Saffron’s quest for acche din

BJP celebrates its second anniversary today after an historic mandate—its achievement and damp squib so far.

Today, BJP would be celebrating its second anniversary since it came to power with an historic mandate. Saffron workers will reminisce that fantastic achievement of bagging 282 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha election. Moreover, under BJP’s leadership its allies’ combined effort saw 336 seats in NDA’s kitty.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship schemes were able to shore up his party’s popularity across India. Cleaning the Ganges, Make in India, Jan dhan yojana, crop insurance, Swacch bharat abhiyan, Smart cities, Skill India, Digital India, Direct benefit transfer schemes—all enthused positivity among the government and its administration.

Even, Modi’s fierce critics believe that under him our country’s foreign policy looks smarter and more vibrant. Another big achievement that’s visible so far that we’ve not faced any mega corruption like in UPA’s regime. The ghost of 2G spectrum scam, coal scam, and others in Congress’ tenure bled our exchequer tremendously. And, this is why Congress has become weaker today across the country.

In recent state elections, BJP grabbed Assam taming Congress. It bettered its position in Bengal; it managed to get a seat in Kerala. Even, it formed an alliance to form government in Kashmir making Mehbooba Mufti the first woman Chief Minister in the troubled state.

These pluses would inspire its members to gain new ground and hold fort. But, we can’t overlook its damp squibs either. Hindutva plank hasn’t been able to create any result for the party; it’s failing the party since 1992. People are still angry with scams like Vyapam, Lalitgate, the FTII imbroglio, and flip-flops in dialogue with Pakistan etc. In some respects, crony capitalism in erstwhile UPA regime has replaced by crony socialism in NDA’s regime. There’s no big and bold economic reform so far. Whereas, ease of doing business improved only marginally, the GST bill is still languishing and attempts to introduce more flexible labour and land acquisition laws have floundered.

Modi’s brand image has waned with passing time, but he’s still more popular as compared to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. But, regional parties are throwing challenges to arrest the saffron surge. Lalu-Nitish tamed BJP in Bihar, Kejriwal propelled to power in Delhi, Mamata also thumped its surge in Bengal, Jayalalithaa retained power in Tamil Nadu. The opposition space is utilized by these regional satraps to unite and put pressure on BJP led NDA. With Congress also going whole hog to bounce back, overall the PM and his party now, can hardly have any room for complacency. It must increase its numbers in Rajya Sabha and pass important bills that are stuck, at the same time it’s to earn the support of its opposition by influencing them to come on board for a better picture as a whole for India and its people.

Sarnavo Das