COVER STORY MODI MAGIC - LED BY A CHARISMATIC NARENDRA MODI, NDA POSTS A SPECULATOR VICTORY TO PROVE ALL NAYSAYERS WRONG - OPINION EXPRESS
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Vol: 27 | No. 6 | June 2019| R20
www.opinionexpress.in A MONTHLY NEWS MAGAZINE
modi MAGIC
Cover Story
Led by a charismatic Narendra Modi, NDA posts a
speculator victory to prove all naysayers wrong
Thank You BIPL %DODML,QIUD3URMHFWV/LPLWHG www.balaji.co.in www.dighiport.in
editorial
MODI 2.0 - Narendra Shah &
Amit Modi integration
RNI UP–ENG 70032/92, Volume 27, No 6
EDITOR
Prashant Tewari
Associate Editor
Dr Rahul Misra
Political Editor
is complete
N
Prakhar Misra
BUREAU CHIEF
arendra Modi and Amit Shah Partnership have been scripted in heav-
Anshuman Dogra (DELHI), Diwakar Shetty ens. The integration is so profound that the headline of this edito-
(MUMBAI), Sidhartha Sharma (KOLKATA), rial piece justifies it completely. BJP president Amit Shah has been
Lakshmi Devi (BANGALORE ) DIvyash Bajpai Modi’s most trusted lieutenant since the late 1980s when
(USA), KAPIL DUDAKIA (UNITED KINGDOM)
Rajiv Agnihotri (MAURITIUS), Romil Raj both started their political careers in Gujarat, to mak-
Bhagat (DUBAI), Herman Silochan (CANADA), ing a grand entry in the prime minister’s group of min-
Dr Shiv Kumar (AUS/NZ), Nithya Ramesh isters. He emerged from the backstage, from where he
(Fashion & Entertainment )
directed the BJP’s ascent to its peak, to take dominant
Content partner
The Pioneer
centre stage as a minister in Narendra Modi’s second
Pratham Pravakta government.
Legal Advisors A series of recent events had pointed to such a possi-
Vishnu Sharma Adv bility. The first signal was Shah contesting the Lok Sabha
Vijai Krishna Adv elections. It was perhaps the first clear sign that Shah
Advertisement / Marketing Director was getting into the administrative side of politics. Shah presence in Lok
Diwakar Shetty
Gopal Chopra
Sabha without the likes of Arun Jaitely and Sushma Swaraj in the govern-
Administrative Director
ment indicates power structure in the Modi 2.0 government.
Amit Pandey The second clear signal was the symbolism of Modi and Shah being to-
Bal Mukund Gaur gether since the party’s victory celebrations. After the election results were
Corporate Communication / PR announced on May 23, the Modi-Shah duo had walked together to the BJP
Sanjay Mendiratta headquarters to greet and address party workers. The current No. 1 and No.
M M Upadhaya
2 in the BJP had also travelled together to their respective constituencies of
Graphics & Design
Writeword Commuications (Studio 8) Varanasi and Gandhi Nagar, they addressed the first press conference at the
Photographer
BJP HQ together.
Ratan Shukla The third clear sign is actually a historical fact. When Shah laid the ground
Overseas Marketing for Modi’s return as Gujarat chief minister in 2002, he was rewarded with
OEMCL Ltd (Mauritius), OEHCL ltd (DUBAI) 10 portfolios, including home, law and justice, prison, border security and
Advertisement / Circulation: housing. A repeat performance on a national level, given the comfortable
Delhi / NCR - Hemant Sharma: D 239 position to which Shah guided his party, was arguably going to fetch him a
Defence Colony New Delhi 110024 INDIA
Tel – 011 49060350 reward in the form of a cabinet berth.
Mumbai - Vijay Kalantri – Advisor: New Besides, Modi’s trust in Shah is indisputable. At the BJP national execu-
ExcelsIor BUILDING, 6tH Floor, A.K. NAYAK tive following the party’s massive victory in 2014 and 2019 elections, Modi
MARG, Fort, MUMBAI - 400001 (INDIA). had said, “Amit Shah was the man of the match. I have personally known
Phone: 91 - 22 - 22019265 / 22019160
FAX : 91-22- 22019764 / 22019760
Shah for a long time. He will perform to his potential in his new responsibil-
The magazine is published and printed by Rajiv
ity and I have no doubt about that.
Agnihotri for Opinion Express Communications But what does Shah’s ministerial position mean for the BJP’s larger poli-
& Entertainments Pvt Ltd, from Kumpu Graphic tics? Is Modi grooming Shah for administration? “Amit Shah’s transition is
Press 2 Ashok Nagar, Lucknow & printed at complete. He is now the legitimized inheritor of Modi’s legacy. By the time
Kumpu Graphic Press 2 Ashok Nagar, Lucknow
– 226001 Tele : 91-522-4060880 & the tenure of Modi 2.0 comes to an end in 2024, Modi will be 73 years old.
Nikhil Offset An ISO 9001 : 2008 Certified Given the rule he has set for the party — of encouraging those above 75 years
Company 223, DSIDC Complex, Okhla Industrial of age to retire from active politics — it will be time for the BJP, in case it
Area Phase - I, New Delhi - 110020 Tele : 91-
26812316, 26810097, 26810458, FAX:91
wins a third straight term in Lok Sabha, to appoint its successor. Will today’s
45792362 E-Mail : nikhil223@yahoo.com, cabinet minister be tomorrow’s prime minister? It is a line of thought worth
nikhilg91@gmail.com pursuing. Interestingly, RSS approval will have a decisive say in the final
Registered Office: OPINION EXPRESS HOUSE outcome for the successor of Modi.
24-A Clyde Road, Lucknow-226001 (India)
Phone: 91-522-4060880 Modi 2.0 will see Amit Shah in Home Ministry, Rajnath Singh in Defense
Fax: 91-522-2208242 # 24x7 Ministry, Nirmala Sitaraman in Finance Ministry, Subramanium Jaishakar
mobility +91 9984437000 in External Affairs Ministry as the part of CCS – the super cabinet. The Modi
email: info@opinionexpress.in
All disputes are subject to be under jurisdiction of
2.0 will have 24 Cabinet Ministers, 9 Independent Ministers & 24 Minister
courts in Delhi. of state.
All content published may be subject to copyright,
seek written permission to re-produce. Opinion —Prashant Tewari ,
Express is trade mark brand of Opinion Express Editor-in-Chief
Communications & Entertainment Private Limited.
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 3
A Monthly News Magazine
June 2019
Cover Story
Team Modi
Takes Over
The second cabinet of Narendra
Modi is a mix of youth and
experience, and is without several
prominent faces of the previous
one...
