PM Of Contradictions

The Indian politics has been witnessing a ‘strange political era’ ever since the BJP came to power. As the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi had done all possible ground-works in order to capture the chair of Prime Minister in 2014. And he had succeeded in making a “back-door entry” to occupy the same chair again in 2019. To his bad luck he has emerged as a man of contradictions. The examples given below and his own “statements” made on various occasions, time and places will serve as evidences:

·       He was born twice – (a) the date of birth known to the public is 17-09-1950. (b) the date of birth mentioned in his Degree Certificate is 29-09-1949.

·       Modi seemed to have sold tea at Vadnagar railway station at the age of 6. This is what Modi has told the public. Strangely, there were only railway tracks in Vadnagar at that time. Actually, the railway station at Vadnagar was built in 1973. If Modi was born in 1950, then, his age must have been 23 when the railway station came into existence.

·       During the Emergency period Modi claims to have led a ‘hidden life’. Yet, he seems to have completed his UG Course in Delhi University in 1978 without any Graduation Certificate.

·       In 1983 he completed his Post-Graduation studies in “Entire Political Science”. Strangely, he was the only student who had done a course on this subject. He wrote the exam alone and obtained the PG Certificate alone. Till date no student has been found to be his classmate and no professor has been found who had taught him. Even Gujarat University professors were not aware of such a subject in the University Syllabus/Curriculum.

·       Ten years before and ten years after 1978, the University Certificates were written by hand. However, Modi obtained a “Computerized Certificate” in 1978. Interestingly Microsoft’s ‘Approved Font’ of 1992 was used in 1978 to print a certificate for Modi. Another surprising fact is that this Certificate was printed on a ‘Sunday’ (when all offices and institutions usually remain closed).

Modi has been quite sure that people will never-ever notice these “mismatches” in his bio-data. When a cat closes its eyes, it will think that the whole world is sleeping. Likewise, Modi thinks that whatever he ‘blindly speaks or does’, will be ‘blindly accepted’ by the people. As the CM of Gujarat, he was one of the prime and strong opponents of Congress Party and the UPA government. Whatever he considered as a ‘curse’ during the UPA period has turned to be a ‘blessing’ during his regime. I wish to highlight some of the important issues that were ‘vehemently opposed’ by him in the past but they are ‘vigorously promoted’ by him now.

Goods and Services Tax (GST): When the former PM Manmohan Singh was introducing GST, Modi opposed it by saying, “As far as the economic reformation and GST are concerned, our stand in Gujarat has been clear from the beginning. I had a meeting with the Finance Minister Pranab Mukerji in Gujarat. I told him, “Unless the IT sector is not created, GST will not be successful”. During his regime, soon after demonetization Modi introduced GST. He also propagated by saying, “The BJP government takes pride in introducing GST. By doing this our long-term dream of ‘One nation-one tax-one market’ is fulfilled. I want to call GST as ‘Good and Simple Tax’ because this is applicable to everyone in the country”.

Aadhar Card: Regarding the introduction of Aadhar Card by the UPA government, Modi criticised it strongly, “I want to ask the great personalities of the Congress Party to answer the people of this country. Crores of rupees have been wasted in the name of Aadhar Card. What sin have you committed that the Supreme Court has to use its stick on you?” When Modi took over as the PM, he brought the Aadhar Card scheme and made it mandatory. He said, “The Cabinet has passed the Aadhar Act-2016. Henceforth whether it is subsidy or other grants, ‘direct cash transfer’ can be made through Aadhar Card. As on today, an ordinary simple card has become the sign of empowerment of ordinary people. We should all feel proud about it”.

Foreign Direct Investment: Modi was unhappy with FDI and said, “I am really confused about what the PM is doing. He does not want the small retail businesses to grow and he has decided to lock them up. Rather, he has given permit to the foreigners to start their retail business in India. If this type of retail business grows, then, who will buy from the Indian retailers?” On the contrary, during his regime he has started speaking all good things about FDI and convinced people saying, “These days there are lot of discussions happening on the FDI and this is normal. I look at this issue from a different point of view. For the 135 crores people in India FDI is a responsibility. For all those who want to develop their businesses/markets in the world, FDI is a wonderful opportunity. I repeat again. For the people of India FDI is a responsibility and for the foreign investors it is an opportunity. Hence, I wish to give a new meaning to FDI for the people of India. It is ‘First Develop India’.

India-China Relationship: When he was Gujarat CM he said, “It is being said that the Chinese troops have gone back from our border and the Indian troops also have been asked to go back from the border that is our own land. I am really confused and concerned. China crossed our border and came inside our land and they were asked to move back from our land. This is okay and we understand. But why does the government make the Indian troops to move back from our own land? This is a simple question that comes to the minds of the common people. The government has no answer. What a shame for our country?” Strangely, the present Modi government has informed the people that India and China have pulled back their troops from the disputed border. As per the government report, China has moved back 1.5 KM from the border and the Indian troops also have gone back from the border. What was not justifiable during the UPA government is being justified by the BJP government.

