The ‘Modi ki Guarantee’ that India wants

‘Ab ki baar 400 paar’ slogan given by the BJP before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections after being in power for a decade has backfired. It is a different matter that certain strategic decisions of entering into pre-poll tie-up with regional parties helped NDA reach the figure of about 300 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit a hat-trick as Prime Minister.

The only other Prime Minister to become PM for three consecutive times so far was Jawaharlal Nehru. But then there is a difference between Nehru becoming the PM for third time and Modi’s third time. The Congress at that time got majority on its own, while in the present case the BJP fell short of the magic figure.

If we keep aside these small comparisons, the question is what does this election indicate? It clearly indicates that the voters had told the BJP that look we admit the saffron party had done a lot of good work during the last one decade but then somewhere along the journey it had developed a cavalier attitude and had stopped listening to the voice of the opposition. They also expressed their ire over failure in regard to job creation as promised.

Certainly, the country should move forward and become a three trillion dollar economy, but at the same time the government should be more humble and implement the much-touted concept of ‘Sub ka Saath, Sub Ka Vikas,’ in letter and spirit. This is, perhaps, what the voters’ mandate says.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is known for spinning words, said at the NDA partners meeting in Delhi on Friday that the bright side of the ‘strong NDA,’ was that it was in power in 22 states out of 29. It certainly sends a positive message to the international community. True, but one only hopes that he, as promised, would be more easily accessible and more accommodative in helping the states like Andhra Pradesh, which have been badly shattered and destroyed in terms of economy and growth, to recover and emerge as powerful growth engines. One also hopes that the Centre would this time around agree to give special status which certainly would help the BJP not only consolidate the gains it has made in the state but will also help in expanding its foothold further.

It is nice to have competitive federalism but for that the Centre should not become tight-fisted when it comes to devolution and release of necessary funds in time and help the states in all respects. The biggest problem faced by the country is unemployment and for that the Centre should encourage foreign direct investment in different states. The allegation at present is that most of the investments are going to Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister.

The NDA partners on Friday stood like a rock behind Modi and that puts tremendous responsibility on the Centre to reciprocate with equal magnanimity and prove that it means what it says. Only then the ‘Organic NDA 3’ would be known as Developed India and Aspirational India. On the other hand, the INDIA bloc which is feeling elated that it has done wonders, too, has a big lesson to learn from these elections. The Congress feels that their alliance is very close to power and hopes that soon cracks would appear in NDA which would lead to the collapse of the Modi-led government and that some of the NDA partners will join INDIA bloc, helping it to come to power. They should learn not to think in negative terms day in and day out.

Opposition does not mean that you obstruct every move of the government. They also have major responsibility to play a constructive role in the growth of the nation. They should debate issues in Parliament and if they feel that any particular bill is not in the larger interest of the country they should oppose it tooth and nail. They can do that easily now because they have very good numbers in Lok Sabha.

One only hopes that the opposition will not waste time in daily stalling of the proceedings and indulge in wasting public money. Leaders like Rahul should also now focus more on ground situation and connect more with people rather than indulge in rhetoric.

The Congress feels that the Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra had done wonders. But it is time they sit and analyse the results in a cool manner. What the Congress got was just 99 seats. This indicates that there has not been much impact of Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The good performance of the partners of INDIA bloc cannot be taken away by the Congress party. People have told the Congress party that Rahul certainly might have climbed one more step politically but is not yet ready to be the face of PM and needs to learn a lot more to win and get more focused and polished before he can win the confidence of the people. They have also told the opposition that it needs to lay greater emphasis on its road map for taking the country forward instead of just indulging in rhetoric and harp on how a couple of industrialists benefited.

While the BJP committed several strategic mistakes, the INDIA bloc, too, did not put in coordinated efforts as they should have, to create confidence among the voters and, hence, they failed to reach the magic figure.

Now let’s take a look at where the BJP went wrong. The BJP in the last five years had adopted an open door policy and invited whoever wanted to join it and the turncoats were given tickets. It also resorted to Thodo and Jodo policy in states like Maharashtra. It suffered a setback in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana, despite being in power in the Legislative Assembly in all these states.

While Modi tried to set a narrative and spoke of big decisions in his third term, some of the BJP leaders played into the hands of the opposition campaign on the issue of changing the Constitution. For example in Faizabad, BJP’s Lallu Singh was the first to say in Ayodhya that the Constitution would be changed if the BJP got more than 400 seats. This came handy for the Samajwadi party which whipped up a narrative saying that BJP would do away with the reservation given to backward classes, Dalits and minorities by changing the constitution. Faizabad is one constituency where caste equations play a very strong role. This seat had been the bastion of SP and the Congress since 1984. It was only after 1991 that the BJP won it thrice when the Ayodhya issue gained prominence. This time the Modi wave was taken over by the caste issue and the BJP lost. The non-Yadav OBC vote bank and the non-Jatav Dalit voters apparently shifted support to the INDIA bloc.

There were some reports indicating discontent within the RSS over ticket distribution, favoring ‘outsiders’ over seasoned party cadres, which weakened grassroots campaign efforts. BJP president JP Nadda’s alleged statement about ties with RSS – “we have grown more capable” – reportedly caused additional harm, despite his clarification of being misquoted. The party’s excessive confidence among top leaders, ignoring local cadres in ticket distribution, led to significant losses.

However, the NDA-3 has begun with a bang. Modi said he would be just a call away from the partners and would extend all help to the states and asked them to come with concrete proposals so that the Centre can give speedy nod to them. Let us hope that this would be the best “Modi ki Guarantee.”