V. Kumaresan
The BJP led alliance was elected in the Lok Sabha Elections held in 2014 and 2019. The two tenures, nearing 10 years have been ruled with Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister. The elections of 2024 to next Lok Sabha is about to be announced very shortly. By the time, the current ‘The Modern Rationalist’ is released election schedule might have been announced. The review of the nearly 10 years of the BJP rule will facilitate the electorate to bring the suitable alternative to the present.
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R.S.S. Relationship: The BJP is the direct political outfit of the R.S.S. and the relationship between the two is something non-prevalent anywhere. The RSS used to say that it is a social cultural organization and will not contest the election.
The political face of the RSS is the BJP. This itself is against the democratic principle. The elected must be answerable to the people and not to any other organization that does not face the electorate. The elected need not be responsible to present their discharged responsibilities to any other organization. If so, it is pseudo democratic and against the policy of democracy. During the past two tenures the agenda of the RSS gets accomplished one by one in a consistent manner, of course inconsistent to the well-being and welfare of the people of our country.
Any party, elected to rule must take oath on the Indian Constitution, while assuming the responsibilities and must act accordingly. But the BJP led rule has smashed the principles of polity in the preamble of the Constitution and made it meaningless.
Unwarranted C.A.A: Our country is secular, in the sense that whichever party comes to rule must be neutral to religions. All the more, the Government must not intervene in the religious affairs. But the BJP led rule has been supportive and discharges the propaganda and practice of Hindutva, the preach of the RSS. Legislation is also enacted in the Parliament. The citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed is about to be implemented at anytime that discriminates the refugees migrated to our country from the neighbourhoods. It prohibits only a particular religious refugees from the citizenship rights. It gives a message to the existing citizens, belonging to that religion, who consider India as their homeland, as if they are second class citizens. At the sametime, Hindu refugees migrated from Sri Lanka are disallowed from such citizenship rights. What a double standard, adopted by the ruling BJP!
The Ram Temple Affair: The rule of law must prevail in the country. The judgment of the Supreme Court envisaged the construction of Ram temple at the site where Babri Masjid stood and was demolished by Sangh Parivar in the name of Karsevaks. The Ram temple affairs are different from the government affairs. The Prime Minister Modi himself performs Pooja which is not expected from the elected representative of the secular country. The Prime Minister should be common for all and represent all the religious people including the non-believers. The Prime Minister should not confine himself to a particular faith.
The next phase of occupying the Gyanvapi Mosque to offer Hindutva prayers has started. The intruding into the Mosque at Mathura is on the way. Who has given the power for doing such atrocities? What has happened to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991? Is it not the duty atleast to maintain the worshipping places as it prevailed at the time of the independence of the country? The rulers themselves must not violate the Act enacted by the Parliament. People have not forgotten the mass killings that happened at various places after the demolition of Babri Masjid.
The patronage given by the saffronist rule to Hindutva should not be considered as patronage to Hindu religion, as alleged by the rulers. On the issue of social justice, the BJP does not favour to the suppressed Hindus who are to benefit.
Weakening Social Justice: The priority to the dispensation of social justice is of paramount importance. But both the R.S.S. and the BJP are ideologically against social justice and its vital purpose of reservation measures to the marginalised section for centuries. For them social justice is symbolic and brief verbal utterances in support of it at the time of elections is the tactics adopted. Those who were denied education and have inadequate representation in employment of public services must be provided with reservation measures. For that the Constitution has aptly prescribed it for socially and educationally backward classes. But in order to dilute the concept of social justice, the BJP led rule has amended the Constitution to provide reservation on economic criterion to ‘the poor’ in the upper caste. There is no demand, no agitation, and no memorandum to the government from the upper castes. With the bulldozer majority, the BJP has amended the provisions in 2019 and implemented it immediately. No other Constitutional Amendment has ever been made within such shortest period of a week.
The reservation of 10 per cent for the economically weaker section (EWS) is effectively adhered to both in admission in higher educational institutions and recruitment in government services. Such a speedy implementation of reservation for the other Backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes has not been effected.