Indian Railways: As the CM of Gujarat Modi spoke at a public meeting, “From among you there could be many who have been associated with the Indian railways for 10 or 15 or 20 or 25 years or more. I am associated with the Indian railways from birth. So, I have more love for the railways than any of you. My life has been shaped due to railways. Those people, who are spreading rumour that the Indian railways will be privatised, are completely wrong. There cannot be anyone who can show more love for the railways than me. There seems to be discussions going on about the privatisation of Indian railways. My dear brothers and sisters! please remember that I have no thought or desire or plan on the privatisation of Indian railways. I will never move in this direction and I assure you of this. Please do not worry about it”. The same Modi has now changed his thought, desire and plan. His government has given its approval to introduce 151 private trains to run in 109 routes. Their operations will begin by 2023. The Chairman of the Railway Board has confirmed the government’s plan of introducing private trains built with fully modernised technologies.

New Education Policy: The BJP government takes pride in introducing the new education policy. On the one side, Modi and his cabinet want that all the children in India must benefit from this new education policy. On the other side, many Ministers in his cabinet have sent their children to foreign countries for education. Modi is aware of this. However, they want the poor to study in Hindi and Sanskrit as it robs them of a future. Of course, Modi does not have a child and so he can boldly force other children to follow this policy. May their “Double Standards” rest in peace!

Ram Temple-Ram Rajya: The height of contradiction is the recent incidence – i.e. the foundation ceremony at Ayodhya on 5th August, 2020. As a member of the RSS, Modi always spoke about ushering in ‘Ram Rajya’ in India. One of the steps towards this direction is the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya. Lord Ram was a person of values and he tried to ensure that all important values such as love, fellowship, selfless service, hard work, tolerance and self-sacrifice etc. were upheld and practiced in his Kingdom. Lord Ram had no craze for power. Rather he renounced it and went into ‘Vanvas’ for 14 years. On the one hand, Modi does lip service about Ram Rajya without even understanding its characteristics. On the other hand, he has buried all the values of Ram Rajya. In order to hide all his failures and divert the people’s attention especially from the alarming rise in Covid-19 positive cases (touching 20 lakhs) and the death toll (almost 50 thousand), he conducted a mega-drama at Ayodhya by laying 40 KG silver brick as the foundation for the construction of a new temple for Lord Ram. As usual, it was a “Modi-show” and Lord Ram was nowhere. Modi did this puja while thousands are dying due to coronavirus and starvation. According to some scholarly Swamijis, the foundation must be laid only by an experienced spiritual Swamiji and not a politician. According to them, Modi has set up a wrong trend at Ayodhya and moreover the day (5^th August) too has been ‘inauspicious’ for them. By doing this, Modi has brought a great dishonour to Lord Ram. If Lord Ram were in Modi’s place, he would have been tirelessly and selflessly working to “construct the lives of the people” rather than a temple.      

In short, Modi has failed in all sectors due to ‘poor governance’. To name a few: the demonetization killed the overall economy; faulty GST wounded businesses; the Chinese incursion hurt the sentiments of the Indian people and the gross mismanagement of Covid-19 pandemic led to humanitarian, health and economic crisis all at once. During the UPA regime from 2005 to 2014 about 270 million people came out of poverty. Shockingly, under the BJP government, about 400 million people are facing the risk of sinking into poverty since March 2020. During the UPA period the unemployment rate was 2 to 4.9% whereas it has risen to 11% during the BJP period as on June 2020. The GDP during Manmohan Singh government was between 7.75 to 8.9 %. But the GDP projected for the entire FY-2021of Modi government is -3.1% to -7.3%. Since Modi came to power, petrol and diesel prices have increased by 13% and 48% respectively. It is the first time in the India’s history that diesel is more expensive than petrol. Prices of essential commodities have increased between 20% to 167% in the last six years. And even the world’s largest democracy is not safe under the Modi regime. While the national institutions are made to function like puppets, Modi-led BJP has made a mockery of the entire electoral process. His whole focus is on the promotion of Hindutva ideology, self-popularization events like “Howdy-Modi”, “Namasthe Trump” and building monuments like new Parliament building and renovation of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan that will speak of his glory for many generations. He does not seem to be bothered about building the lives of the people and constructing a nation that vibrates the basic human values – a Dharma Rajya.

The fact is that in every sector and in every aspect of governance PM Modi government has failed. Today our nation stands in a very dangerous position because the BJP fails to address the biggest problem. Political power does not translate to good governance. The people of India have observed all his speeches and actions from the time he became the PM in 2014. At every level Modi has proved to be a person of contradictions. Trusting on the “weak memory” of the common people, he has been telling lies after lies – e.g. the promise of Rs.15 lakhs to every citizen. He has taken the people from all walks of life for a big ride and he continues to do so. He seems to have an immense courage to lie, cheat and contradict himself without any ‘prick of conscience’. He does all these with a selfish agenda to be in power for a long time because he has tasted all the pleasures of being in power – i.e. undemocratic style of functioning, costly lifestyle, highly trained security, sophisticated car and a 5-star- style plane (Sky Home) costing 8,458 crores etc. Probably, this is what Gandhiji called “Pleasure without conscience” and “Politics without principle”.

While criticizing the UPA government Modi had said, “There is a limit for hypocrisy”. Today we all need to ask a question to him: “Modi-ji! Is there no limit for your hypocrisy?”