P 5-11
12 15 46
Modi Karol
2.0 Zine
16
BJP’s Policies BJP’s
and Vision Chanakya
22
Congress must
reinvent 360°
to exist
24
Global Media
on Namo 2.0 46
success Inspirational
Aparna ignites
32
Historic hope for
Blunder? millions
4 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s s
Cover story
Team
Modi
Takes
Over
The second cabinet of Narendra Modi is a mix of
youth and experience, and is without several
prominent faces of the previous one...
First Among Equals
Narendra Modi | 68
Prime Minister
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances
and Pensions; Department of Atomic En-
ergy; Department of Space; All important
policy issues; and All other portfolios not
allocated to any Minister
Won from Varanasi by a margin of over
4.7 lakh votes. Modi was appointed Chief
Minister of Gujarat in 2001 and succeeded
Keshubhai Patel. He was elected to the As-
sembly soon after and went on to retain the
CM’s post till he took over as Prime Min-
ister in 2014. In 2014, he became the first
PM, outside of Congress, to win with full
majority.
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 5
Cabinet Ministers
Rajnath Singh Amit Shah Nitin Gadkari
Age: 67 Age: 54 Age: 62
Defence Home Affairs Minister of Road,
Transport and
Won from Lucknow by over 3.47 Makes Lok Sabha debut, won from
lakh votes. Multiple-term MLA in Gandhinagar by 5.57 lakh votes.Won
Highways
UP and state minister from 1991 his first Assembly election in 1997 Won from Nagpur by over 2.16 lakh
to 92. He also served as UP CM from Sarkhej. In 2012, he changed votes. Continues from being a senior
for two years. He took over as his constituency to Naranpura after minister in the previous Narendra
BJP chief in 2005. Won the 2009 Sarkhej was split by delimitation. Modi government. Became minister
Lok Sabha poll from Ghaziabad Elected to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in Maharashtra’s first Shiv Sena-BJP
and in 2014 from Lucknow.Was in 2017. Led BJP to victory in 2014 government in 1995. He contributed
home Minister in the previous LS polls. Appointed BJP national to Pradhanmantri Gramin Sadak
Narendra Modi government. He president the same year. was Gu- Yojana during Vajpayee government.
also served as Union Minister in jarat’s MoS Home in Narendra odi Became Surface Transport, Shipping,
Vajpayee governments. government in 2002. Water Resources and Ganga Rejuve-
nation Minister in 2014.
D V Sadananda Nirmala Ram Vilas
Gowda Sitharaman Paswan
Age: 66 Age: 59 Age: 72
Chemicals and Finance and Consumer Affairs
Fertilisers Corporate Affairs
BJP has assured him a Rajya Sabha
Won from Bangalore North by a mar- She is a Rajya Sabha member from berth. Paswan was elected an MLA in
gin of 1.47 lakh votes. A four-time Karnataka. An economist and social 1969 and became a Union minister
MP, Gowda has served as Karnataka worker, Sitharaman is a former BJP in the V P Singh government in 1989.
CM. In his first two terms as MP, spokesperson.In the previous Nar- A leader of the SC Paswan commu-
he was elected from seats in coastal endra Modi government, she served nity, his LJP is an important NDA
Karnataka. In 2014, he shifted to the as a Minister of State for finance, ally. Was labour and social welfare
Bangalore North seat. Gowda has then corporate affairs and later as minister in V P Singh government.
served as the railway minister, law a Minister of State (Independent He has held Railways, communica-
minister and minister of statistics charge) for Commerce and Industry. tions, chemicals and fertilisers and
and programme implementation in In September 2017, she was named coal portfolios in UPA and
the first Narendra Modi government. Defence Minister. NDA government.
6 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s s
Narendra Singh Ravi Shankar Harsimrat Kaur
Tomar Prasad Badal
Age: 61 Age: 64 Age: 52
Agriculture and Law and Justice Food Processing
Farmers’ Welfare Industries
Contested maiden Lok Sabha elec-
Won from Morena by a margin of tion, won from Patna Sahib by a Defeated Congress’s Amarinder Singh
over 1.13 lakh votes. Began his politi- margin of 2.84 lakh votes.Rose Raja Warring by a margin of over
cal career as a councillor in Gwalior from JP movement. Minister in A B 21,000 votes to win from Punjab’s
Municipal Corporation. He was Vajpayee and 2014 Narendra Modi Bathinda constituency for the third
elected to MP Assembly in 1998 and governments; BJP spokesperson time in a row. Wife of former Punjab
2003. Tomar was elected to Rajya and party’s in-charge for 8 states. CM in Akali Dal-led government,
Sabha in 2009. In May 2009, he was Multiple-term RS member. Sukhbir Badal. Ran a private jewel-
elected to Lok Sabha from Morena. Law minister in Vajpayee gov- lery business before contesting her
Was Union minister for Steel, Mines, ernment; Communications & IT first Lok Sabha election in 2009. She
Rural Development and Panchayati minister (up to 2016) in the Modi served as Food Processing Industries
Raj portfolios in the previous Nar- government. After 2016, minister minister in the previous Narendra
endra Modi government. Served as a of Electronics and Technology; Law Modi government after being elected
minister in MP government earlier. and Justice. in the 2014 general election.
Thaawarchand Subrahmanyam Ramesh
Gehlot Jaishankar Pokhriyal
Age: 71 Age: 64 Nishank
Social Justice and External Affairs Age: 59
Empowerment
Did not contest, not a HRD
Rajya Sabha member from Madhya member of any house. He
Pradesh. Started as a member of the was Foreign secretary from Re-elected to the Lok Sabha from
Bharatiya Jan Sangh in 1962. He 2015 to 2018 in which he Haridwar constituency in Uttara-
has been MLA for three terms. Was was given an extension to khand, winning by over 2.6 lakh
elected to Lok Sabha for the first the two-year term. A career votes. Was Uttarakhand CM from
time in 1996 and remained MP till diplomat, he had served as 2009-2011. Three-term MLA in undi-
2009. He has also been a whip of BJP India’s ambassador to China vided Uttar Pradesh from 1991. After
parliamentary party. He was minister and the US. He joined the formation of Uttarakhand, two-term
for Social Justice and Empower- Tata Group after retirement MLA since 2000. Was Culture and
ment in the previous Narendra Modi as President, Global Religion minister in UP 1999-2000.
government. He has also served as a corporate affairs. Uttarakhand minister in
minister of state in MP government. 2000-02, 2007-09.
