Omkar Dattatray
Due to the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi was able to cobble a coalition government of NDA with its pre-poll allies especially the JD[U] and TDP .Though other smaller regional parties also allied with the BJP to form Modi government for the third time in succession. In fact Modi’s anointment and swearing in ceremony on 9th of May Sunday at 7.17 Pm in a glittering function at Rashrapathi Bhawan was attended by seven heads /leaders from the neighboring added grace to the function and it was really a flying start of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who in fact closed all doors for the opposition alliance of INDIA to form a government .The numbers also did not favor INDIA bloc to form a coalition government .However they tried a lot without any fruitful result. It is learnt and understood that INDIA alliance has also offered the coveted chair of Prime Minister to chief of JD{U] and the chief minister of Bihar and the opposition has tried to handover the olive branch of Prime Minisitership to Nitish Kumar but he has declined the offer and has allied with BJP and has given this time unconditional support to Narendra Modi to form the government .Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a flying start in his third term as Prime Minister .The formation of the Union cabinet took place smoothly ,as was the allocation of portfolios..It is pertinent to mention that TDP of Chanderbabu Naidu has won 16 Lok Sabha seats and the JD[U] of the Nitish Kumar has got 12 seats and both these regional parties have a significant and dominant role in the formation of the government at the centre and both these leaders and parties allied with the BJP’s NDA and this catapulted Modi to the post of prime minister once again for the third record time as both the regional leaders pledged their unwavering support to Modi to form the government at the centre and thus all the plans of the opposition alliance of INDIA bloc failed to form a coalition government as both Nitish Kumar and the Chandrababu Nadiu is understood to have declined to offer support to the opposition alliance and thus they were handicapped and could not forge an alliance to form a government .At present Prime Minister Narendra Modi is settled in his third term and launching his plans to make India third largest economy of the world .His advantage is that the industrial houses of India are totally with him in his efforts to make India into a developed country instead of a developing country .Forming his new government ,Narendra Modi appeared to be in hurry so as to seal and block the efforts of the INDIA bloc to form a coalition government .Narendra Modi might justifiably have looked triumphant as he and his ministers were sworn in on May 9.The new prime minister’s ceremony -a coronation ,some said-was the grandest since independence .At Rashtrapati Bhavan ,the president’s red sandstone palace ,4,000 odd guests indulged Mr Modi’s fondness since school for dramatics. Arrayed before him were his vanquished rivals ,leaders of Congress and regional parties ,and those sidelined by his own party .Instead Modi seemed preoccupied .He faces two difficult facts in national affairs .First ,despite his party ,the NDA ,having 282 members of the parliament, most are insufficiently experienced or honest to be trusted as ministers .In theory that should be manageable ,given Mr Modi’s hands-on style -senior bureaucrats are already briefing him .He could have produced a small cabinet heavy with technocrats .The second difficulty ,however ,pushed against lean ,efficient rule by experts .While having a BJP majority in parliament’s lower house ,Modi will need allies in the upper house .He also needs support for his plans from the states .Other parties ,in other words must be wooed with ministerial jobs .The opposition parties were expecting that the JDU & TDP allies will exercise pressure to get any of the top portfolios of home ,defense, finance and external affairs but nothing of the sort happened and the BJP not only retained these key portfolios but also allotted these again to the previous incumbents and this surprised one and all including the opposition .The INDI bloc also feels and were of the opinion that Modi will not be in a position to pilot the ship of his third term because he will not have the art of managing the coalition as in his previous terms he had the privilege of having a majority of his own and thus Modi was not dependent upon his allies any more .But the opposition proved wrong in their thinking and calculation. .Modi has not only the art and aptitude of managing the coalition ,but he has the will and capacity to re-model himself as per the new and emerging conditions and situations ,given the fact that he this time depends on the support of his pre poll allies especially JDU ,TDP and other smaller allies like LJSP ,HUM and others though mainly he has this time to bank upon Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu .It seems that more than getting the ministerial berths in the new coalition 3.0 of Modi ,both the allies and their leaders want their states to be developed instead of gaining portfolios in the coalition government .In due course of time both Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu will demand significant amount of funds from the centre for the development of their states and so both of them seem to be contented with the distribution of portfolios .Nitish Kumar may ask for a special status for Bihar and similarly Chandrababu Naidu will also demand enormous funds for developing new capital city as Hyderabad has become the capital city of Telangana .So for the Modi government 3.0 is functioning smoothly and there are no signs of friction between the coalition partners and this augurs well for the coalition government and in fact it can be said that Modi has a flying start as the new prime minister .It seems that in the new coalition government the main allies TDP,JDU and other smaller allies as well are keeping their ambitions under control as they are unlikely to demand favors of ministerial berths of key departments in future as well except they will press for enormous funds for their states for development .Modi will have to keep the allies pleased by agreeing to give them finances for the development of their individual states.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)