NEW DELHI : The Narendra Modi-led government is all set to mark its first birth anniversary next month with realms of data on a slew of high profile schemes- Make in India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Jan Dhan Yojna, smart cities, save & educate girl child- launched as part of development agenda, but its opponents are also bracing up to shred the government’s claims of good governance.
”What have they done, nothing, only promises and big talks?” questioned Samajwadi party president and head of newly-merged Janata Parivar Mulayam Singh Yadav, frequently wiping his face with a spotless white towel earlier this week. On the occasion of announcement of yet another bid to cobble a unified front to counter the government both inside and outside Parliament, Mr Yadav and his partners- Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar, Deve Gowda, Sharad Yadav and Abhay Chautala- declared that they would now jointly oppose ”communal forces” and bridle escalating arrogance of Mr Modi.
Unfazed by such developments, the ruling BJP leadership rubbished all such charges and asserted that it was an alliance of losers and the Modi government would surge ahead with its policies and programmes being hailed at the international level. Basking in the glory of accolades showered by US President Barack Obama in an article penned for Time magazine, BJP leaders say it was yet another vindication of Mr Modi’s planned and calculated approach to transform India into a developed entity within five years.
Mr Obama praised Mr Modi as ”India’s Reformer-in-Chief”, mentioning him by his first name Narendra, and hailed his rise from a boy who helped his father sell tea to support his family to one who is now leader of the world’s largest democracy. Mr Modi, during the final leg of his three-nation tour in Canada, was quick to react and thanked Mr Obama for his ”touching and inspiring” words. ”Dear @BarackObama your words are touching & inspiring. Thanks,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
”As a boy, Narendra Modi helped his father sell tea to support his family. Today he is the leader of the world’s largest democracy and his life story — from poverty to Prime Minister — reflects the dynamism of India’s rise,” Mr Obama said in the 166-word article written as part of the Time magazine’s annual ritual of coming out with its list of 100 most influential people.
The Government information wings appear busy in collating data on various schemes launched during the year- the newly elected government completes one year on May 26. On this day, last year, Mr Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister in an open air ceremony on the lawns of President’s house. The glittering ceremony was attended by heads of state and government of SAARC countries.
The land bill cornered more space in media and caught people’s attention than any other initiative during the 11 months tenure. The proposed legislation is mired in quagmire of controversies, but the government seems adamant to push through the Bill in the remnant Budget Session beginning tomorrow. Congress held a massive rally, a day ahead of the opening of the session, to mobilise support among farmers against the land bill which has emerged as scoring point for both the treasury and opposition benches in the upper house of Parliament, where the NDA government runs short of requisite numbers.
The merger of six parties – Janata Dal (U), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samjwadi Janata Party, Samajwadi party (SP), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Janata Dal (Secular) has compounded the situation, as it would be difficult by the Modi troubleshooters to effect rift among them to muster support of some constituent. They have 30 MPs in the 244-member Rajya Sabha and 15 in 542-strong Lok Sabha.
CPM and other left parties are already up in arms against the Bill, now being opposed tooth and nail by Congress. The ruling party leaders say that these opposition parties were making the land bill as an emotive issue with a singular aim of scuttling the Government’s developmental agenda aimed at revolutionising the infrastructure set up, besides ensuring employment opportunity to the farmers’ kith and kin and jobs at their door step instead of running away to big cities for earning two square meals Many out of the 11 months completed by the new governments remained embroiled in claims and counter claims against the amended bill.
Prime Minister too struck an emotional chord with farmers in his public rallies and warned people against Opposition’s ”false propaganda” and the party at its recent Bengaluru meet directed rank and file to contest such charges on the bill. Now, battle lines are drawn afresh on the eve of the Session and government’s plans of marking its first anniversary.
Amid many development initiatives, acidic remarks and vandalism at the minority institutions marred the atmosphere. Like popular Swachh India campaign, Ganga Abhiyan- plan to cleanse the river of pollution-, Make in India gained popularity but words like ‘Ghar Vapsi’, ‘Love Jihad’ gained notoriety and detractors got a lash in such words to whip both BJP, RSS and the Government. Recurring incidents of attacks on the minority institutions in several parts of the country, including the national capital, sent the power corridors into tizzy. Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues assured the Parliament of the Government’s firm resolve to maintain the country’s unity in diversity.
Besides these incidents, reported remarks such as ‘Haramzada vs Ramzada’ by Union Minister Niranjan Jyoti and party’s Bihar MP Giriraj Singh’s comments against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi raged through the country as a ‘racial slur’. The year also saw the BJP’s thumping success in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, but massive drubbing in Delhi-67 out of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly went to Aam Aadmi Party- sounded alarm bells for the ruling dispensation which is now getting ready for the Bihar assembly polls in a few months from now. In a significant development, BJP formed government in alliance with Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, but violent incidents, release of Masarat Alam and his re-arrest along with some other separatists leaders has kept the pot boiling in the valley.
The Prime Minister’s ‘designer clothes’ also hogged limelight with a pin stripe suit, bearing his name and worn by him during US President’s visit going under hammer and fetching several million rupees. The funds raised were earmarked for social work.
Mr Modi’s usage of the social media and his burgeoning followers on Twitter and other handles were hailed by non other than Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. Many big names in IT industry- Satya Nadella (Mircosoft), Bill Gates and Alibaba of China interacted with Mr Modi and evinced interest in Indian government plans. Mr Modi’s international events were hailed by big shows by NRIs, be in United States, Germany, Australia, France, Canada and many others, the government described these visits as results oriented. Main Opposition party, Congress, took strong exception to his comments during the foreign visits against the previous government of UPA and announced that from now on, its leaders would tail him during his trips abroad to bust his ‘claims’.
The Congress was of the view that Mr Modi, during some of his visits, lowered country’s reputation saying that it has become ”skill India” from ”scam India”, and country now no more begs. The Government has formed a new ministry called Skill Development. The word scam remained in circulation throughout the year as summons were issued by a court against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and many others. Mr Modi in his public meetings slammed the previous UPA regime on auctions of coal mines and 2G spectrum which had fetched a few lakh crores. Promise of bringing black money stashed abroad by scamsters was used by Opposition for attacking the government for tardy progress on the issue, but the government countered their charges and said SIT had been formed for unearthing of black money and many stringent actions were proposed in the new budget to tighten noose around wheeler-dealers. The new government sent strong signals to Pakistan on terrorism and interacted with China on various disputes hanging fire for last several decades. (AGENCIES)
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