By Tirthankar Mitra
One of the first tasks of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on assuming office for the third consecutive occasion was to sign a file awarding the 17th instalment of the Kisan Samman Nidhi. The act assumes significance as the BJP-led NDA government had been on an almost collision course with farmers who had laid a virtual siege to the National Capital with their tractors protesting against the three farm laws.
The matter actually goes far beyond the farmers-NDA face off. In the recent elections, the BJP, riding high on the personality cult of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, failed to get a decisive mandate. Of the rural constituencies won in the 2019 elections, a third was lost in the Lok Sabha polls held five years thereafter. This reflected a broader discontent in India’s countryside.
Unemployment and inflation have taken a heavy toll on the rural sector though BJP leaders have led themselves to believe that such issues are nonexistent. The reverse in the rural areas is a pointer to the fact that impressive national growth metrics cannot camouflage deep-seated regional disparities and localised hardship.
The allure of economic growth and social welfare programmes highlighted in Prime Minister Modi’s campaign waned in the face of everyday economic hardships which the rural voters read, especially the homemakers, come across regularly.
India under Prime Minister Modi is claiming the status of the fastest growing economy in the world. Nothing wrong in that but such growth has failed to translate into tangible benefits in the rural heartlands.
India lives in her villages, said Mahatma Gandhi, long before his detractors and followers had rural development in their agenda of governance. Presently, 60 percent of the country lives in the rural areas in a state of civic and economic being which leaves much to be desired.
Declining incomes and rising living costs coexist with these men and women. Relying once on agriculture and small scale industries, this section of the populace is struggling to make ends meet. The depth of rural distress was overlooked by the BJP think-tank. The rank and file of the party also did not send a cautionary feedback. Perhaps the grassroot activists felt that a report of disenchantment of the rural voters with the party agenda would earn the leadership’s wrath. Small wonder, then, that they chose discretion.
Focus on nationalistic rhetoric and confidence on urban strongholds did not resonate well with the rural voters who felt left out. They were more concerned with immediate economic issues like joblessness, inflation and income disparity.
The interim budget of Prime Minister Modi was not marked by rural uplift schemes. This led to a significant shift in rural voter-sentiment. Fall of BJP’s average victory margin from 22.9 percent to 15.6 percent is a pointer to this voter dissatisfaction. The urban voters supporting BJP were not enough.
The rural base loss almost threatened to derail Modi’s ambition of a third-term prime minister. Indeed the loss of rural votes was so substantial that the BJP had to depend on its allies, a state of affairs not at all to its liking. Time the saffron camp learnt that the only growth which is acceptable has to be an inclusive one. The national economy cannot flourish leaving behind vast sections of the populace. (IPA Service)