President Modi?
From the style and
substance of Modi’s announcements and pronouncements and acts of omission and commission so far it would seem that he has ushered in the Presidential form of
government, though he contested to become the PM and his supporters (only 31%
of the voters) cast their votes for this purpose only. Slowly and with
Machiavellian cunningness he has begun to subvert their trust in him by
assuming to be a President and not PM.
Choosing Weaklings
The whole thing
started with the picking of the members of his cabinet – some of the weaklings
(with hardly any grass root support) with some exceptions of course. The prime
example is the appointment of serial actor Smriti Irani to the important
ministry of Human Resource Development. For all practical purposes it is a very
sensitive ministry, handling education, the most important factor in forming
the minds of future generations of Indians.
Naturally, her
appointment lead to much controversy, for not having the minimum required
qualification to hold this post, which has to deal with the highest echelons of
educational institutions in the country, leave alone having to deal with prestigious
universities and other education institutions abroad. During the first NDA regime this was
the ministry which churned out controversy after controversy – saffronization
of education, re-writing Indian history, interfering in the autonomy of higher
education institutions, especially the IIMs. This time around Modi has chosen a
pliable young woman to head the ministry to make amply sure that his writ runs
on every important matter.
Undermining the Cabinet
Right from his first day in office, Modi made it
sufficiently clear that it would be a one man show. An ordinance in the TRAI
Act paved the way for the appointment of Nripendra Misra as his principal
secretary and a series of directives were issued to the council of ministers,
bureaucrats as well as the BJP MPs. Soon enough, Modi’s office in the South
Block became the hub of all the government activity.
Modi also vetoed the choice of
personal secretary to Rajnath Singh, passing a diktat that none of the
bureaucrats who have functioned under the UPA will be allowed a space in the
NDA. Lately, Rajnath Singh’s
position in the government was being speculated as mere cosmetic as reports
claimed that Modi’s office was clipping his wing as the Home Minister
especially in terms of appointments.
Modi’s desire to address
school children across the country on Teachers’ Day is an effort to present
himself as the ‘supreme leader’ in the lines of what they do in a country like
North Korea ruled by an autocratic military junta. The directive of the Human
Resource Development ministry in this regard was forced upon schools and
teachers disregarding the practicalities involved in terms of expenses,
logistics and infrastructure. The directive clearly stated that, “Any laxity in
the arrangements shall be viewed seriously.” This was sheer
high-handedness, to say the least. No wonder someone said Modi is like a
headmaster (“Prime Monitor” heaved another headline) to his cabinet making them
to do his bidding. Cabinet colleagues’ views apparently do not matter at all. Modi
is the sole central executive authority for all government
decisions that are undertaken. BJP spokersperson Sambit Patra unwittingly under
scored the reality when he said, “We have a tough leader now. So far we have
had weak statesmen like Manmohan Singh”. In the new government, Modi is the
final word on everything, in the executive as well as BJP.
The very fact that finance minister Arun Jaitley
had to come out openly and dismiss any perception that power is centralised
with Modi only confirms the misgivings about a Presidential style of functioning
of the chief executive of the country.
Marginalization of Leaders
There is the gradual marginalization of all key leaders.
The two founding leaders of the party, L. K. Advani and M. M. Joshi, have been
turned mentor and virtually forced retirement sparking off debate even within
BJP about the “high-handed” manner of Modi and Amit Sha. Within days of Modi
coming to power the news of bugging of Transport and Highways minister Nitin
Gadkari’s residence came out lending credence to the view that Modi is
basically insecure, as all autocratic rulers generally are, and would trust no
one.
The “slow-motion assassination of UPA appointed governors”
is seen as Modi’s desire to control the state governments through his
hand-picked governors, including the appointment of former CJI Sathasivam who
is alleged to have done some favour to Modi and his protégé Amit Shah in cases
connected to Gujarat riots and fake encounters.
Planning
Commission with think tank
Modi’s discarding the planning commission so
abruptly without feeling any sense of loss is a clear manifestation of his desire
to centralize and control all instruments of power. One of the main functions
of planning commission has been to allocate funds to the states through
dialogue between the deputy chairperson of planning commission and the chief
ministers of states. Such an exercise symbolized delegation of power in the
larger interests of the country. Now Modi is replacing the planning commission
with a think tank. Knowing the ideology of Modi and his party it is anybody’s
guess that who will be part of the think tank. According to Nobel Prize winning
economist Amartya Sen, broadly there are two attitudes to the process of development:
one view sees development as a “fierce” process “with much blood, sweat and
tears”. It demands calculated neglect of various concerns that are seen as
“soft-headed”. What are the concerns? Having social safety nets that protect
the very poor; providing social services
for the population at large; favouring political and civil rights; favouring
the luxury of democracy – to mention a few. For those favouring the “fierce”
process of development these are not priorities at all; what is needed here and
now is “toughness and discipline”. The alternative outlook sees development as
a “friendly” process. The congeniality of the process is exemplified by such
things as: the working of social safety nets; political liberties; social
development; and all the supportive activities. After hearing Modi’s
announcements both in India and abroad – red carpet for businesses, bullet
trains, FDI even up to cent percent in various sectors of the economy - it is anybody’s guess what model of
development Modi and his think tank would adopt.
Hundred days later, and still counting of Modi’s
rule, there is a strong feeling that Modi would turn out to be an absolute autocratic
ruler and it might continue to be so for the next four years. During the 2014 election
campaign this writer had expressed the fear that Modi is likely to mount the
biggest surveillance in history – on political rivals, colleagues, and on all
Indians – overtaking the one mounted by the National Security Agency (NSA) of
the US. This will further cement the perception of Modi being more of a
President than a PM.
Dr. Francis Arackal
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