Author: Anita Katyal

Modi Govt’s idea to restructure the stretch from India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan is an attempt to bulldoze over things that do not conform with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s world view

Earlier this month, the Modi government announced an ambitious plan to redevelop, reinvent and rebuild the area around the four-kilometre stretch from the India Gate to the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the Indian Capital. Also known as the Central vista, the wide lawns in the heart of Delhi, are flanked by a host of buildings which house various Central government offices.

Besides the imposing Rashtrapati Bhavan, which rests on the Raisina Hill, the North and South Block as well as the circular Parliament House are among the well-known buildings providing a befitting backdrop to the sprawling India Gate lawns which were constructed between 1911 and 1931 when the British shifted the Capital from Calcutta to Delhi. The other buildings like Shastri Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan and Nirman Bhavan were constructed in the sixties to provide accommodation for government officers attached to various ministries.  

Dating back to the colonial era, the entire area represents a slice of history as it provides a glimpse of Delhi’s growth and evolution from a colony to an independent nation. Often compared to The Mall in Washington D.C, India Gate lawns are a favourite haunt of Delhi citizens for a leisurely stroll or an evening out with the family for ice-creams.

However, there is fear and concern in Delhi that its residents may be denied access to the Capital’s largest public space  while the skyline along the majestic Rajpath would be drastically altered  as the Modi government gets set to “build a new Capital”  by the year 2022 when India celebrates its 75th Independence Day. These fears have been fuelled, following the government’s recent announcement inviting proposals to redevelop the Central Vista, to construct a new common secretariat for all ministries and to build a new Parliament building. Alternatively, the present Parliament House could be revamped and modernised. A final call on this is yet to be taken but bids for the new mammoth project have already been floated.

Describing the proposed plan for a new Capital as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream project, Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Puri justified the mega scheme, stating that several buildings in the Central Vista reflect the “colonial ethos that the country was subjected to” and that many buildings which were constructed in the sixties and seventies should have been torn down years ago.

Puri explained that the move had been necessitated as the present office buildings did not have sufficient space to accommodate the vast army of government officers. He proffered the same argument for the construction of a new Parliament building though he denied that the present one will be demolished. However, it could be converted into a museum along with the North and South Block buildings which currently house the prestigious Prime Minister’s Office and the ministries of defence, external affairs, home affairs, and finance.   

The government’s decision has led to serious concern among architects, urban planners and conservationists in the Capital in view of Modi’s known passion for constructing grand towering structures. More importantly, everyone is convinced that this mega project is an attempt to erase the past so that Modi can leave behind his own personal legacy. It fits in with the BJP’s moves to remove or downgrade buildings associated with the old regimes, especially the Nehruvian period. For instance, both the South Block building, as well as the Parliament House, serve as a constant reminder about the role played by the country’s first Prime Minister and other senior Congress leaders in the nationalist movement and building a modern India. Sadly, the BJP has no such icons to showcase and so the urgency to leave behind its own imprint.

Puri’s reference to the building reflecting “colonial ethos” has everyone particularly worried as it would appear that the Modi government wants to change the character of Central Vista and its surrounding areas which are dotted with heritage buildings. This is being viewed as a dangerous trend as it could set a precedent for designating Hindu and Mughal-style architecture and justifying the destruction of what does not conform with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s world view.

Though there is agreement that some of the latter-day government buildings do need to be revamped, there are strong reservations about the manner in which the government is rushing ahead with its plans. No proper guidelines have been laid down for the project though it has far-reaching implications for the Capital’s heritage zone.

No heritage assessment has been conducted about the state of the buildings to identify structures which need to be demolished or others which can be modernized without razing them. There has also been no consultation with various stakeholders and no public discussion on this massive project. The unilateral announcement came as surprise when the government, without giving any inkling about its intentions, invited bids for the redevelopment of the Central Vista.

While questioning the unseemly haste with which the government is proceeding with this project, architects and conservationists, including AGK Menon, Raj Rewal, and Gautam Bhatia have been at pains to point out that heritage buildings like the Parliament House and North and South Blocks should not be razed and instead these should be modernized while retaining the outer façade. They cite the examples of the Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. and the British Parliament (Westminster) in London in this regard as these have been upgraded over the years but the outward look has remained unchanged.      

