It’s time to change the status quo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has entered his third term, and his enthusiasm for rule has not diminished at all. The Prime Minister has many critics across our vast land who believe he has strangled the land. There are many opinion makers pointing out his every mistake.

But it turns out that Modi is a trapeze artist. He knew that in trapeze, as in politics, one wrong move could cost him his job. He is eight months into his third term as prime minister. Many believe his government will falter in a matter of weeks. His allies will abandon him. But nothing like this happened.

The government is moving happily along with its allies. Yes, unlike his earth-shattering decisions like abrogating Article 370 in his second term, you may find few such decisions in this term. Even a “one-nation-one-choice” bill would likely be difficult to pass.

Modi wants lateral entry into UPSC posts. But his ally Chirag Paswan wants to retain the jobs, even as a minor figure. As a result, the authorities immediately revoked the entry notice.

Modi’s critics paint him as a dictator. They believed he could only rule as a dictatorship, which would be impossible in a third term. They felt he had no sense to cajole his allies.

But seven months have passed with no news from his allies. Chandrababu Naidu is the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He won re-election at the same time as Modi won a third term. Naidu promised 4% reservation in employment and education for Muslims. He should firmly fulfill his promise.

But lo and behold, Naidu never broached the subject. He knew that the BJP was disgusted by reservation for Muslims. Naidu also wants an economic package deal for his state. It doesn’t look like he’s going to get one anytime soon. However, he didn’t complain.

Modi’s other key ally is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kumar once had ambitions to become prime minister but seems content with his turf in Bihar. Kumar was reportedly offered the top job by the Union of India but he turned it down. He wants to stand with Modi. Kumar also wanted an economic package for his state, but Modi again refused. Kumar didn’t utter a whimper.

Kumar also wants Rahul Gandhi to also want a caste census. But Kumar again remained silent and made no fuss.

The government is going well. Post-election signs of victory for the Gandhi family seemed to have a short-lived effect at best. The Modi government seems unlikely to be overthrown.

Modi 3.0 seems content with small victories. All the big fish in his cabinet are back in their old positions. Rural issues, which troubled Modi considerably during the last election, appear to have been put aside. Even the opposition seems to have forgotten all this.

This may be Modi’s last term as Prime Minister. He must have wondered what his legacy would be. Nehru was the founder of modern India. Indira Gandhi is famous for 1971, Rajiv Gandhi is famous for computerization, Narasimha Rao is famous for economic reforms, Manmohan Singh is famous for average growth rate of 10% per year famous.

Abrogation of Article 370 or construction of Ram temple or ‘One Nation, One Choice’ are big issues but may not be big enough to be remembered. The economy is growing at 7%, again doing well but not outstandingly. By any measure, the economy is not creating enough jobs.

Modi has shown he can manage allies. But now he has to do something big for the country. This is not the case with the Universal Civil Code. India is a young India. But if not handled properly, the resulting demographic dividend may turn into a demographic disaster.

While Modi maintains balance on the trapeze, he must show more energy and shake things up. The country is boiling with excitement, but the lid needs to be lifted. The next four and a half years cannot be like the past seven months, when Modi and his allies had smooth sailing but achieved little.

End of article