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 7
Arjun Munda Smriti Irani Dr Harsh
Age: 51 Age: 43 Vardhan
Tribal Affairs Women and Child Age: 64
Development, and
Won from Khunti by a thin
Textiles Health & Family Welfare,
margin of 1,445 votes. Three- Science and Technology
time Jharkhand CM: in 2003, Defeated Congress president Ra-
2005, 2010. Fought Assembly hul Gandhi from Amethi by over Won from Chandni Chowk by a mar-
polls for Jharkhand Mukti 55,000 votes. Contested and lost gin of 2.28 lakh votes. A former RSS
Morcha in 1995. Joined BJP from Chandni Chowk LS seat in worker, he has been a four-time MLA
in 2000. Elected to LS from Delhi 2004; lost from Amethi in from Krishna Nagar in East Delhi.
from Jamshedpur in 2009. Was 2014. Elected to RS from Gujarat He was the BJP’s CM face for the
Tribal Welfare minister before first in 2011, and again in 2017 (has 2013 Assembly polls. Held portfo-
taking over as Jharkhand’s resigned now that she is in LS). Was lios of Health, Environment, Forests
second Chief Minister. As CM, Union HRD minister (2014-16); and Climate Change in the previous
defused tension over “domicile Textiles (since 2016). In July 2017, Narendra Modi government. He has
movement”, got state Lokayuk- given additional charge of I&B min- also held portfolios of health, law and
ta and conducted Panchayat istry, which was given to Rajyavard- education in Delhi government and is
polls after 32 years. han Rathore in May 2018. credited with a successful polio eradi-
cation programme.
Prakash Piyush Goyal Dharmendra
Javadekar Age: 54 Pradhan
Age: 68 Railways, and Age: 49
Environment and MIB Commerce and Industry
Petroleum, Natural Gas
Third-term Rajya Sabha member.
RS MP from Maharashtra. Played a and Steel
key role in drawing strategies for BJP
Was elected to RS from Maharashtra Did not contest. Was key man-
in the 2019 elections, worked closely
in 2008, Madhya Pradesh in 2014 ager of Lok Sabha and Assem-
with party president Amit Shah and
and Maharashtra again in 2018. Has bly polls in Odisha. Odisha
PM Narendra Modi. In the previous
been BJP national spokesperson for MLA 2000-04; BJP national
Modi government, Goyal was made
long; was Maharashtra BJP spokes- secretary of BJP in 2002;
Minister of State for Power, Coal,
person earlier . Ministers of State elected to Lok Sabha from
New and Renewable Energy and
(Independent Charge) for I&B (up Deogarh in 2004. Elected to
Mines. He was elevated mid-term to
to July 2016); Environment, Forest Rajya Sabha (from MP) in
cabinet rank and made Minister for
& Climate Change; Parliamentary May 2012; re-elected to RS in
Railways. In 2018, he temporarily
Affairs (both up to Nov 2014. HRD April 2018.
held charge of finance.
Minister (since 2016).
8 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s s
Mukhtar Abbas Pralhad Joshi Mahendra Nath
Naqvi Age: 56 Pandey
Age: 61 Parliamentary Affairs, Age: 61
Coal and Mines
Minority Affairs Skill Development and
Won from Dharwad constitu- Entrepreneurship
Elected a Rajya Sabha mem- ency by a margin of over 2
ber from Jharkhand in 2016. lakh votes. A fiery orator who Won from Chandauli by a margin of
Naqvi has been one of the few enjoys a good rapport with nearly 14,000 votes. He won as an
Muslim faces in the BJP. He Prime Minister Narendra MLA in 1991 and served as minister
won the 1998 Lok Sabha poll Modi and BJP president in the UP government. In 2014, he
from Rampur. In 1998, he was Amit Shah, Joshi has been contested from Chandauli and won. In
appointed minister in the Atal a four-time MP and former August 2017, he was named state BJP
Bihari Vajpayee government. In Karnataka BJP chief. He was president.He was named Union Min-
2014, he was appointed MoS, considered to be a close aide ister during the 2016 cabinet reshuffle
Minority Affairs and Parlia- of former BJP minister H N but after the BJP came to power in
mentary Affairs. Was later Ananth Kumar, who died UP, he was shifted to the state to head
given independent charge of the last year. the BJP unit there.
minority affairs ministry.
Arvind Giriraj Singh Gajendra Singh
Sawant Age: 66 Shekhawat
Age: 67 Animal Husbandry, Age: 51
Dairy and Fisheries
Heavy Industries and Jal Shakti
Public Enterprise Won from Begusarai by a margin of
over 4.5 lakh votes. An upper caste Won from Jodhpur by a margin of
Won from Mumbai South by leader, Singh is a two-time MP. over 2.7 lakh votes. Shekhawat was
a margin of over 1 lakh votes. He is known to make controversial elected president of the students’
Started as labour union leader; remarks. This election, he was up union at Jai Narayan Vyas Univer-
was Mahanagar Telephone against former JNUSU president sity in 1992 as an ABVP candidate.
Kamgar Sangh leader for and CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar. He has also been associated with
over 25 years. Helped secure Singh has been Cooperative and ani- Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Seema
multiple wage and other agree- mal husbandry minister in the Bihar Jan Kalyan Samiti. Shekhawat was
ments, including govt pension government. He was also a Union appointed the Union Minister of
agreement for MTNL employ- minister in the previous Narendra State, Ministry of Agriculture and
ees. Was Maharashtra MLC Modi government. Farmers’ Welfare, in September
from 1996-2010. 2017.
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 9
MoS (Ind Charge)
Santosh K Rao Inderjit Dr. Jitendra Singh
Gangwar Singh Age: 63
Age: 70 Age: 69 Development of North Eastern
Region; MoS PMO; MoS
MoS Labour and Statistics, Programme Ministry of Personnel, Public
Employment Implementation and Grievances and Pensions; MoS
Department of Atomic Energy;
Planning MoS Department of Space
R K Singh Kiren Rijiju Prahalad Singh
Age: 66 Age: 48 Patel
Ministry of Power; MoS Ministry of Youth Age: 58
New and Renewable Affairs and Sports; Culture; Ministry of
Energy; MoS Ministry of MoS Ministry of Tourism
Skill Development and Minority Affairs
Entrepreneurship
Hardeep Singh Mansukh Shripad Yesso
Puri Mandaviya Naik
Age: 67 Age: 44 Age: 66
Housing and Urban Ministry of Shipping; Ayurveda, Yoga and
Affairs; Ministry of Civil Chemicals and Naturopathy, Unani,
Aviation; Commerce Fertilizers Siddha and Homoeopathy
and Industry (AYUSH); MoS Defence
10 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s sMoS
Faggan Singh Kulaste, 60 Sanjay Dhotre, 60
Ministry of Steel HRD; Communications; Ministry
of Electronics and Information
Technology
Ashwini Kumar Choubey, 66
MoS Health and Family Welfare Anurag Singh Thakur, 44
Finance; Corporate Affairs
Arjun Ram Meghwal, 65
Parliamentary Affairs; Heavy Angadi Suresh, 63
Industries and Public Enterprises Railways
General (Retd.) V K Singh, 68 Nityanand Rai, 53
Road Transport and Highways MoS Home Affairs
Krishan Pal, 62 Rattan Lal Kataria, 67
Social Justice and Empowerment Jal Shakti; Social Justice and
Empowerment
Raosaheb Danve, 64
Consumer Affairs, Food and Public
V Muraleedharan, 60
External Affairs; Parliamentary
Distribution
Affairs
G Kishan Reddy, 55
Ministry of Home Affairs
Renuka Singh Saruta, 55
Tribal Affairs
Parshottam Rupala, 64
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
Som Parkash, 70
Commerce and Industry
Ramdas Athawale, 59
MoS Social Justice and
Rameswar Teli, 49
Food Processing Industries
Empowerment
Niranjan Jyoti, 51, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, 64
MSME; Animal Husbandry,
Rural Development
Dairying and Fisheries
Babul Supriyo,
Environment, Forest and Climate
Kailash Choudhary, 45
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
Change
Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, 47, Debasree Chaudhuri, 48
Women and Child
Animal Husbandry, Dairying and
Development
Fisheries
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 11Modi 2.0
In his second tenure with a resounding win, Modi is
all set to redefine modern India
T
he resounding victory of the Bharatiya Janata And the return of Narendra Modi as prime minister
Party (BJP) coalition in India’s federal election is both an opportunity and challenge for the country.
