M.R LALU
While releasing the Sankalp Patra of his party in its headquarters, the Prime Minister asserted a significant point. He indicated the present tumultuous situation emerging globally and for India, he insisted on the need of a stable government – a government that will be capable of fulfilling the aspirations of its people and play a supportive role by helping the world recuperate. Similar was the situation that the Covid pandemic brought all over the world. While the developed world in the west sarcastically registered its skepticism on India’s ability to help its population, which the west thought would face the worst level of calamity with the epidemic claiming lives; India had its leadership in Narendra Modi, who confidently with humility refused to import vaccines but under his leadership its efforts made it globe’s most successful manufacturer of vaccines. While his regime decided to manufacture vaccines for India’s humongous population, his move was in practice, a bold initiative that satiated his party’s ideological stance of Swadeshi. His government firmly moved with its ‘Vocal for Local’ slogan. India’s manufacturing sector received a fresh vigor and the boom was so tremendous that the defense sector also received an unprecedented reception from across the globe. During the pandemic, the government’s Make in India movement was deeply impactful that the Indian subcontinent was vaccinated almost twice with the death rate being reduced noticeably. But the western world including the USA was seen literally limping and collapsing critically with millions dying. India’s vaccine Maitri was received with great jubilation as it helped the needy countries with vaccines. And the value in focus was purely humanitarian. India’s diplomatic exchequer received a fresh impetus and it came out of the perilous impact of the disease. While unveiling the Sankalp Patra his words have resonated for the need of stability. In a democracy a government without a clear majority would be a disaster.
As he entered the national arena in 2014, there was unwavering doubt that had been lingering for long on the democratic efficiency of a multiparty polity. That the world thought it would be a lost case for India. Its democracy would fail to bless a single party with a majority. Probably this approach on the Indian scenario gave pundits across the world a giggle of satisfaction. Modi’s entry changed everything. India missed a hardworking leader with a vision and mission for decades. Those who came to hold the helm of affairs were confusingly held tighter by their coalition partners. The UPA regimes were surrounded by the party dynasty which confusingly pestered and disrupted the government under Manmohan Singh with its family hegemony. Modi had a variety of manipulative issues to deal with. And the most prominent one was to alter the image that the global media had awarded him; the image of a scoundrel, the one they villainously accused him for the Godhra riots. The US banned him and other countries had furrowed their brows as he took over. But he began his stint with a monumental mobilization for transformation, which the political pundits could not credibly predict. His decisions were historical and unprecedented. Starting from demonetization and stretching further by establishing a new GST regime, he remained in critics’ eye for long.
Though these revolutionary initiatives invited voluminous criticism, the country was amazingly given a jolt as he succeeded in opening almost 50 crore new bank accounts, the segment of population that was left frozen from banking even after India’s six decades of independence. Construction of about 12 crore toilets across the country had phenomenally helped a huge segment of the country’s population, especially women. With his government’s herculean distribution of cooking gas connection to 11 crore families, the scenario turned vivid safeguarded by transparency. This was the period he established a special clan of electorate that he fondly calls his government’s labharthis (beneficiaries). Slashing intermediaries from almost everywhere, his first regime began a transparent system that a person could easily step into, if he was eligible.
Imagine how critical his decisions were! Never an ideologically sound BJP was perceived to have had the audacity to stitch an alliance with Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu and Kashmir. But the subsequent development in the most volatile Indian state proved his move in this regard was a well studied attempt to bring the situation of the state under control. Rest is history. From the abrogation of Article 370 to the bifurcation of the state for administrative ease to the peace that the region is now known for, the whole Jammu and Kashmir episode has surely become historic. The decade of his administration will be known to have boldly handled India’s unreliable neighbors China and Pakistan. Along the borders, our neighbors witnessed a strong India retaliate their belligerence. Strongly defending our interests, his government strategized a massive offensive in the Doklam sector along the China border. Our soldiers bravely defended our area and China had to ultimately retreat. With Pakistan, India’s air raid and the surgical strike across the border were evident enough to prove the government’s interest that held the safety of the country supreme. Same was the case with separatist elements in the North East and the Communist hotspots in India. There was rarely a chance for anxiety. The government moved with great conviction and actions were taken with firm determination.
Imagine the level of India’s commitment for global peace. Narendra Modi did not hesitate to tactfully warn a warmongering Putin telling him the time was not of war. World appreciated his note which indeed India was eligible to make and it did without vacillating. India’s attempt to stitch a peaceful framework of unity for the global community through its G20 Presidency was another instance. Its efforts outlined a strong and solid bond among nations that in future will consolidate ideal principles of peaceful coexistence, calculatingly pulling a world from more bloodshed and chaos. More importantly, the Ram temple at Ayodhya seems to hold an impact countless in magnitude, an impression that would go into history. With millions of believers eagerly waiting for a grand structure housing the divine representation of their Lord, Ayodhya temple and its consecration exposed his image beyond politics. By surrendering his conveniences to undergo a strict penance for eleven days for maintaining the Pran Prathishta’s purity and divinity, Modi once again engraved his serene personality in the minds of his countrymen. While politics often plays its abrasive games, there is an indubitable conviction billows around.
That the government under his leadership holds effective plans for India, as the landscape as he describes is passing through the best of its time, the Amrit kaal. And the imprint of his imaginations for India is easily visible and its undercurrent seems to be real and begins to solidify as the election heat looms. A fractured alliance of the opposition is too feeble and frantically aggressive on his plans and strategies. Whatever, if the man who is maintaining a consistent upward momentum in popularity gives you a chuckle of surprise, there is a reason for you to study him seriously.