But the upper castes who are represented in the services more than their population are being provided additional representation through reservation of EWS. This is fundamentally against the concept of social justice. Without enumeration of any data, the BJP rule has moved in favour of EWS.
Unfilled Vacancies: The latest apparent affinity towards social justice has been expressed by the BJP rule by confirming the continuance of unfilled vacancies allotted for OBCs/SCs/STs in the recruitment at Universities and their constituents as such and not reckoning them along with General Category as per the proposed guidelines of University Grants Commission. Exhibiting affinity towards social justice whenever the election process is nearing, distancing after the election and ditching the fundamentals is the tactful functional style of BJP. This style has now been understood clearly by the people of the country that the BJP and its allies are diagonally against the concept of social justice.
Erasing federal fabric: India is not merely a country like many others but a sub-continent comprising people of different faiths, language, culture and other distinctive features. Reckoning all these features, the founding fathers of our Indian Constitution, expressly mentioned ‘India, is Union of States’.
But since 2014, the BJP rule had started to weaken the existence of States, contrary to the Constitutional provisions. Only the States have the subjects (people) to rule directly. They encounter everyday problems faced by the people. The real democracy of the government of the people, by the people and for the people is applicable mainly to State governments. Curbing the rights of States, arresting the revenue mobilising avenues, delaying / denying the States in getting the share of tax collected by the Union Government are consistently taking place and they have become a routine affair. The States have to strive for the aid of the Union Government even at the time of flood, and other natural disasters apart from the normal welfare schemes meant for the well-being of the people.
State Governor hurdles: Besides, by nominating BJP men and loyalists to the posts of State Governors, hurdles are placed in the administration of the State by the elected representatives of the people.
The Governors, mere nominees by the Union Government, controlling the State Government is dead against the democratic principle of rule by the people through elected representatives. In fact the post of the Governor itself is redundant in a democracy. The BJP rule tries to control and rule all the States through the Governors, for which they are expected to act beyond the limit prescribed for State Governors in our Constitution.
Such an approach of BJP rule making States insignificant has manifested in the formation of High Level Committee for the ploy of ‘One Nation One Election’, seeking suggestions on it. The purposes of election to the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies is entirely different. It will lead to a single party rule in the country and that is against the democracy and its federal structure, founded meticulously by our forefathers.
Gloomy Economy made Glittering: The performance parameters invariably in all fronts are in fact in a reverse trend. By changing the calculation mode, the BJP rule projects a glittering picture. Consequent to less concentration on the basic profession of the country, agricultural development and its share to the GDP has come down to 11.2 per cent at latest. The promise made by the BJP at the time of 2014 Lok Sabha Elections of doubling the farmers income within 2020 had gone with the wind.
False Promises:The promise of creation of 2 crore jobs every year since 2014 has been conveniently forgotten by the BJP rulers. But the people remember it and suffer a lot. Their suffering has been escalated by the unwise, undesirable announcement of demonetisation measures. The effect of such measures, devoid of any knowledge of fundamentals of economics, had wiped out many small and medium entrepreneurs from the scene. The unemployment level has attained new heights that never prevailed in the past 40 years. The unemployed youth population has become the major chunk of the population. But still the BJP rule says that economy is improving. Yes: the income of the economy generated accumulated mainly at the level and utility of corporate giants. Their wealth is increasing, impoverishing the major share of the population.
Alternative I.N.D.I.A. bloc: The electoral victory of BJP had occurred so far by the lack of united fight against the BJP. The vote share secured by the BJP during the last elections is less than the aggregate votes secured by of the opposition parties. Now the opposition has united under the banner I.N.D.I.A. (Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance). Ideological differences may prevail among the constituents. But the common ideology for them is to fight against the evil effects caused by the rule of BJP for the past 10 years. People have suffered sufficiently under its rule. I.N.D.I.A. is the common alternative that reflects the aspirations of the suffering people of the country. I.N.D.I.A.’s victory rests not in the leaders of its constituents but in the people of the country. It is the ideological fight of the people, by the people and for the people. I.N.D.I.A. is the symbolic alternative. In the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, it should not be merely the winning of I.N.D.I.A., it must be the winning of the people of our country. That is not too much of an expectation. It is quite fair in democracy.
