One year of disillusionment?

Achche Din: Less positives and more negatives mark the first anniversary of the NDA govt in office

No one can deny the hopes and aspirations that Narendra Modi had raised when he took over as prime minister a year ago. Has he realised those dreams? How better off are we today than we were a year ago? Is there hope for the much promised `achche din’ by a `strong leader’? `Policy paralysis’ may have ended but do new policies promise to bear fruit any time soon? One looks to Modi for answers…

A year in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has only one admission to make: he realises that his communication skills perhaps aren’t good as everyone thought it to be.  “If you think we haven’t done enough, it is in just one sphere. We have failed to communicate or convince you (the people and the media at large) on what we are doing, the direction in which we are moving and the results that we will obtain in the next four years,” as he put it in his own words in one of his interactions with editors recently.

Perhaps, he could add that if there is disillusionment among certain sections that things are moving too slowly, they cannot be blamed. As the BJP prepares rallies and media blitzkrieg to talk about the first year, Modi and his team of ministers have just one task: ask themselves whether he has been as good as his word and not trapped by his own discourse.

Modi knows it’s not just because of lack of a communication strategy that the current mood around the government is not so exciting. Many might argue that it’s nothing compared to what the predecessor UPA rulers faced before they were routed in the polls.
As they count auctioning of airwaves and coal block allocations as a show of proof of transparency and end to corruption in high places, the PM and his team of ministers may have to do more that they are as good as their word and not trapped by Modi’s own discourse and tendency for overkill. But if the narratives have so far been less than positive, Modi would have to look at the year that has gone by.

Even as he went about ushering in a new style of functioning, beginning right from the Prime Minister’s Office, Cabinet Secretariat and Union ministries, his rivals saw an “authoritarian” streak in him.

They felt there was a hype surrounding everything. As the ministers scrambled to get even their aides vetted by the PMO before appointment and settle down in their chairs, radical Hindu outfits started ghar wapsi (religious reconversion).

Buoyed by the mandate, the BJP appeared to be dismissive of the role of opposition in Parliament and outside. With the ministers appearing to be under a sort of tight leash, the noisy rightwing fringe had a field day. Several churches were vandalised. A young IT professional was killed, allegedly by Hindu groups in Pune.

A controversy involving HRD Minister Smriti Irani’s educational qualifications when her style of dealing with top educators had raised questions, did no good either to her credentials or to the government’s image.

Through the din of these controversies that played out on the national mindscape, UPA-appointed governors were shown the door. Many resigned quietly while some did kick up dust.

Later, NGOs like Greenpeace came under fire. For a good part of his first term, Modi’s chosen approach was to opt for silence in contrast to his pre-PM image as an eloquent leader.

It was not before US President Barrack Obama’s public tick-off during his India visit about the country’s secular ethos, did Modi venture to speak out about his commitment for protecting the religious minorities even as Haryana and Maharashtra, which were handsomely won by BJP in the first state polls held after the parliamentary mandate, banned beef.

These events did eclipse what Modi thought were his best signature initiatives: Clean India campaign including constructing toilets in all schools, Jan Dhan Yojna (to open 150 million bank accounts of poor people), Make in India campaign to make the country a global manufacturing hub, 24 x 7 electricity for all, houses for all, and training for youths under Skill India for future employment.

Ease of doing business

Modi pushed his government to launch what he considers the “second wave of reforms” –prioritising the ease of doing business, allowing 49 per cent FDI in insurance sector and deregulation of diesel prices to improve the country’s finances, and scrapping of obsolete laws. Ministries were asked to do away with old, confusing and clashing rules, procedures and regulations.

Simultaneously, Modi got the PMO to put infrastructure projects on a fast track, easing out hurdles for new roads, railways, mines, power and transmission lines. But finding and acquiring land remained a big stumbling block. As tax notices returned to haunt the industry, businessmen remained sceptical of Modi’s intentions. Critics did not see big merits in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s first full-fledged budget though some agreed with the approach of what was billed as “prudent gradualism” in opening up the economy.

It was only when Modi realised the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, which was passed by the UPA with the BJP’s help, was a stumbling block for a quick investment-job creation model, the first big trouble loomed on the horizon. “I did not realise this was such a big political issue. After all, many Congress chief ministers had told us that the 2013 Act needed to be amended because no new project could come under it,” as Modi put it, though it it’s difficult to believe he would have been so naïve.

But, with lack of numbers on his government’s side in the Rajya Sabha, Modi found his first biggest political challenge. As a ‘rejuvenated’ Rahul Gandhi after a vacation led Congress into a vigorous campaign, calling his rule as “anti-farmer”, Modi had to convince his own BJP men and the Sangh family about the merits of his course of action.

But it must said to his credit, Modi is not daunted by the tasks ahead. “I have four more years to go. I will be accountable for every promise I have made. People have the right to expect better from us. They won’t be disappointed,” Modi does say even as BJP chief Amit Shah warns, “don’t mistake our confidence for arrogance.” The big question is, can Modi accomplish what he has set to do all by himself?