By Sushil Kutty
If the newspapers had Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman missing from the line-up on stage of BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, displaying the party’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ that shouldn’t be construed as where women might end up in the “Viksit Bharat” of Modi’s dreams. Sitharaman was there in flesh and blood, but pushed to the margins by the male-heavy BJP top.
The BJP released its 2024 manifesto for the general elections after BJP President JP Nadda introduced the stage to people present. Did the “entire country wait for the BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra”? The Prime Minister asked the question to select BJP ‘karyakartas’, among them random Modi ministers, many of whom are strangers to the aam public even today. The Prime Minister claimed Indians everywhere were eagerly awaiting the BJP ‘Sankalp Patra’, and the reason for the eagerness — the Modi government had in the one decade in power implemented every one of the promises made in BJP manifestos.
“As a guarantee on the ground. This ‘Sankalp Patra’ empowers all the 4 pillars of developed India — Youth, women, poor and farmers,” Modi told the captive audience, who sat out the five-yearly charade and left as meekly as they had sat through it. For some reason, there wasn’t a centimetre of enthusiasm among the yards-long stretches of chairs. It was a dead show played live on TV. What people across India thought of BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ will be known on June 4, when EVMs will spill out the “untruth” as reported by people spreading the “truth”.
Life is full of surprises. But the ‘Modi ki guarantee Sankalp Patra’ for some reason didn’t have any or many. The one about 70-plus geriatrics getting Ayushman Bharat “free of charge” did pleasantly shock, but that even the “upper rich middle class” will qualify was the real shocker. Many of these rich dudes don’t wait for ‘Modi ki guarantee’ in a medical emergency. Modi should visit central government-run hospitals in Delhi and he will find serpentine queues of the chronically poor waiting endlessly at the “Ayushman Bharat” counters with no Rs 5 lakh in sight.
Modi has no idea what is dished out at these Ayushman Bharat counters and the Godi Media doesn’t care. Even the ‘Sankalp’ about India bidding for Olympics 2036 didn’t shock. Modi will live upto 100 is a guarantee, and also that India will be “third largest economy” and an economic superpower.
The question is, will it be the New Delhi Olympics? Mumbai Olympics, Kolkata Olympics, how about Chennai Olympics? Chances are it could even be Kutch Olympics, if not Ahmedabad Olympics, but none of the aforementioned. Even Gandhinagar Olympics, if Amit Shah has his say, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi will see to it that Gujarat gets to host India’s first Olympics, period.
Don’t forget the Gujaratis have taken over the Lakshadweep archipelago and locals are in danger of losing their centuries old folksy traditions. The BJP ‘Sankalp Patra mentions India’s Olympics bid in 2036. The venue should not be “dry Gujarat”, but some wetland far away.
That said, most other promises in the ‘Sankalp Patra’ is old wine in a 2024 bottle; wine aged a little more. Take the one about Mudra loans, with limits raised from Rs 10 lakh to 20 lakh. Even the Ayushman Bharat scheme, now raised to people who are 70-plus. Point is, the 70-plus, were they barred earlier? If so, the scheme was a hoax and should be probed.
Also, does a government have to reaffirm that it will “speed up infrastructural development along the China border”? It is an old promise and shouldn’t be used to garner votes again and again, election after election. But what’s “fencing smarter” mentioned in the ‘Sankalp Patra’ is something to watch out for if the BJP returns to power on June 4.
The PLA of China will be wondering about “fencing smarter” even as India votes, thinking whether it was Modi’s manner of fighting China’s name-calling of regions and places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. “We’ll introduce technological solutions on fenced portions to make fencing smarter” is worth waiting for even if legions wouldn’t vote for Modi.
The Modi government has been harping about India becoming the third largest economic power for nearly half a decade. That is okay and the Modi government is serious about its goal. Ultimately, India will be the third largest economic power, one day, some day. But “when exactly?” might not be easy to be left to a guess. The 5th to 3rd journey took a decade. There is no guarantee Modi might not lose his moorings and his successor will not miss the forest for the tree?
Point being made is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ is based on many variables. As most manifestoes are. For example, Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Nyay Patra’. There is no guarantee, the Congress will turn India into Jinnah and Muslim League’s Pakistan. But Modi is talking as if India will have Sharia in the streets and there will be cow slaughter on Bahadurshah Zafar Marg. The fear mongering is all over Bharat, even outside Bharat.
The BJP Sankalp Patra’ talks about “right policies, focussed execution and meticulous planning” over its decade-long governance. The BJP planned CAA and then failed miserably in executing. One old woman made the Union Home Ministry bend to her will. Similarly, the BJP-led government failed utterly with the three farm laws. The farmers made Prime Minister Narendra Modi bite dust and eat crow. Third, the Modi government used all the resources at its command to get the Muslims on its side, but then had to settle for “talk to them even if they will never vote for the BJP, ever”.
Bottom-line, if getting the electorate to vote for another Modi term is the purpose of the BJP ‘Sankalp Patra’, the long list of promises made in the manifesto could fall miserably short in achieving its goal. A decade after 2014, with one massive mandate in between, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have nothing exceptional to sell in 2024 except for old ‘ghoshnas’ dressed up in ‘sankalp’ gear; who is fooling whom? (IPA Service)
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