represents a key marker in the modern history The 2019 parliamentary elections were the most “presi-
of India. It was the most extensive and prob- dential” since the era of prime minister Indira Gandhi
ably most expensive election campaign in the country’s four decades ago, with a focus more on the personality
history, with 900 million voters casting their votes in of one leader (and his track record) than the candidates
one million polling stations over 38 days. Some 83 mil- standing for office and their respective parties.
lion Indians were first-time voters, with 15 million of We travelled across India to the hustings in as
them aged 18 and 19. many as 50 parliamentary constituencies and wit-
The great Indian festival of democracy—as the elec- nessed firsthand the “Modi phenomenon.” In con-
tions are often called—is seen as the most challenging stituency after constituency, BJP candidates evoked
exercise in making all Indians feel they have a say in the Modi’s name and displayed his image every opportu-
running of the government. nity they could.
12 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s sO p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 13
Modi’s larger-than-life ed by the toxic bureaucracy seeking to
presence undermine Modi.
Modi was projected as the only leader In part due to these social welfare
who would revive the great Indian civili- schemes, the BJP expanded its presence in
sation and save the country from the states where it has traditionally had little
powerful elites and corrupt politicians previous success, including Bengal, Od-
who made up what the BJP deemed the isha, and many parts of southern India.
“anti-national” opposition. What Modi’s win means for India
At times in the campaign, his person- So, what can Indians expect from
ality assumed almost mythological pro- a BJP-led government for the next five
portions. The defining image was of the years? Based on what we have seen since
Indian leader shedding his regal robes 2014, the government will be centralised
and retreating to a bare cave in the Hi- and driven primarily from Modi’s office.
malayas, close to one of the important Fortunately, the messiness of Indian de-
centres of Hindu pilgrimage, where he mocracy and the strengths of the constitu-
meditated in a monastic saffron shawl. tion will prevent the country from leaning
This reinforced his popular image as a pu- towards authoritarianism, so that should
ritanical and incorruptible leader whose not be a concern.
first choice in life was to be a monk. The previous Modi government has
In contrast to this imagery, the op- shown it was possible to take a pragmatic
position parties ran lazy, tired campaigns approach to social and economic policies.
that failed to have much impact. The Con- There are many key challenges that will
gress party, the country’s once-dominant require a fine balancing act. These include
political party, did not improve much on a further liberalising of the economy, with
its devastating results from the 2014 elec- the structural changes needed to make it
tion. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the sister easier to do business in India and attract
of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, more foreign investment. Creating jobs
tried hard to mobilise voters with rous- and skills training for the vast numbers of
ing speeches and campaign events, but young Indians remains a formidable chal-
these were just brief moments in the lon- lenge, as does India’s struggling agrarian
gest campaign in Indian electoral history. sector, which has reached a crisis point.
The Congress party’s traditional hubris The Modi 2.0 new finance minister Nir-
showed little signs of abating as it aban- mala Sitaraman is honest and unconven-
doned any chance of building potentially tional in approach so the country may see
winning coalitions that could have coun- many new innovative steps taken in the
tered the Modi juggernaut. The statement financial sector.
of veteran leader AK Antony speaks the It remains to be seen if the activism of
pathetic state of Congress party wherein the BJP’s rank-and-file members, as well
he has claimed in an open forum that as the party’s supporters in the Hindu
2019 elections are no disaster for the par- nationalist movement, can be managed
ty. This self denial is likely to hurt Con- without compromising on key policies
gress party more in the near future. that India needs for social cohesion and
The only real resistance to the BJP-led to continue growing the economy. It will
coalition came from India’s largest state also fall to Modi to reassure ethnic and
of Uttar Pradesh, where two strong re- religious minorities—many of whom have
gional parties suspended their traditional fallen victim to Hindu mob attacks—that
rivalry to establish an alliance. The Modi they are part of an inclusive vision for the
campaign succeeded not just in appealing country.
to nostalgia for India’s greatness or in the In terms of foreign policy, Modi has
ultra-nationalism that peaked after air- demonstrated deftness in New Delhi’s
strikes against what India viewed as ter- relations with powers like China and the
rorist camps in Pakistan in February. It US, as well as other countries in the re-
was actual delivery on the ground. gion. There are sure to be new challenges
The social welfare schemes built with Pakistan, in particular, as well as an
around providing lavatories, cooking gas, increasingly belligerent China, but Modi
and direct cash transfers to India’s poor- has already shown he has a unique abil-
est have had tremendous impact across ity to build a personal rapport with other
the country. Surprisingly, even the more leaders. And with a surprise appointment
woolly-headed schemes of the Modi of S. Jaishanker in the foreign ministry,
government, such as his chaotic demon- Modi is ready for an aggressive muscular
etisation decision in 2016 and a poorly pro active foreign policy.
implemented introduction of GST, were Inputs Hemant Sharma, Dr
perceived by many voters as policies that Shiv Kumar, Diwakar Shetty and
were well-intentioned, but badly execut- complied by Dr Rahul Misra.
14 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s sBJP’s
Chanakya
A man with avowed aim of having the BJP rule
from “panchayat to Parliament”, Amit Shah has
built his party into a formidable army that has
been forever marching on since he took charge
as its president in July 2014, turning India more
saffron than it has ever been.
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 15F
or the 2019 elections, Amit Shah
deployed over 7,000 leaders for
nearly 500 poll committee across
the country, with special focus on 120
seats that the BJP had lost in 2014, and
brought in 3,000 “full-timers” across
parliamentary seats.
