By
Mriganka M Bhowmick
With
every passing year India evolves to a new collective consciousness of its
people and it moves from strength to strength. It’s a process of evolution
where the collective consciousness of people abandons the bad and gradually
adopts the good with focus for better future. In last seven decades after
independence, India has experienced this movement of betterment. It has moved
from riots to peaceful co-existence, from license raj to free economy, from all
pervasive poor country to economic power, from corrupt to non-corrupt practices
and many others. So it is not prudent enough to think that people choose its
Government in casual manner and intellectuals can only bell the cat.
Have
peace. India is moving with its collective mind. So 2019 Election is not a
matter of binary choice between Modi and Mahagatbandhan or Modi Vesus Who. It
is going to be a choice of All Inclusive Plural India with Economic Development
or Exclusive Majoritarian India. Let’s not mistake that the well-beings of
people is the common denominator. Needless to say, the political parties are
going to create all sorts of narratives and to make promises, just to figure
out to understand the preference of India’s Collective Mind. Till now it is
groping-in-the-dark for the players.
India
secured independence through a bloodbath of partition and it had gradually
healed its wounds by embracing pluralism and inclusiveness of all castes,
creeds and religions as a government policy to develop a new India. The journey
from Post colonial regime to self-determination was largely influenced with the
policy to promote plural society with a focus to uplift peasants and workers of
India. Evidently that was a country under leadership of Nehru along with Sardar
Patel and B R Ambedhkar establishing block of institutions and economy. The
country took the shape as per the collective conciseness of those great
leaders.
India
moved from that phase and today India is world’s largest democracy and sixth
largest economy of the world. India’s collective mind of its people gave
directions to this monumental change and country’s politics shaped accordingly
as the situation demanded. It was not an aberration rather was the requirement
of the plural society with huge social & economic inequalities amongst
masses that the politics of the nation had to embrace the rise of regional
parties; caste based political expressions and finally evolution of alliance
from bi-partisan model of government.
The
rise and fall of political parties and multiple mass movements surely tell a
tale that a single thought process or principle failed to dictate the soul of
India and so it embraced all view points.
It is unlikely for a diverse country like India, the development of
institutions, science, technology and 2.8 trillion dollar economy happen
through a hegemonic principle of dominance, either social or economic.
From
Nehruvian model of socialism with post colonial thoughts, India moved to the
era of economic liberalization in 1991 and finally it has landed into Modi’s
New India regime. Prime Minister Modi promised a New India which is free from
poverty, corruption, terrorism, communalism, casteism and uncleanliness and
unite the entire country by adopting good governance and using technology. But
there was a shift in the narrative from the political front .BJP did not want
to make its majoritarian political view as hush-hush affair rather it has been
expressed vehemently from multiple forums and voices are heard which are
contrary to the decades long practice of secularism influenced by Nehru’s
India. It is a new sound for India’s collective mind. It will be curious to see
whether India will accept it in totality or make a course correction.
One
may remember that Modi coined a popular slogan in 2014 “Sabke Sath Sabka Vikas”
which emphatically means “All Inclusive Economic Development through All
Inclusive Plural Society”. As NDA government ushered “Modi’s New India”, this
slogan seemed in perfect sync with the existing plural socio-economic canvas of
India. Though government under Modi had taken multiple social welfare schemes
for its people, but somehow the “Development for All” narratives get subdued
due to overzealous Hindutva narrative of BJP and fringe elements for
consolidation of Hindu vote bank. This has left the minorities & Dalits
disenchanted with Modi’s effort to bring New India which is a defined shift
from Nehruvian model of socio-economic development.
Swachh
Bharat, Jan Dhan Yojana, Skill India, Make in India, Ayushman India, etc, all
the government schemes were rolled out pan India. Surely, the state did not
discriminate to its people to extend these benefits. Few of the schemes may not
reap benefits as expected but the outcomes were for everybody. The missed
narrative of plural India has alienated the major portion of its beneficiaries
who are minorities and dalits for whom these schemes are actually meant for.
Many of these schemes would have helped effectively the minorities and dalits
of the country to uplift there economic and social conditions. But when public
discourses and media narratives revolve around Ram Mandir or Triple Talak who
cares for Atal Pension Yojana?
It
is noteworthy to mention that all the social welfare schemes are without any
religious colour but the promulgation of those welfare schemes from the saffron
drenched voice of BJP failed to reach to the minorities. A clear cut
inclination to woo the majority vote bank by BJP created hindrance for the
minorities to embrace government’s welfare schemes in open heart. As the
difference between party’s political agenda and government has become blurred,
gradually and slowly BJP’s political narrative has overshadowed the
government’s development narrative. A defined approach thus made by Mr Modi
towards a new economic policy has lost in the midway.
If
government’s push towards economic development looks lackluster today, this is
only because of the fact that public welfare for plural society voiced by a
party with majoritarian vote bank policy is a great contradiction. If India’s
collective mind is utterly confused with this contradiction, only time will
tell. However, Collective Mind has kept
the political parties in tenterhook as the last state election results depict.
At this juncture, it seems risky to play a gamble on majoritarian politics with
Modi’s New India vision.
The post Modi’s New India Mission Has Lost Path Midway appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.
