The mood of the people of the country for 2024 ensuing Lok Sabha elections has become quite clear
By: Dr VK Bahuguna
(The writer is former Director-General in the Environment Ministry govt of India)
The mood of the people of the country for 2024 ensuing Lok Sabha elections has become quite clear with the results of recently held Assembly elections in the five states giving BJP and the Prime Minister a decisive mandate in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The Prime Minister has also fortified the caste calculations while selecting new generation leaders as Chief Ministers with one by three approach. The congress dislodged the Bharat Rashtra Samiti government headed by Mr Chandrasekhar Rao in Telangana. In the North-Eastern state of Mizoram the Mr Zoramthanga led Mizo National Front was defeated by the new regional outfit Zoram Peoples Movement led by Pu Lalduhoma. The trend in Hindi heartland states indicates the soaring graph of popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his policies inspite of huge campaigns launched by Congress leaders. Even in Telangana the vote share of BJP soared to 13.9 % bagging 8 seats and similarly it crossed in Mizoram to more than 5% with 2 seats. In Telangana had the BJP not changed the horse a few months before the state elections as sizeable backward votes were shifted to congress the results would have been slightly different.
Let us discuss what is happening in the minds of the people when the opposition and a section of intelligentsia had been vituperatively targeting the Prime Minister and the Central government. The latest 5 Member bench of Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Chandrachud in its verdict on 11th December 2023 have put a seal of approval on abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir. The Apex Court had clearly stipulated that this Article issued through Presidential Promulgation was a temporary phenomenon and after the Maharaja Hari Singh signed the merger deed with Indian Union it has no option for retaining its Sovereignty as it was complete and final. After the creation of Bangladesh and merger of Sikkim it was the boldest and decisive decision taken by any government at the Centre and Modi govt did it on 5th August 2019 at the beginning of its second term. The abrogation and division of J&K into two Union territories by meeting the demands of Ladakh people it has completed the integration of all states into Bharat Union. It can be rated as the initiation of true federalism and the Supreme Court decision vindication of Modi Government policy to complete the territorial integration of Jammu and Kashmir with rest of the Country.
In this regards it would be interesting to note how a few people with the support of opposition have negatively perceived several decisions of Modi government and challenged these before the Supreme Court. In most of the cases the Court had approved the decision taken by the government. In 2016 the Prime Minister announced banning the Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes in order to curtail the flow of Black money which apart from other also hit the terrorist funding in the country. The order was challenged but the Supreme Court upheld the decision. The Rafael deal was made a big issue by the Congress and after detailed scrutiny by the Supreme Court it was found to be a very correct decision. Again the banning of Triple Talaq among Muslims was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2017. Similarly the Supreme Court rejected opposition to Central Vista Project in which the country got a new Parliament house and the validity of Aaadhar Card as also the Delhi government Acts. These decisions are an indication to the political parties that people are fed up with unnecessary blockage of governance like challenging every decision in the court and launching abusive campaigns in media. In fact the time of the Courts could have been utilized for speedy disposal of several pending cases of the citizens. The challenges to policies should be discussed in the right forum which is the legislature. The BJP successfully exploited these things like the silly abuse by the DMK leaders of Sanatan Dharma and the silence of Congress leaders the main opposition party on this.