• Amit Shah is known as an astute
strategist
• Amit Shah took charge as BJP
president in July 2014
• Amit Shah held over 161 rallies,
visited over 312 Lok Sabha seats, trav-
elled 1.58 lakh km, more than any other
leader
He combined BJP’s core Hindutva
plank with a hardcore nationalism
agenda and set up a huge ground-lev-
el organisational setup to execute it
-- the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)
‘Chanakya’, Amit Shah, blazed such a
trail that the ‘Modi Wave 2.0’ surpassed
its own original avatar with a much big-
ger saffron surge.
Known as an astute strategist whose
non-political interests range from play-
ing chess and watching cricket to stage
performances and listening to classical
music, 54-year-old Amit Shah is often
hailed as the BJP’s most successful
president for crafting its way to power
states after states.
The record tally that Amit Shah has
now delivered for the BJP in the Lok
Sabha 2019 elections is already being
seen by many as something that would
be difficult to repeat, though there are
others who believe there is more to
come as they point towards further in-
roads to be made in West Bengal, Od-
isha and in down South.
A man with avowed aim of hav-
ing the BJP rule from “panchayat to friends without inviting the charge from is delivering in the polls. Amit Shah is
Parliament”, Amit Shah has built his its core voter base of diluting its core also known to always match his limit-
party into a formidable army that has principles, ranging from Ram temple to less political ambition with a thorough
been forever marching on since he took cow, nationalism and Kashmir, for po- spadework, and then takes charge at the
charge as its president in July 2014, litical gains. ground to put it into work.
turning India more saffron than it has If under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L When it emerged in 2015 that the
ever been. Political pundits say Amit K Advani, the saffron party was seen as BJP with its small allies was no match
Shah has used a skilful mix of ideologi- being inhibited in going all-out with its to the joint forces of Lalu Prasad and
cal firmness, unlimited political imagi- Hindutva plank for fear of antagonis- Nitish Kumar in Bihar, the party
nation and realpolitik flexibility to keep ing allies and due to its perceived lim- worked at winning over the JD(U)
the BJP ahead of the game. ited electoral appeal, the BJP has worn president, who finally broke his short
Amit Shah ceded space in states like its Hindutva ideology on sleeve like a alliance with Prasad in 2017 and joined
Bihar and Maharashtra to put allies at badge of honour under Prime Minister hands with the former ally. And when
ease, worked on rival politicians with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. reports of disquiet within the JD(U)
captive local vote banks to get them Amit Shah has been of a firm view emerged with the alliance, Amit Shah
into the BJP fold, and sewed up new that Hindutva combined with the BJP’s met Kumar and announced that both
alliances as in Tamil Nadu and in the hardcore nationalism agenda, though parties will contest equal number of
North East to boost his party’s winning panned as shrill and divisive by its crit- Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, virtually con-
prospects. ics, render the party a distinct identity, ceding the senior status to the regional
And, unlike in the 90s when the BJP and is a winning electoral strategy. Amit party within the state.
first came to power at the Centre, Amit Shah has always believed that the allies In Maharashtra, where Amit Shah
Shah ensured that his party made new would keep coming as long as the party had let ally Shiv Sena walk out of the
16 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s salliance in the 2015 assembly polls so ery for publicising the government of the party, Amit Shah was seen as
that the BJP can consolidate its posi- schemes, carrying out political pro- Modi’s hand-picked man to usher in
tion there, he offered a generous seat- grammes and making full use of social changes to make it more attuned to
sharing deal to the Hindutva ally for media to reach out to voters. the prime minister’s vision. He did
the all-important Lok Sabha polls. For the 2019 elections, Amit Shah so, including by easing out veterans
In Uttar Pradesh with Yogi deployed over 7,000 leaders for nearly like L K Advani and Murli Mano-
Adityanath at helm as chief minister, 500 poll committee across the coun- har Joshi, cultivating a new band of
Amit Shah combined the Hindutva try, with special focus on 120 seats younger leaders and by keeping the
agenda with the Modi government’s that the BJP had lost in 2014, and party firmly under his grip.
development plank to woo backward brought in 3,000 “full-timers” across By all accounts, Amit Shah has be-
castes and bolster its traditional base parliamentary seats. Seen as a Modi come to Modi what Advani was to Vaj-
of upper castes to take on a formidable confidante, Amit Shah also brought payee, and may have crafted a success
SP-BSP combine. about cohesion between the govern- much bigger than that of the original
Having risen through the ranks ment and the party, with the party Hindutva mascot.
since starting at the booth level for leaders promoting the government’s Just a few months back, Amit Shah
the party in Gujarat at the age of 14 work and the ministers being used for said the BJP will remain in power for
years, Amit Shah is a firm believer in the party work. 50 years if it wins the 2019 elections.
the prerequisite of a strong ground- Leading from the front, Amit With the 2019 done and dusted, he
level organisational machinery for Shah held over 161 rallies and visit- can be trusted to work at the “50-year”
poll successes. ed over 312 Lok Sabha seats, clock- saffron rule in India.
In state after state, he has put in ing over 1.58 lakh km, more than any By Prakhar P Misra
place a robust organisational machin- other leader. After being given charge Political Editor Opinion Express
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 1718 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s s
BJP’s Policies and Vision
The nation hopes that with this resounding majority and
consequent political stability, the Prime Minister will succeed
in actualising his own vision and India’s unbound aspirations.
Chandan Mitra
T
he BJP was well on its way to
emerging as India’s ‘natural
party of Government’ under
the leadership of Atal Bihari
Vajpayee when its hope was rudely
dashed in 2004 after the “India Shin-
ing” campaign slogan backfired and
the party lost decisively. Few expected
the UPA 2 Government to return to
power under the low-profile leadership
of Manmohan Singh in the 2009 polls.
But the unexpected happened and the
BJP’s exile from power got extended
The 2019 poll results
demonstrate that
apart from setting new
benchmarks in India’s
parliamentary history,
the BJP has successfully
crafted a new record of
continuity of personality
and policy.
by another five years. However, under
the muscular charge of Narendra Modi,
the BJP bounced back with a stunning
majority in 2014, pushing the Congress’
tally to a paltry 44 seats in the Lok Sab-
ha. The 2019 poll results demonstrate
that apart from setting new bench-
marks in India’s parliamentary history,
the BJP has successfully crafted a new
record of continuity of personality and
policy. Arguably not every section of
the electorate is delighted by the BJP’s
overwhelming triumph, but all have ac-
cepted that its footprint across the en-
tire country is unmissable now.