As the debate on this project rages on, the Delhi chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage has drawn attention to specific issues in connection with this project. AGK Menon, chief consultant INTACH, pointed to the bid document laying down that guidelines must be followed for the redevelopment of the Central Vista. But there is no clarity on what these guidelines are as these have not been spelt out. “There are no objectively defined parameters in place to guide future development,” the INTACH statement added

Referring to the haste with which the government intends to carry out its plan, INTACH has pointed out, “The bid document states that the government wants to build a legacy for the next 150 years, but the timeline proposed to complete the project does not support this objective.”

Menon further pointed out that the financial terms set to identify potential bidders were designed in such a way to exclude the country’s best architects and planners. Seeking changes in the terms, Menon maintained that the financial terms for the bid “appear to be an open call to foreign players or large multinational Indian entities.”

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Not just the Narendra Modi-led Centre, even state regimes are targeting their opponents through various means of intimidation, and this phenomenon is not limited to the BJP-ruled governments

Each time Bharatiya Janata Party leaders get on to a podium they never fail to mention the suffering endured by their senior colleagues who were thrown into jail by Indira Gandhi in 1975 when she declared a national Emergency.

These references are invariably peppered with strong critical comments about how dissenting voices were suppressed during those dark days, the media muzzled and democratic norms crushed by wielding the proverbial stick.

While recalling the BJP’s struggles, its leaders cite their experience during the Emergency to pledge their party’s commitment to the freedom of the press and citizen’s rights. They vow to uphold democratic values and Parliamentary norms and promise never to silence their critics by going down the road traversed by Indira Gandhi.

However, all these promises and declarations have a false ring to them today. Ever since the Modi government came to power five years ago, it has systematically targeted its opponents, whether they are political leaders, human rights activists or journalists, by arresting them, filing police cases against them and embroiling them in prolonged legal battles. With the Centre taking the lead, it is not surprising that the states have been quick to follow suit and this phenomenon is not confined to BJP-led governments alone.

And all this is happening without declaring a national emergency. Little wonder then that this government’s detractors these days often remark that the country is witnessing an undeclared emergency. There is, however, a difference between 1975 when Indira Gandhi declared an emergency and the present situation. Indira Gandhi’s move met with strong public disapproval and this anger was reflected in the 1977 Lok Sabha election when the Congress was routed. But today, the Modi government’s decisions enjoy wide popular support and are actually cheered on by the people.

Or alternatively, the people are plain indifferent to these daily occurrences. All those who would normally be expected to raise their voices against these developments are silent. The opposition parties are battling for survival, civil society has been crushed and the media has been successfully co-opted.

Take the case of the detention of mainstream political leaders, activists, lawyers, other professionals and students in Kashmir since August 5 when the Modi government moved quickly to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories. Three former chief ministers – Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti – are under house arrest while their party colleagues have also been detained. On September 16, Farooq Abdullah, a sitting Lok Sabha member, was booked under the draconian Public Safety Act which allows the state to detain a person for up to two years without a trial.  

There have been some murmurs of protest against the government’s latest move to slap the stringent Public Safety Act against the three-time former chief minister by opposition parties but it is too early to say if it will be followed up with any concrete action. So far, there has been virtually no protest or any sign of a public outcry over the large-scale “arrests” undertaken in Jammu and Kashmir even as BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav shrugged these off, saying that “preventive arrests are a part of political activity.”

The August 5 developments have since been emulated by state leaders. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy of the YSR Congress, lost no time in placing his predecessor and political rival Telugu Desam Party chief N.Chandrababu Naidu and his son under house arrest. The chief minister resorted to this extreme measure when Naidu staged a protest against the YSR Congress for its mishandling of TDP workers.

At the same time, the Congress-led Chhattisgarh government arrested Amit Jogi, the son of former chief minister Ajit Jogi, on charges of cheating and forgery for giving false information in his election affidavit. He has been denied bail. Ajit Jogi himself is in the dock after a case was registered against him for falsely claiming in his election affidavit that he is a tribal.

