By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first prime minister of India alleged to have violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) on Hindu-Muslim communal lines during his campaigns for the Lok Sabha General Election, and a petition was filed in the Supreme Court of India to ban him from election for six years The Supreme Court refused to entertain the petition on the ground that the petitioner went directly without going to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The opposition had complained to the ECI but no action has been taken so far against PM Narendra Modi for violation of MCC. Having felt the damage his rash election campaigns have brought him and his party in the first four phases of election, he turned defensive in Varanasi on Tuesday the day he filed his nomination papers.
Numerous signals have been emanating for quite some time of his ultimate moral and political downfall, but his becoming defensive and saying, “I never said Hindu or Muslim … I will not do Hindu-Muslim” is significant. In another important development, Supreme Court of India has said that arrest of NewsClick founder editor under draconian Unlawful Activity Prevention Act (UAPA) was illegal. The decision has totally unmasked Modi government’s real intentions behind arrests of his critic journalists and opposition leaders in the name of national interest.
PM Modi himself has acted in such a way in the past that electorate have come to know what “national interest” and “nation first” really means. National interest means Modi’s interest, and nation first means Modi first. Whoever opposes him is being treated as enemy of the nation, and enemy of the Hindus.
During the election it is heard by all who have ears, how the political parties in opposition and every opposing voice is labelled by him anti-Hindu, anti-nation, and corrupt. Electorate did not believe him in all his rash utterings, through which he not only downgraded himself morally and politically, but also let his supporters down. Many of them were seen during the last four phases of election in great difficulty in defending their hero Modi. Many arrests and raids were seen as political vendetta of PM Narendra Modi which has impacted BJP’s political fortunes.
PM Modi has been silent on his biggest surgical strike against black money, that is on demonetization. By now everybody knew that demonetization did harm the very livelihood of the people of the country and millions of MSMEs shuttered down and millions jobs lost. This surgical strike was purportedly carried out to eliminate black money in the national interest, but one of the supreme court judges on the bench had given a dissent note that demonetization was a means of making black money white. One can understand why PM Modi does not say anything about his surgical strike against black money, though he had promised in 2014 to bring back the black money stashed in foreign countries.
It also did not go well with the electorate when PM Modi said that everybody would repent over the decision of the Supreme Court of India declaring the electoral bond scheme unconstitutional. That too after the publication of the donation givers and receivers political parties’ names have established beyond doubt that Central investigating agencies have threatened actions against companies and individuals after which they donated huge money to the BJP. “It was the world’s biggest extortion racket,” Rahul Gandhi has said. PM Modi has tried to defend the indefensible, which people by and large did not like.
The way the electorate in the first four phases behaved to the much frustration of PM Narendra Modi, has several other immediate causes. The topmost among them is that he personally and his party election machinery have been found campaigning for even rape accused, such as in Karnataka. Electorate could not stomach it that the party championing for “nari shakti” (women power) would do that. The son of an accused of molesting women wrestlers in Haryana have been given party ticket. Party ticket has also been given to the father of killer of farmers and a journalist under wheel which is not acceptable for farmers and many others. PM Modi has been vocal on Sandeshkhali molestation case against TMC leaders, but he has been silent on his West Bengal governor having molestation charges.
PM Modi has been hoping to win significant number of seats from West Bengal, but the way he campaigned in the state has alarmed the people of social and religious unrest. At times, he turned personal in his attack against TMC leader Mamata Banerjee and other opposition political parties, which is not going well among the electorate of the state.
BJP has been aspiring for throwing BJD out of power from Odisha. However, personal attack of PM Modi on the chief minister Naveen Patnaik has lately irked the Odiya sentiment. BJP’s hope of winning majority of Lok Sabha seats from Odisha, seems to have shattered in the last one week of electioneering. In public rallies, Naveen Patnaik asks people, “Is this of that scheme is good?” People reply yes. Then suddenly he asks, “Is Naveen Patnaik good?” People also reply in affirmative. PM Modi targeting Pandian in Odisha, but who cares for him, everybody seems to care for Naveen and that is enough for BJD.
Political suppression of the opposition, dissenting journalists and other individuals through central investigation agencies has alarmed the people of political hegemony and authoritarian attitude of PM Modi, which found expression in AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s statement that PM Modi is working on “One Nation, One Leader” which just resonated his “One nation, one election”, “One nation, one Civil law” and so on.
Even within the BJP, many leaders have just become apprehensive about “One nation, one leader” approach, and hence not willing to make him stronger than he is now, only to save themselves from any action against them.
PM Modi’s late utterances have revealed a character of unguided missiles which may fire in any direction. For example, he made statement against Adani and Ambani, his favoured industrialists so far, and said about “tempo load of money sent to Congress”. Since he is Prime Minister of the country, he has a fundamental duty to take action against any such illegal transfer of money that he personally knows. Congress and Rahul Gandhi have rightly asked why he does not ask ED and CBI for investigation to find out the money laundering? However, even the bigger question is – has Modi been seeing his own political downfall or has he been playing his political masterstrokes? Only election results would give some clue on June 4. (IPA Service)