With The Rise Of The Right, Will The Left-Centre Combine Be Able To Make A Comeback?

One would prefer the Rightist Narrative to deal with avant-garde economic thought, usher in cultural evolution without getting into regressive mindset, and reconfigure the education system which integrates our ancient wisdom with the demands of the 21st century India. Most importantly, the Modi government should set a template for the country’s governance that will be responsive to the needs and aspirations of the common man.

The Congress will have to go back to its ideological roots, get rid of dynastic politics and resurrect inner party democracy. Cynical exploitation of caste and creed for narrow and short term political gains should be ended forthwith. They will have to come up with a credible alternate vision as far as economic development is concerned.

Ever since the year 2014 wrought a seismic transformation in the country’s politics the secular parties have been in disarray. Nobody, not even the most optimistic BJP supporters, had expected this sort of victory. The opposition has been almost annihilated in the Lok Sabha. For the first time in India’s politics the Right has come to the fore on its own. Its earlier tenures in power were largely results of coalition politics – as a junior partner in the failed Janata Experiment, and then the earlier NDA regimes. However, this time, despite the coalition, the BJP has enough numbers of its own to form a majority government.

It speaks volumes for the contemporary times that BJP won on the strength of one man’s sheer showmanship and rhetoric. There was really no alternate vision or program offered except for hyperbolic propaganda and promises, which could not have been realistically fulfilled. Another factor, largely ignored but which I consider crucial is – the UPA has paid a heavy price not just for its venality but also badly letting down Manmohan Singh, whose vision of a progressive, powerful and prosperous India has been now adopted by Narendra Modi.

After coming to power, the Modi government obviously didn’t have a specific roadmap for economic development or an original template for governance. While the youth waited for the promised jobs and the middle classes looked forward to the dawn of achche din, the country witnessed an upsurge in intolerance-driven violence. Suddenly, the lunatic fringe found itself occupying the political centre stage, if not exactly mainstream, and went berserk with ill-conceived agendas for painting saffron the political, educational and cultural landscapes. This is where the absence of an evolved Right Intellectual class was sorely felt.

They had absolutely no clue as far as resolving the country’s economic problems was concerned. The BJP had to adopt the very same policies and programs which were originally conceived and designed by the Manmohan Singh regime, and Narendra Modi, Amit Shah & Co. had been opposing with great virulence – be these GST, MNREGA, or Aadhaar Card etc. Even their approach is not any different from the UPA’s towards India’s foreign policy, as well as strategic and nuclear energy agendas.

However, the two decisions where the Modi government formulated and executed its own policies are proving to be disruptive. In the case of J&K the more muscular approach has not borne expected results. There have been widespread protests – often violent – throughout the valley, with the sense of alienation appearing more tactile. Will the Modi government be able to overcome this challenge? Only time will tell.

Demonetization is another disruptive decision that has taken the entire nation by surprise. There are powerful arguments for and against this step. The supporters argue that demonetization was necessary to neutralize large amounts of counterfeit currency swirling through the Indian economy, to flush out black money and to strike at the sources of terrorist funding. The opponents dub this step as a desperate government’s attempts at diverting the nation’s attention from its failure to deliver on any of its promises – especially job creation, governance and retrieving black money stashed away in foreign banks. Till date not a single big tycoon – barring Sahara Shri, who was booked during the UPA regime – has been arrested. There are whispers of scams that would make 2G and Commonwealth scams look like kindergarten stuff. But then such whispering campaigns are really tools of subversion which have been a part of the country’s political culture for ages now. Every political party deploys them.

More importantly, one really wonders at PM Narendra Modi’s undiminished popularity despite several perceived flaws in his government’s performance. The post-demonetisation long queues of largely uncomplaining millions in front of banks and ATMs are a testimony to people’s unflagging faith in his honesty and his government’s sincerity to deliver. No matter what allegations are hurled at him personally or his government by Mamata Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi and others, people refuse to react against Modi. Obviously they believe that Modi is doing everything to clean up the Augean Stables. The stink of corruption, mismanagement and political monkeyshines had become unbearable. People are prepared to give Modi enough time to do the needful.

