• P. Chidambaram, M.P.

The BJP-led government under the Hon’ble Mr. Narendra Modi was sworn in on June 9, 2024. It did not have a happy start. Mr. Modi had to share the head table with the leaders of the TDP and JD(U) and allot portfolios to them and other allies. In the election of the Speaker, he had to go through the motions of consultation. Both were unusual experiences for Mr Modi in his 22 years as head of government.

Several Setbacks

There have been several setbacks in the 20 days since the government was formed. The National Testing Agency imploded and the raging fire consumed the aspirations of lakhs of students. There was a horrific train accident in Jalpaiguri. Terrorist attacks continued in Jammu & Kashmir. The prices of tomato, potato and onion increased, year-on-year, by 39, 41 and 43 per cent, respectively. The Sensex and Nifty soared to historic highs while the dollar-rupee exchange rate plunged to a historic low. Toll tax on highways was raised by 15 per cent. In an apparent censure, Mr. Mohan Bhagwat, the sarsanghchalak of RSS, admonished those who displayed “arrogance”; the BJP’s leadership squirmed but decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Local mutinies broke out in several state units of the BJP.

In the first session of Parliament, save the election of the Speaker and the President’s Address, there was no substantive business. But even the routine business had its share of controversies. By convention, the member of Parliament who has been elected most times to the Lok Sabha would be nominated the pro-tem Speaker to preside over taking the oath by elected members. That person, undisputedly, was Mr. K. Suresh (Congress-Kerala) who has been elected for the 8th time, though with a break. However, the government nominated Mr. B Mahtab (BJP-Odisha) for the office although he has been elected only 7 times (six times on the BJD ticket and, after he crossed over, the 7th time on the BJP ticket).

Why did the BJP kick up the avoidable controversy? Possible answers are: BJP wanted to signal that the results of the LS elections have not dented its supreme leader’s way of doing things, namely, ‘It’s my way or highway’. Another answer could be that the controversy-courting Mr. K. Rijiju, the new minister of parliamentary affairs, wanted to signal his arrival. The most plausible answer is that the nomination was a reward for Mr. Mahtab’s defection from the BJD to the BJP and to encourage more MPs to defect to the BJP.

Stale Assurances

Although the election of the Speaker concluded on a sour note, the rest of the session need not have been affected. But the Hon’ble Speaker added more bitterness when he moved a resolution from the Chair, excoriating the Congress for the imposition of Emergency 49 years ago (yes, 49 years, not 50)! Next, Parliament may ‘teach’ other history lessons by condemning Pakistan for the invasion of Kashmir in 1947, China for the war in 1962 and the United States for sending an aircraft carrier to intimidate India in 1971. The resolution was an unwarranted provocation.

The President’s Address to the joint session of both Houses was an opportunity to restore civility after false starts, but the opportunity was missed. The speech could have recognized the changed composition of the Lok Sabha, the fact that the leading party (BJP) was short of a majority by 32 seats, that the Prime Minister was the primus inter pares of a coalition government and that, after 10 years, there would be a Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Disappointingly, the President’s Address made no reference to the altered circumstances.

The speech was a litany of claims made by the BJP before and during the elections. The claims were rebuffed by the vast majority of the people. The new government is not a BJP government but a coalition government. The BJP has refused to acknowledge the bittersweet fact and the President echoed that view. The word ‘coalition’, did not occur in the speech. Other words that were conspicuous by their absence included ‘consensus’, ‘inflation’, and ‘parliamentary committee’. There were references to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes but all others — especially the minority communities — were clubbed in the catch-all phrase ‘social and religious groups’. There was no reference to the tragedy of Manipur. As a small mercy there was no reference to ‘Agniveer’ or ‘Uniform Civil Code’. Finally, India is no longer a ‘Vishwa Guru’, and is content to be a ‘Vishwa Bandhu’!

More of the Sameness

Apparently, in the view of the BJP, nothing has changed, not even the mood of the people. Hence, it is the same Cabinet, the same ministers, the key ministers hold the same portfolios, the same Speaker, the same principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, the same National Security Adviser, the same Chief of the Intelligence Bureau, the same government law officers, and many others remaining in the same positions. Besides, I am told that the social media is full of the same paid trolls who are semi-literate, diversionary, proficient in the science of scatology, and obvious losers. That, I am afraid, is conclusive proof that nothing has changed despite the verdict of the people!

In the run-up to the Budget, the top concerns of the people remain (1) unemployment and (2) inflation. According to the CSDS’ post-poll survey (The Hindu dated June 25, 2024), ‘price rise/inflation’ and ‘growing unemployment’ got 29 per cent and 27 per cent as the most ‘disliked’ work of the BJP government. On addressing the top two concerns, the formation of the Cabinet and the President’s Address let down the people. Will the Budget for 2024-25, due in July, awaken the Modi government? Parliamentary etiquette requires that we keep our fingers crossed.

(The author is a former Union Minister) Courtesy: The Indian Express