FAILING TO INSPIRE:

May 28/2014: For some, the new government unveiled by Narendra Modi Monday has failed to inspire. After all the hype and hoopla, it is a run-of-the mill exercise. There is little by way of a pleasant surprise, and there is failure on part of the new Prime Minister to draw in talent to give a boost to his team’s image. Had he done so, it would have been reassuring to all at a time when various sectors are crying for special attention after years of drift and utter neglect. Everyone was waiting for pleasant surprises, but there were none.

Overall, the image deficit is spectacular. Education, for one. Modi’s choice for Human Resource Development that is supposed to take charge of education and build the younger generation of India to face a competitive world, has, it seems, fallen into juvenile hands. The new minister Smriti Irani, although a very strong Modi supporter, would need tremendous backup to make up for the lack of vision. This implies, she will have to completely depend upon the bureaucrats, which in turn, will mean ordinary output. 

Dumping two critical ministries, Defence and Finance, on Arun Jaitley, gives the impression that the PM does not have trusted Lok Sabha members even after such a massive win. It is noteworthy that Jaitley, a prominent lawyer, not only lost in the recent Lok Sabha elections from Punjab in spite of such a strong anti-Congress wave, is no financial wizard or has ever shown aptitude towards issues concerning Defence of this country. 

Arguing that the Prime Minister himself would oversee the defence affairs is an impossibility. In the scheme of things, he has to be overseeing the functioning of all the departments.

All of those who have been sworn in into the Modi team cannot be said to have a clean image. Allegations have been levelled against Nitin Gadkari earlier. Scrutinising inpidual ministers and the ministries assigned to them will prove beyond doubt that it will be very difficult for Narendra Damodardas Modi to deliver all that he has promised. An interesting point to note is that the UPA went down the drain because it obstinately chose a Prime Minister from the Rajya Sabha, thus implying it showed little regard for people's mandate. Modi, similarly, has chosen a bulk of his ministry from the same Upper House which shows little respect to the people's representative. Maybe in his bid to feel secure, just like Sonia Gandhi, Modi too has hand picked those politicians who have failed at the hustings. This goes against the very spirit of a healthy single party mandate that BJP notched up this time.

Orissa may have a reason to feel slighted as the sole BJP Member of Lok Sabha from this state has been given Cabinet ranking of a ministry where the ability to achieve may be extremely limited.

Apart from these doubtful manuevers Modi’s surprise invite to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with other SAARC leaders has raised eyebrows.

That Gautam Adani, one of Modi’s favourite business chums is planning to set up a 10,000 MW thermal power plant in the Kutch region of Gujarat bordering Pakistan, and planning to sell electricity to that country may not be coincidental. This may seem to some as Modi trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hound.

Modi is also seen to have broken the long-held stand of the BJP, as also of himself, that ‘terror and talks cannot go together.’ This was an issue that the BJP held out against the UPA II. But, by agreeing to hold foreign secretary level talks even as Pakistan is showing no inclination to act against terror outfits planning strikes against India, Modi is seen to have performed a volte face. That too, immediately after his swearing in. Interestingly, while Modi and Sharif were holding their 50 minute confabulation, forget terrorists, the Pakistani Rangers (doing similar duties as the BSF) were firing upon Indian forces.

A gesture like the visit of Sharif on an occasion like this means little in the wider context of bilateral relations. As long as Pakistan refuses to cooperate with India in neutralizing the forces working from there against India, common sense suggests there can be no constructive dialogue. The political establishment that Sharif represents is only one layer in the three-pillared power edifice with the army and the ISI playing much bigger roles. 

Due to weak,or let us say non existent, leadership of India in the past decade this country has been badly treated. Neighbors dealt with India as if this country is a door mat. Modi, if he wants to make this a strong and vibrant nation, has to distance his agenda from exclusively corporate interests and start figuring out national priorities. How much of that he wants to do needs to be seen.