For a proper picture of the policies of the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we must necessarily await its unfurling in the presentation of the Budget in July, and the discussion on the demand for grants for various ministries and government departments. So far, all we have is wide-spectrum proclamations of the feel-good variety.
Replying to the motion of thanks to the President’s address in both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, his first foray in a debate in Parliament, Mr Modi pressed all the right buttons in an all-round political speech that is hard to read as an exposition of policy even in its most rudimentary form. Thus, he spoke of the welfare of women and the minorities, the poor, the deprived rural communities, the young generation that must be given skills to take the country forward, and ending corruption — in general, giving everyone a good life in the not too distant future.
So no one could have a real grouse, except when the Prime Minister reiterated the slogan of Ek Bharat, shreshtha Bharat (One India, superior India) that he had coined on the election campaign trail. The “one India” segment of the call does, of course, lend itself to the meaning of a “homogenised” India which is central to the BJP-RSS’ way of thinking, and is antithetical to the conception of the “unity” of a “diverse” India that people of other political persuasions, most notably the Congress, accept, and which has been the country’s traditional credo and identity marker.
But the issue wasn’t particularly a matter of debate and was just pointed to even as the Prime Minister sought to signal that, by and large, he would play the non-partisan leader on this day. In that spirit Mr Modi said he would prefer a “collective” or consensual approach, rather than rely on the clear majority which his party has won in the Lok Sabha, beating all calculations.
This sounded good to everyone’s ears but it is to be seen if the BJP offers the position of Leader of the Opposition to the Congress. That party doesn’t have the Lok Sabha numbers to warrant that distinction. However, key institutional appointments — like the CVC and the Lokpal — warrant consultation with the LoP. So, the Modi government (technically, it is the Speaker who decides) is on test there.
The Congress expected too much if its leaders thought that the President’s address — which outlines a government’s preferred path — should refer to the flagship platforms of the UPA era. However, it would have to be made clear in the coming period if the NREGA, RTI and Right to Food and Right to Education are here to stay or not.