Once derided as a Brahmin-Bania
party whose influence was confined to
the Hindi-speaking States of North In-
dia, the BJP has broken through politi-
cal and cultural barriers in the South,
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 19East and North-East of India this time. This is a humongous achievement for which the party’s charismatic leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tireless strategist Amit Shah can justi- fiably claim full credit. Commentators have attributed its spectacular victory to a combination of robust nationalism of the Balakot kind, a series of popu- list doles such as LPG gas cylinders to placate the underprivileged and a pow- erful dose of Hindutva. Many of these schemes and ideological predilections are not original. Some were directly bor- rowed from the predecessor UPA while the ideological positioning clearly bears the newly emboldened RSS’s imprint. For its policies to outlast a five-year term and become ingredients of the BJP’s ambition that it should become part of the “natural party of governance,” there The Time magazine’s recent cover story describing the Prime Minister as India’s divider-in-chief was certainly not a complimentary epithet. has to be a degree of balance and con- ciliation which has not been evident in the ruling party’s style so far. Narendra Modi’s combative approach may have endeared him to the national electorate but this may not always work in a com- plex society which requires consensus and conciliation rather than confronta- tion. The Time magazine’s recent cover story describing the Prime Minister as India’s divider-in-chief was certainly not a complimentary epithet. Although palpably exaggerated and symptom- hvi Pragya Singh Thakur up the BJP’s then Finance Minister Pranab Mukher- atic of typical Western media bias, ranks is certainly not reassuring in this jee did just that in the aftermath of the Modi would do well to go in for an im- context. 2008 global slowdown. It is not too age makeover to emerge as an unifying Apart from the social anxieties, the late even now to revive such a plan as rather than a divisive force. It is appar- country’s economic health report dur- tighter controls on tax collections have ent that most of the minorities, particu- ing Modi’s first tenure has hardly been led to robust revenue growth. Modi may larly India’s 185 million Muslims, have inspiring. Although, Modi managed to have successfully prevented jobs and a deep distrust of the Prime Minister. dust economic issues under the carpet distressed farmers’ issues from domi- This may not be justified as the NDA through a skillful mixture of demagogu- nating the election agenda. But merely Government’s policies evidently do not ery and populist policies, the fact is that ignoring them will not make the issues target Muslims adversely, but percep- the fundamentals of the economy are disappear. While doles such as the PM- tions matter a great deal in shaping at- shakier than during the UPA era. The Kisan Yojana may be temporary pallia- titudes. Therefore, NDA 3 will need to truly worrying part is the stagnation of tives, in the long run, they cause irre- work consciously to dispel the impres- industry, credit squeeze and sharp drop trievable damage to the economy. sion that India might get transformed in consumption. It was assumed in The new Government also needs to into a Hindu-majority Pakistan. The 2008 that the Government would come work hard to formulate a clear foreign political rise of rabble rousers like Sad- up with an incentivisation package and policy, especially with an eye on the 20 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s s
neighbourhood. A mischievous western that he is expected by his myriad sup- As the saying goes, there is so much
neighbour is perennially backed by an porters not only to act but must also be to be done but so little time to do this.
expansionist northern neighbour, and seen to act. India has made invaluable But the Prime Minister himself coined
together they keep tensions alive in diplomatic strides in Modi’s first term. the slogan “Modi hai toh mumkin hai.
the region. Terrorists sponsored from Undoubtedly, our relations with the (Everything is possible with Modi at
across the border force India to be per- US, China, Japan, European Union and the helm).” The nation hopes that with
manently on tenterhooks; by fomenting other powerful nations and blocks have this resounding majority and conse-
unrest in Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan shown marked improvement. This pol- quent political stability, the Prime
keeps provoking us routinely. New Del- icy needs successful upgrading to posi- Minister will succeed in actualising his
hi needs to have a clear Zero Tolerance tion us as a superpower in the making. own vision and India’s unbound aspi-
Policy, necessitating physical demon- Similarly, India’s space programme is rations. The Prime Minister recently
stration of its exasperation. Modi has among the world’s most coveted. Dur- spent two days meditating at the holy
built a reputation as a no-nonsense ing Modi’s second term, the country’s Kedarnath cave. Lord Shiva would
leader, ready to hit back through surgi- first manned mission to space, Gagan- have blessed him then to fulfill our col-
cal strikes across the border and other yaan and spacecraft to the Mars, Man- lective dreams.
measures, including economic blockag- galyan, will get launched putting India
es. The Prime Minister must remember in an altogether different league. Courtesy: The Pioneer
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 21Congress must reinvent
360° to exist
T
he Congress party suffered a
rout in the Lok Sabha 2019 elec-
tions and the big gloom over the
party is more humiliating than
the 2014 results with the biggest jolt in
the hotly-contested Amethi seat in Ut-
tar Pradesh. Firebrand Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani defeated
Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his
home turf, the traditional Gandhi pocket
borough thereby taking the wind out of
the sails of the Congress.
The impact of Rahul’s shocking de-
feat, where huge victory margins have
added the halo of invincibility to Gan-
dhi family members will be felt outside
the geographical boundaries of Amethi.
The spectacular show by the Modi-
Shah duo has put a question mark on
Rahul’s leadership. Unlike 2014, this
election was Rahul’s first as party presi-
dent and workers were looking up to
the Gandhi scion to lead the way. Rahul
miserably failed to rise to the challenge
and stuck to Modi bashing that was am-
plified by the ‘chowkidaar chor hai’ jibe.
Many in party’s own circle believed that
the tagline breached the boundary of
political decency stereotyped the Con-
gress of weaving a negative campaign pressure to act and show that it is ac- More than demanding respect a
with nothing to add of its own. tually serious about remaining in busi- leader needs to command it, and with
Oblivious to the ground realities ness. One of the most telling reactions his own image severely dented it is not
or how the slogan was being received came from veteran leader and former going to be easy. Then the comparisons
by voters, Rahul went on an overdrive organisational general secretary of the with the BJP’s stalwarts is only going to
even landing himself into trouble with party Janardan Dwivedi. When asked get more sharper and unsparing that will
the Supreme Court that further dented about the verdict he replied: “I am not make the unease and discontentment
the Congress confidence. Rahul seems surprised....” he said, not willing to add within the party only grow louder.
to have offered his resignation to UPA more. Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s
chairperson Sonia Gandhi but his party Another old-hatter Punjab CM Cap- age — he will be 49 next month— and
leaders suggested that the matter should tain Amarinder Singh known for being his party’s Lok Sabha tally for 2019 at
be left to be discussed at the Congress critical of Rahul’s ways earlier, hit out 52, seem to have moved up in a synchro-
Working Committee (CWC) meeting. at Navjot Singh Sidhu. Amarinder fired nised manner. Five years ago, in May
As a matter of procedure, a CWC would the salvo: “Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to 2014, Rahul, a highly empowered vice-
be called within weeks of the results for become CM... His going to Pakistan and president at the time, was on the thresh-
a postmortem. hugging Pakistan Army Chief Qamar old of turning 44, exactly the number of
The CWC is likely to constitute a Javed Bajwa cost the Congress dearly... seats Congress had won in the sixteenth
committee to delve into the reasons on the party should have taken disciplinary Lok Sabha.