The current situation thus has lessons for both the ruling party as well as opposition. The opposition must review its policy of uncalled for belligerence on every action of the government because it is having antagonistic results as people perceive that the opposition is feeling fish out of water without power ad indulging in crying hoarse unnecessarily. Even the correct criticism in such a situation is perceived negatively. The criticism should be constructive and bring ideas and programmes which the government cannot oppose and is forced to accommodate. The opposition parties should cooperate on the national issues of importance as we need to build consensus on many issues of national development like unemployment, farmers’ problems, social cohesion and national security and over all econo0micv development. In fact the opposition got emboldened after the government was forced to withdraw three well meaning Acts enacted for the welfare of farmers. For the ruling dispensation under Prime Minister Modi it is time to shed any reservation on leapfrogging on its welfare schemes but also to devise ways to fast track progressive programmes needed in national interests in different sectors. One of the most important issues relates to control of population for which we need a very strict law soon otherwise all development can go haywire and the country will be entrapped in vicious cycle of poverty and resources crunch. Our earth’s carrying capacity to shoulder human population is almost over. The second issue is to find solution of infiltration of foreigners and their detection and deportation is as important as national security and many internal forces are active in fissiparous and disruptive activities taking advantage of the democratic values and loopholes in our laws. The government on 12th December 2023 had argued in the Supreme Court that it is not possible to detect the infiltrators. India perhaps is the only country where a foreigner can easily obtain citizenship and voter cards. Not only they obtain citizenships but also foreigners drive the agenda with internal help. A few months ago this writer has raised the issue of unusual increase of voters in Uttarakhand during last ten years being done in a systematic manner by writing to Prime Minister and Election Commission as it is threatening the cultural integrity of Uttarakhand and its ecology. The carrying capacity is over and unplanned planning is bringing disasters like Uttarkashi tunnel collapse and every year one or two such things are happening. At least the foreigners after identificat6ion should be disenfranchised and machinery should be put to monitor the entry in border areas. Third, the country needs to overhaul some of the laws to maintain unity and cohesiveness in the society through legislative and judicial reform. Fourth, being a diverse country we need to bring the provisions of ‘Referendum’ in our constitution so that decisive mandate on an issue of conflicting views is given by the people as Referendum is the last goal post in a vibrant democracy. It was discussed in the constitutional assembly but could not be accepted due to some reasons. Last but not the least, another major decision Modi govt need to take is to bring a procedure for climate resilient development administration right from block level to District to sub-regional level and change the focus of governance from law and order centric to resource management centric. In nutshell time is ripe to leapfrog to create the foundation for a peaceful and progressive nation.
Modi era’s time to leapfrog into nation building
By: Dr VK Bahuguna
(The writer is former Director-General in the Environment Ministry govt of India)
The mood of the people of the country for 2024 ensuing Lok Sabha elections has become quite clear with the results of recently held Assembly elections in the five states giving BJP and the Prime Minister a decisive mandate in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The Prime Minister has also fortified the caste calculations while selecting new generation leaders as Chief Ministers with one by three approach. The congress dislodged the Bharat Rashtra Samiti government headed by Mr Chandrasekhar Rao in Telangana. In the North-Eastern state of Mizoram the Mr Zoramthanga led Mizo National Front was defeated by the new regional outfit Zoram Peoples Movement led by Pu Lalduhoma. The trend in Hindi heartland states indicates the soaring graph of popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his policies inspite of huge campaigns launched by Congress leaders. Even in Telangana the vote share of BJP soared to 13.9 % bagging 8 seats and similarly it crossed in Mizoram to more than 5% with 2 seats. In Telangana had the BJP not changed the horse a few months before the state elections as sizeable backward votes were shifted to congress the results would have been slightly different.
Let us discuss what is happening in the minds of the people when the opposition and a section of intelligentsia had been vituperatively targeting the Prime Minister and the Central government. The latest 5 Member bench of Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Chandrachud in its verdict on 11th December 2023 have put a seal of approval on abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir. The Apex Court had clearly stipulated that this Article issued through Presidential Promulgation was a temporary phenomenon and after the Maharaja Hari Singh signed the merger deed with Indian Union it has no option for retaining its Sovereignty as it was complete and final. After the creation of Bangladesh and merger of Sikkim it was the boldest and decisive decision taken by any government at the Centre and Modi govt did it on 5th August 2019 at the beginning of its second term. The abrogation and division of J&K into two Union territories by meeting the demands of Ladakh people it has completed the integration of all states into Bharat Union. It can be rated as the initiation of true federalism and the Supreme Court decision vindication of Modi Government policy to complete the territorial integration of Jammu and Kashmir with rest of the Country.
