 2014 requires whole hearted attention and they need to prioritise some and ignore other issues.
Obsessive attention to Rahul Gandhi’s antics, Robert Vadra’s alleged corruption in land deals (let the law take its course) and heckling Congress for its double-digit presence in Lok Sabha must lead to a mature response more than a year after BJP won a majority on its own.