The media may keep throwing up alleged or genuine cases of crony capitalism, political and fiscal delinquencies and leading lights of liberal thought may whinge about growing intolerance, the masses are in no mood to listen to them. This is a telling commentary on the credibility of former prestigious institutions, persons and similar other entities.

The Indian National Congress has been the single biggest culprit in discrediting the liberal ideology which was so assiduously nurtured by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. After the great man’s departure, especially after Shastri’s demise, successive Congress regimes have been subverting the original tenets of secularism, liberalism and progressive thought. Caste and creed began to be brazenly used for creating vote banks, triggering off a vicious circle of sectarian violence in different parts of the country. Punjab and Assam are the starkest examples. Similarly, probity went out of fashion in the politico-bureaucratic realm. Corruption became the norm. There was hardly any aspect of people’s lives which was not bruised by the trident of corruption, bad governance and exploitation. Add to this the brazen and vulgar arrogance of the political and bureaucratic classes and the situation became ripe for transformation, if not revolution.

The first major sign of popular resentment came in the form of Anna Hazare’s Satyagraha in 2011. It caught the nation’s imagination. The demand for a Jana Lokpal or National Ombudsman began churning the country’s politics. Initially, it looked like the incumbent secular regime would have a major challenger in a new secular alternative. Names like Arvind Kejriwal, Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav etc. resonated with the mainstream media’s as well as the ruling elite’s left-liberal ethos. But, even as the upstart Aam Admi Party was making inroads into the citadels of established political behemoths, Narendra Modi stormed into the country’s political space. Compared to the genteel but cagey AAP leaders Modi connected readily with the masses with his earthy humour and unsophisticated worldview. His promise of a clean and responsive government, putting an end to bottlenecks in the country’s economic progress and unadulterated show of national pride mixed with cultural supremacist verbiage earned him admiration and unstinting support from the youth and middle classes. Surprisingly, even the countryside and large swathes of Northeast and South India were clearly enchanted by his messianic persona. His sneers targeting those who had dismissed him as chaiwalla earned him kudos even from the koi hai clubwallas. Today, he appears invincible.

The secular parties have their work cut out. They will have to eschew the petty politics they are presently depending on for scoring brownie points with their ever shrinking constituencies. If they continue, they might become irrelevant to the people’s aspirations sooner than they imagine. The signs are palpable already. The Congress will have to go back to its ideological roots, get rid of dynastic politics and resurrect inner party democracy. Cynical exploitation of caste and creed for narrow and short term political gains should be ended forthwith. They will have to come up with a credible alternate vision and narrative as far as economic development is concerned. But more importantly, they will have to once again earn the people’s faith. This can only be done through honest hard work for the benefit of the masses.

The Rightist narrative is still in its nascent form and the Rightist Intellectual a rare specie. This makes it imperative that it avoids the obvious pitfalls. The equating of surgical strikes and demonetisation with nationalism are two such examples. Both these measures fall in the realms of non-political specialised fields. For example, in Israel, all governments – irrespective of their ideological leanings – have not interfered their military’s cross-border surgical strikes as a tactical policy. In India too such cross-border strikes have happened before too without any political party making a song and dance about them. Similarly, demonetisation should have been kept an apolitical measure for fighting counterfeiting of currency as well as black money. To equate it with some non-negotiable and non-debatable patriotic step is inadvisable, to put it mildly. Contrarily, the Supreme Court orders on national anthem in cinema houses are not exactly great steps towards inculcating either discipline or patriotism. One would prefer the Rightist Narrative to deal with avant-garde economic thought, usher in cultural evolution without getting into regressive mindset, and reconfigure the education system which integrates our ancient wisdom with the demands of the 21st century India. Most importantly, the Modi government should set a template for the country’s governance that will be responsive to the needs and aspirations of the common man.

Can they do it?