100 Days Of Modi Govt 3.0 – Hundreds Of Questions, But No One To Answer!

While the 100 Days of Modi will present only one side, let us look at the dark side of the moon. The unending Manipur crisis is Modi’s greatest failure on the law-and-order front. The north-eastern State continues to simmer for about 17 months with no visible action - either political or socio-economic – from the Centre as Chief Minister Biren Singh continues to lead an utterly failed government

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the foundation stone, dedicated to the nation various Railway Projects worth more than Rs 660 crore in Tatanagar, Jharkhand, and distributed sanction letters to 32,000 Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) beneficiaries on Sunday. The official announcement said Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar and Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chauhan were present on the occasion. But there was no word about Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

Few hours later, the PM arrived at Ranchi airport and CM Soren received him. Protocol done, Modi donned the role of the BJP leader and blasted the Soren government, the JMM, Congress and RJD branding them as the biggest enemies of the State. He even described the Soren government as the most corrupt. Modi had done the same during the last Lok Sabha poll campaign when Soren was jailed in a land scam case filed by the Enforcement Directorate. The Jharkhand High Court released Soren on bail stating that the JMM leader was not guilty of the charges against him.

The BJP continues to accuse the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders including Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of “shamelessly” indulging in corruption in the liquor scam, though the courts have ruled that the investigation agencies have not brought anything on record so far to link the leaders to any money laundering.

Modi, launching the Haryana poll campaign from Kurukshetra, accused the Congress of being anti-Congress while claiming that the Mandal Commission recommendations were implemented by the VP Singh government with the BJP’s support. This claim is contrary to the truth that the BJP launched a pro-Hindutva campaign and pulled the carpet from under VP Singh’s feet immediately after the Mandal commission recommendations were implemented. Modi conveniently forgets the Mandal Vs Kamandal headlines that his party had grabbed at that time.

Diversion, thy name is BJP. Modi frequently turns to Nehru to blame him for everything. Modi claimed that the country’s first PM had opposed reservations and thus the Congress can never be expected to support Mandal recommendations. While I leave it to historians to discuss what Nehru had said in what context and what was his stand on the reservations, I certainly would like Modi to focus on the present ground realities.

Modi, while campaigning in the last Lok Sabha elections promised a 100-day plan of action in his government’s

third term.

The post-election scenario was contrary to Modi’s and his cronies’ expectations. The fact remained that the BJP could not muster even a simple majority on its own and had to rely on the crutches of the Telugu Desam and Janata Dal United to form the government. There was not even a whisper about the 100-day agenda or a word about any common minimum programme by the NDA. Big brother BJP, despite being in minority in the Lok Sabha, has its way.

While the 100 Days of Modi will present only one side, let us look at the dark side of the moon.

The unending Manipur crisis is Modi’s greatest failure on the law-and-order front. The north-eastern State continues to simmer for about 17 months with no visible action - either political or socio-economic – from the Centre as Chief Minister Biren Singh continues to lead an utterly failed government. Modi, known for his record-breaking tours abroad and across the country, does not find time to visit Manipur.

This is the government which talks big on women’s security in the backdrop of Beti Bachao – Beti Padhao campaign. And this is the same government that blasts the West Bengal Chief Minister for her failure in handling the R G Kar hospital rape and murder case. Undoubtedly, the Kolkata hospital incident against a doctor is the most heinous crime, but that does not give the Centre the licence to keep mum about ghastly crimes against women in BJP ruled States such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and

Uttar Pradesh.

It is fully understandable for President Draupadi Murmu to exasperate and say ‘Enough is Enough’ on the Kolkata case, but the first citizen of the country ought to have been equally disturbed on Manipur in which State two women were stripped, paraded and gangraped. Even after the Supreme Court’s intervention and pulling up the government, we do not see any stern action coming forth from

the government.

Olympic medal winning female wrestlers have complained and held protests at Jantar Mantar alleging that they were molested by none other than the wrestling federation’s chief and the police filed a chargesheet against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Yet, there is a deafening silence on the trial. He continues to roam free while the victim wrestlers hung up their gloves.

PM Modi taunts the UPA quoting the Supreme Court’s ‘caged parrot’ jibe against the CBI, whereas even under his leadership the investigation agencies have been functioning to suit the BJP’s political gains and to perpetuate washing machine politics. Cases against 23 out of 25 top opposition leaders, who joined the BJP, have been either dropped or the probe has slowed down.

Modi and the BJP cried hoarse against corruption, but they had to face the biggest embarrassment in the Electoral Bonds case as the Supreme Court struck down the scheme as unconstitutional. Yet the government fails to order a probe into the Chanda-Do-Dhanda-Lo quid-pro-quo. So much for zero tolerance for corruption in public life

and caged parrots.

BJP may denounce Rahul Gandhi as a matter of habit, but the Modi government does not spare even the Vice President of India and uses the top constitutional functionary to attack the leader of the opposition. I can say this with authority since all public pronouncements by the President and Vice President are vetted by the government. The case in point is VP Jagdeep Dhankar’s caustic remark against Rahul who flaunts the Constitution of India in his public rallies. Dhankhar said, “Constitution is not to be flaunted like a book. (The) Constitution has to be respected. (The) Constitution has to be read. (The) Constitution has to be understood.” So far, so good. Dhankar also said about Rahul: “Today, a person sitting in a constitutional position says abroad that reservations should be abolished”. Well, Dhankar (read the government) should do a fact-check of Rahul’s speeches in the US before making such misleading statements.

The Modi government’s stoic silence on the allegations against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch speaks volumes of the way it deals with the clash of interests in high places. The way Coimbatore businessman Srinivasan was made to bend before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and apologise for complaining against irrational GST is an example of the BJP government’s intolerance.

Haven’t we heard of 46,000 graduates applying for sweepers’ jobs in Haryana recently for salaries of a mere Rs 15,000 a month? Need we say more about the unemployment crisis? There could easily be a hundred plus questions on the 100 days of Modi 3.0, but who will answer them? But truth, being as bright as daylight, cannot be hidden.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)