In this regards it would be interesting to note how a few people with the support of opposition have negatively perceived several decisions of Modi government and challenged these before the Supreme Court. In most of the cases the Court had approved the decision taken by the government. In 2016 the Prime Minister announced banning the Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes in order to curtail the flow of Black money which apart from other also hit the terrorist funding in the country. The order was challenged but the Supreme Court upheld the decision. The Rafael deal was made a big issue by the Congress and after detailed scrutiny by the Supreme Court it was found to be a very correct decision. Again the banning of Triple Talaq among Muslims was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2017. Similarly the Supreme Court rejected opposition to Central Vista Project in which the country got a new Parliament house and the validity of Aaadhar Card as also the Delhi government Acts. These decisions are an indication to the political parties that people are fed up with unnecessary blockage of governance like challenging every decision in the court and launching abusive campaigns in media. In fact the time of the Courts could have been utilized for speedy disposal of several pending cases of the citizens. The challenges to policies should be discussed in the right forum which is the legislature. The BJP successfully exploited these things like the silly abuse by the DMK leaders of Sanatan Dharma and the silence of Congress leaders the main opposition party on this.
The current situation thus has lessons for both the ruling party as well as opposition. The opposition must review its policy of uncalled for belligerence on every action of the government because it is having antagonistic results as people perceive that the opposition is feeling fish out of water without power ad indulging in crying hoarse unnecessarily. Even the correct criticism in such a situation is perceived negatively. The criticism should be constructive and bring ideas and programmes which the government cannot oppose and is forced to accommodate. The opposition parties should cooperate on the national issues of importance as we need to build consensus on many issues of national development like unemployment, farmers’ problems, social cohesion and national security and over all econo0micv development. In fact the opposition got emboldened after the government was forced to withdraw three well meaning Acts enacted for the welfare of farmers. For the ruling dispensation under Prime Minister Modi it is time to shed any reservation on leapfrogging on its welfare schemes but also to devise ways to fast track progressive programmes needed in national interests in different sectors. One of the most important issues relates to control of population for which we need a very strict law soon otherwise all development can go haywire and the country will be entrapped in vicious cycle of poverty and resources crunch. Our earth’s carrying capacity to shoulder human population is almost over. The second issue is to find solution of infiltration of foreigners and their detection and deportation is as important as national security and many internal forces are active in fissiparous and disruptive activities taking advantage of the democratic values and loopholes in our laws. The government on 12th December 2023 had argued in the Supreme Court that it is not possible to detect the infiltrators. India perhaps is the only country where a foreigner can easily obtain citizenship and voter cards. Not only they obtain citizenships but also foreigners drive the agenda with internal help. A few months ago this writer has raised the issue of unusual increase of voters in Uttarakhand during last ten years being done in a systematic manner by writing to Prime Minister and Election Commission as it is threatening the cultural integrity of Uttarakhand and its ecology. The carrying capacity is over and unplanned planning is bringing disasters like Uttarkashi tunnel collapse and every year one or two such things are happening. At least the foreigners after identificat6ion should be disenfranchised and machinery should be put to monitor the entry in border areas. Third, the country needs to overhaul some of the laws to maintain unity and cohesiveness in the society through legislative and judicial reform. Fourth, being a diverse country we need to bring the provisions of ‘Referendum’ in our constitution so that decisive mandate on an issue of conflicting views is given by the people as Referendum is the last goal post in a vibrant democracy. It was discussed in the constitutional assembly but could not be accepted due to some reasons. Last but not the least, another major decision Modi govt need to take is to bring a procedure for climate resilient development administration right from block level to District to sub-regional level and change the focus of governance from law and order centric to resource management centric. In nutshell time is ripe to leapfrog to create the foundation for a peaceful and progressive nation.