the lines of the Antony Committee Re- action against him...” he said. While this is just a coincidence, this
port in 2014 that blamed UPA-2’s anti- Trouble for Rahul doesn’t end here. unintended tango can be symbolic of the
majority perception for its defeat. Clouds of uncertainty are gathering over existential crisis that faces both Gandhi
But the Congress’ course corrections Karnataka where Chief Minister HD Ku- and his party.
have often been mere tokenism and less maraswamy seems to be edgy and has The Congress is staring at a credibil-
about transparency in order to insulate been calling up Congress leaders to dis- ity crisis following its poor show in the
the top leadership. With PM Modi’s cuss the situation. Madhya Pradesh gov- Lok Sabha elections, particularly when it
unrelenting attack on dynastic politics ernment could also be a cause for Rahul comes to taking on Prime Minister Na-
the party will be under tremendous to worry. rendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata
22 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s sParty (BJP). The leader added that the party said Sanjay Kumar, director at the New
The results are a poor reflection on should have tried more to stitch up al- Delhi-based Centre for the Study of De-
party president Rahul Gandhi’s leader- liances like the one in Uttar Pradesh, veloping Societies.
ship capabilities, besides the Congress’ where the opposition vote was split be- Party leaders, however, said that it
election strategy to take on the BJP-led tween the Congress and the Samajwadi will be a while before voices of dissent
National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Party-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) com- come to the fore from within the party
The gravity of the loss can be understood bine. “As a political party, we need to to question the leadership. “People will
from Gandhi’s loss to Union minister decide whether our main aim is to take either desert the party or not question
Smriti Irani in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, on the BJP or grow as a party. Both can the leadership. If not the Gandhis, then
which was represented by the Gandhi happen simultaneously, but if at all we who?” a senior party functionary said,
family for over three decades. have to chose one, there should be a requesting anonymity.
India’s oldest political party was lim- uniform approach. Even in states where Senior party leaders were also wary
ited to just 51 seats, marginally improv- we did have an alliance, there was hard- of the fact that many Congress top guns
ing from its worst ever tally of 44 seats in ly a common narrative,” a senior party lost from their seats, and this would have
2014 with a 19.3% vote share. To make leader from Bihar said, requesting ano- an impact on the party’s state units.
matters worse, for the second time in a nymity. While sitting Lok Sabha members
row, the party will not be able to claim In all, the party drew a blank in over Mallikarjun Kharge, Sushmita Dev,
the position of the leader of opposition a dozen states. Its only bright spot came Ranjeet Ranjan and Jyotiraditya Scin-
in the Lok Sabha, falling short of the from Kerala and Punjab, which togeth- dia have lost the elections, former chief
minimum requirement of winning one- er accounted for 23 out of the 50 seats it ministers Digvijaya Singh and Sheila
tenth of total seats, or 54 seats, in the won. Congress gained maximum seats Dikshit, too, had to concede defeat.
Lower House. from the south, including Tamil Nadu. After the results Congress’ challenge
Addressing a press conference on Party leaders said that despite will not be limited to putting its house in
Thursday evening, Rahul Gandhi said their push for a ‘constructive cam- order, but to stand up to a stronger and
that the “public has given its mandate”. paign’ around a nationwide farm loan resurgent BJP in key assembly polls.
When asked if he would resign from waiver and minimum income guaran- Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Del-
the post of party president, Gandhi said tee scheme, or NYAY, its campaign did hi and Bihar will go to polls over the next
“We will have a meeting of the working not find resonance with the people and one year.
committee and then it would be decided only those candidates who were strong Besides, considering that it will have
there...That you can leave between me locally, ended up winning. a minor presence in the Lok Sabha for
and the working committee.” “Unexplainable,” said a senior party the second time in a row—it may not
While Congress performed poorly functionary from Madhya Pradesh, ex- stake claim for the post of the leader of
across all key states in North India, it pressing his disappointment on the out- opposition—the party will have to build
faced an electoral bloodbath in a direct come. “How do you make sense of this greater consensus among all opposition
contest with the BJP. Out of this, the result? How do you explain that after parties to make any strong pitch in the
biggest disappointment was in Madhya winning Chhattisgarh six months ago Lok Sabha.
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, with two-thirds mandate, we are back According to analysts, the larger
where it had defeated the BJP in state to 2014 tally?” he added, also requesting challenge, or ‘crisis’ as they put it, will be
elections just six months ago. Out of the anonymity. to accept that the party needs to reinvent
65 parliamentary seats three states rep- This is the first general election, itself to adapt to the new political reali-
resent, the Congress managed to retain which was being overseen by Rahul ties.
just three, virtually giving a walkover to Gandhi as the national president, since “Frankly, Congress has multiple
the BJP. he took charge in 2017. Following the challenges and that is not restricted to
Even in Gujarat, where it had re- historic drubbing in 2014, former party this election alone. Everyone can predict
markably improved its performance in president Sonia Gandhi withdrew herself what happens next from here. Almost
the assembly polls, the Congress did not from active political engagements, while like a clockwork, Congress will form
win any seats this time. The same story Rahul Gandhi was given the charge to a committee with its old war horses,
played out in direct contest states such lead from the front. who will prepare a report on what went
as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Ut- With the exception of Punjab in 2017, wrong, but those issues will never get
tarakhand, where it failed to open its Congress did not win any state poll on its discussed. People will offer to resign
account. The shrinking of electoral foot- own until last year. A ray of hope for the taking responsibility, but almost every-
print in the North-East continued, with party came last December, when it won one will continue to be on board,” said
the Congress conceding half of its 2014 the three state elections. But according Ashutosh Kumar, professor of political
seats largely to a resurgent BJP-led Na- to political analysts, Thursday’s results science at Panjab University.
tional Democratic Alliance (NDA). “We puts the focus back on the leadership “Congress is like an old elephant,
have suffered huge losses in the Hindi crisis in the party. “After 2014, everyone which has an idea attached to it, but
heartland. All our gains are only from kept talking about how Congress is fac- that too is fading gradually. The chal-
the South. The BJP ran an aggressive ing a leadership challenge. People and lenge for the party is to either arrest
campaign; we could not take on their particularly party workers hoped that that decline or allow it to happen rap-
nationalism narrative and people voted they will do much better this time. But idly,” he added.
for Modi. Top leaders will sit and in- that did not happen. Post this result, the
trospect on what went wrong where,” a questions on Rahul Gandhi will grow. By Rajiv Agnihotri
senior party leader from Uttar Pradesh From a leadership challenge in 2014, this Bureau Head- Africa is based
said, requesting anonymity. has become a leadership crisis in 2019,” in Mauritius.
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 23Global Media on
Namo 2.0 success
Top publications from across the world took note of the scale of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election victory, with some
describing it as part of a global political trend
24 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s sT
he “charismatic but polarising” win, but it would do so by a landslide. as second-class citizens”.
BJP leader’s return to power Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party Expectations that Modi would boost
“mirrored a trend of right- (BJP), which leads the NDA, has once the economy and generate employment
wing populists sweeping to again won a parliamentary majority on after his famous win in 2014 “remain
victory, from the United States to Brazil its own -- it now has over 300 seats in a unfulfilled,” said the Washington Post.
to Italy, often by promoting a tough se- 545-strong Lok Sabha with two nomi- This time, the newspaper added, “Modi
curity stance and protecting trade poli- nated members. Its leader was helped instead pushed a message of nationalist
cies”, the Associated Press reported. by a “mix of brawny Hindu national- pride, telling voters that he was the only
The outcome of India’s marathon ism, populist humility and grand ges- candidate who would safeguard the
Lok Sabha election, the seventeenth in tures for the poor”, the New York Times country’s security and fight terrorism”.
its history, was clear well before officials reported. National security became an election is-
began declaring results on Thursday. The Guardian said in an editorial sue after a military escalation between
Trends confirmed what multiple exit that Modi’s triumph would “see India’s India and Pakistan brought the two na-
polls had predicted: not only would the soul lost to a dark politics one that views tions to the brink of war in February.
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) almost all 195 million Indian Muslims That happened days after a Pakistan-
based terrorist group killed dozens of
Indian paramilitary soldiers in a suicide
bombing in Kashmir.
An editorial in Pakistan’s Dawn
newspaper said the months “leading up
to Mr Modi’s campaign were marked by
anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan rants”;
it accused India of “going so far as to es-
calate tensions by conducting airstrikes
inside Pakistan in order to whip up na-
tionalist sentiment”. The newspaper
said “the focus must turn to a practical
way forward for sustainable peace in
the subcontinent. This is possible solely
through an unwavering commitment to
dialogue, an offer Pakistan has extend-
ed -- and India has rebuffed -- consis-
tently.”
India’s position on dialogue with Is-
lamabad is that talks and terrorism can-
not go together.
While reporting on Prime Minister
Modi’s victory, foreign publications did
not lose sight of the other big story --
the Congress’s decline. Under Rahul
Gandhi, the party that once dominated
Indian politics now has just 52 seats in
the Lok Sabha. It had won even fewer
seats in 2014.
India’s Lok Sabha election was held
between April 11 and May 19, and over
two-thirds of around 900 million eli-
gible voters took part. “The elections,
so daunting an exercise they are phased
over six weeks, were a testimony to the
vibrancy of the world’s largest democ-
racy just 72 years since India won in-
dependence from British colonial rule,”
the Associated Press said.
Surprisingly the anti-Modi sting in
the media was missing as for many out-
lets it was not an unexpected outcome
of the elections. There was also no use
in regular reporting of threat to Mus-
lims and minorities by Modi or his BJP.
However, analysis and editorial did
highlight such threats.
The element of in-depth coverage of
elections followed by deep analysis was
O p i n i on E x p r e s s June 2019 25missing as almost all papers and other Pakistan in order to whip up nationalist same news agencies. The Nation in the
media outlets were dependent on news sentiment, it opined. main story highlighted that Pakistan
agencies in absence of dedicated report- The News International termed Mo- Prime Minister Imran Khan congratu-
ing teams in India. di’s win as “dramatic” but added that lated Modi on his victory.
Dawn in a front page report wrote it only was reflection of a global trend. The electronic media was also not
that Modi won an emphatic mandate “His re-election reinforces a global overtly involved in the results coverage
in general elections that saw him pitch- trend of right-wing populists sweep- and seldom stopped routine reporting
ing national security as an invincible ing to victory, from the United States to give breaking news and alerts about
talisman. “In projecting himself as the to Brazil and Italy, often after adopt- the Indian election results. However,
choreographer of air raids on Balakot ing harsh positions on protectionism, some of the evening TV talk shows pon-
across the border, Mr Modi severely immigration and defence,” according dered over the questions regarding im-
bruised a fractious and unequal opposi- to the report. However, an analytical pact of Modi on India’s relations with
tion, according to the paper. article by Aijaz Zaka Syed appeared in Pakistan.
The next government in New Delhi The News International credited Modi Special advisor to Prime Minister on
will determine the course of Indo-Pak- for the victory of the BJP. information Firdous Ashiq Awan told
istan ties, which were pushed to a new “If the BJP and Modi have won Hamid Mir of Geo news in his talk show
low after the Pulwama terror attack. this election, they perhaps deserved to on Thursday night that victory of Modi
During the campaign, Modi harped on win. They put in a great deal of hard is neither a bad news for Pakistan nor a
national security issues, including a work and have had the hunger to win,” good news.
counter-terror operation carried out at he wrote. He also said that Modi could “We want to engage with India and
the biggest JeM training camp in Paki- be responsible for many sins but the resolve all difference through talks. For
stan’s Balakot. Opposition failed to expose his fail- us there is no difference who is leading
Dawn wrote a scathing editorial ures. India, she said.
about the success of Modi, terming it a “It failed to offer a positive, redeem- Foreign Office spokesman Moham-
victory of communal politics. “For the ing narrative to counter the BJP’s cam- mad Faisal to a question about elec-
world’s largest democracy, the writing is paign of hate and toxicity. Other than tions in India said Pakistan consistently
on the wall: communal politics in India the single point agenda of getting rid maintained that the only way to resolve
has triumphed in an age that will define of Narendra Modi, the opposition did all outstanding issues, including the is-
the future of the republic,” it wrote. not offer anything else. The Congress’ sue of Jammu and Kashmir is through
It wrote that the results are as- promise of nyay’ (justice for all) came implementation of UNSC resolutions.
tounding, and depressingly show that very late in the day and was simply lost Dialogue is hence essential. We remain
religious hatred and sectarian politics in the BJP’s propaganda blitz scream- committed to the same, irrespective of
can be exploited to lure voters. ing about its various schemes and ini- whoever forms the new Government in
“Notably, the months leading up to tiatives, he wrote. India, he said.
Mr Modi’s campaign were marked by The Express Tribune’s main story
anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan rants, about Indian election results was not Inputs from Anshuman
with India going so far as to escalate much different from the The News In- Dogra, Hemant Sharma from
tensions by conducting air strikes inside ternational as both had used contents of FCC – New Delhi.
26 June 2019 O p i n i on E x p r e s sYou can also read