In both these instances, the actions of the incumbent chief ministers are driven by a personal agenda to settle scores with a rival. While Reddy and Naidu have been locked in a prolonged political slugfest for the past several years, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel’s rivalry with his former Congress colleague Ajit Jogi is also well known.

It is the same story in the case of former finance minister P.Chidambaram who has been arrested in the INX Media case. Home minister Amit Shah was similarly arrested in an alleged false encounter case when Chidambaram was heading the same ministry. A host of other opposition leaders have also been slapped with various charges of financial impropriety, cheating and money laundering. The list is long – it includes former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Karnataka Congress leader D.K.Shivkumar, Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel, former Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, even Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s party colleagues are also facing the heat from the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The Modi government’s ire is not confined to political leaders alone. Social activists, lawyers and renowned academics like Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, who work for the rights of the rural poor and tribals, have been booked for inciting caste-violence and for being sympathetic to Maoists. None of them have got any respite from the judiciary though it is over a year since they were detained.

Among others, journalists have also been at the receiving end. Only recently, a spate of cases have been reported from Uttar Pradesh where local media persons were picked up by the police for showing the administration in poor light. Journalist Pawan Jaiswal was booked for circulating a video showing children being served roti and salt in their midday meals in a school in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur.  Five reporters were arrested in Bijnore when they ran a story that a Dalit family had put their house on sale after they were denied access to the village water pump. Then there is the case of another journalist in Azamgarh who was booked by the Uttar Pradesh police for reporting how children were mopping floors in their school.

But all these incidents have left people unmoved. Because it is the new normal in India.

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Most regional parties, which were extremely vocal on issues that impact Indian federal structure, have chosen to remain nonchalant on the abrogation of Article 370 for political reasons

Participating in the debate on the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state in Parliament last month, former finance minister P Chidambaram was perhaps the only speaker who focused extensively on the Modi government’s decision to unilaterally alter the status of a state and its far-reaching implications for the country’s federal structure.

Describing the move as “a misadventure, a catastrophic step”, Chidambaram maintained that the dismemberment of a state would lay down a dangerous precedent as the government would henceforth be able to carve out every other state in the country in a similar manner.

The former minister went on to underline: “All that they have to do is dismiss the elected government, impose President’s rule, dissolve the elected assembly, and ensure Parliament takes the power of the state assembly. The government then moves a resolution, Parliament approves it and the state is dismembered.”

That the Modi government’s decision on the division of Jammu and Kashmir has far-reaching implications for other states can hardly be denied. And yet most regional parties, which are otherwise extremely vocal on issues which have an adverse impact on federalism, have been nonchalant on this aspect. In fact, several regional parties including the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Telugu Desam Party, Aam Admi Party, YSR Congress, and Biju Janata Dal, which are not official members of the ruling alliance welcomed the government’s decision on Article 370 but were silent on the move to bifurcate the state.

And even parties like the DMK, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress and the Janata Dal (U), which opposed the move referred to the bifurcation only cursorily. Instead, the arguments put forth by the representatives of these parties focused on the stealth with which the Modi government brought the Bills to Parliament without circulating them in advance which would allow MPs to scrutinise the provisions in detail.

For instance, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Derek O’Brien described the government handling as “procedural harakiri” while Tiruchi Siva of the DMK only went as far as to say that the Centre should have taken the consent of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly before going ahead with this move.

The DMK subsequently took the lead in organizing a protest rally of opposition parties in Delhi last month but here again, the leaders who participated did not attack the Modi government either on the abrogation of Article 370 or the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. They drew attention to the arrest of political leaders in the state and demanded their immediate release and also that normalcy be restored at the earliest and the clampdown on communication is removed. The day-long event was, at best, a token protest. Opposition leaders followed this up by attempting to visit the Kashmir Valley but were turned back from the Srinagar airport by the security agencies who said they were instructed not to allow them out.

Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, who has been campaigning for full statehood for Delhi which is presently a Union Territory with an assembly, surprised everyone when he came out in support of the Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370. But Kejriwal was unfazed when confronted with the contradiction in his stand, pointing out that a peaceful state cannot be compared with a disturbed border state.

Opposition leaders privately agreed that that the decision to divide Jammu and Kashmir could impact other states but said they were hemmed in from launching a severe attack against the Modi government on its J&K policy because it enjoyed widespread public support.

That’s the reason, they said, they had confined  their criticism to the faulty process adopted by the government in this case, the arrest of political leaders and the overall lockdown in the state. “We are constrained because we cannot go against public sentiment,” a DMK leader pointed out. Consequently, DMK chief M K Stalin did not go beyond describing the decision as a “murder of democracy” while charging the BJP of not respecting the sentiments of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Ironically, even the Trinamool Congress has been muted in its criticism. Though Derek O’Brien described August 5 as “Black Monday” and a dark day for the country’s constitution, his party chose to walk out during the debate in Parliament instead of voting against the Bills.

Like other opposition parties, Trinamool Congress is also hemmed in by its dipping graph in West Bengal and the BJP’s growing popularity in the state. “Did you notice the number of times Amit Shah mentioned Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in his speech,” a Trinamool Congress MP pointed out, adding, “Ultimately we have to fight elections in our state.”

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Jan Sangh which later became the BJP was a staunch opponent of Article 370 and had waged a consistent battle against this provision. The BJP has been projecting Mukherjee as an icon of West Bengal in its campaign against the Trinamool Congress.

Assembly elections are due in West Bengal next year and given the religious polarization fanned by the BJP in the state, a beleaguered Mamata Banerjee has little option but to do a fine balancing act.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders pointed out that if the opposition genuinely had strong views on the latest developments in Kashmir, it should have organized mass protests on the streets. “But they cannot do so because the people are not with them,” remarked a BJP leader.

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The Grand Old Party will do well to take a leaf from the BJP’s organisational reforms by assigning leadership roles to its Gen-Next leaders

When the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, met here earlier this month to pick Rahul Gandhi’s successor, it eventually settled on Sonia Gandhi after day-long deliberations. The difference between the two national parties and their fortunes could not be more symbolic than this step. Congress has become a pensioners’ party while BJP is the dynamic youth orientated national force.

The decision by Congress to reinstate Sonia Gandhi as leader was a major victory for the party’s old guard which had been working behind the scenes for nearly two months to see that Rahul Gandhi loyalists were denied the party’s presidency. By proposing Sonia Gandhi’s name, the party seniors silenced those who were pushing for a younger leader and also ensured that their hold on the party organization remained intact as they are essentially her camp followers.

The entire exercise ended up exposing the divide between the party’s old guard and the Gen Next leaders with the former having the upper hand. Consequently, the much-needed generational shift in the grand old party was effectively thwarted.

In fact, this battle between the two groups is not new. Afraid of losing their preeminent position in the party organization, the old guard has been blocking Rahul Gandhi’s plans since he was the party vice-president. Even after he took over as party chief, the Nehru-Gandhi scion had to tread carefully to ensure that he did not alienate the old-timers, known for their proximity to Sonia Gandhi.

That Rahul Gandhi was unable to shake them off was evident when it came to the appointment of chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan after the Congress won the assembly polls in the two states last year. He had to willy-nilly endorse senior leaders Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot as chief ministers, overlooking the claims of younger leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot.  

This ongoing turf war between Sonia Gandhi’s loyalists and Rahul Gandhi’s supporters in the Congress stands out in sharp contrast to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has, over the past few years, placed young leaders in key positions of power without creating any major ripples in the party.

The first move in this direction was made after veteran BJP leader L.K.Advani fell foul of the party’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, with his complimentary remarks on Mohammad Jinnah. Advani’s protégés Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley were given the responsibility of leading the charge against the Manmohan Singh government in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively. Both leaders were in their fifties then. Shortly thereafter, 52-year-old Nitin Gadkari was promoted as BJP president. Though dethroned, Advani retained a say in party matters through Swaraj and Jaitley, both mentored by him.

However, the BJP and the RSS woke up to the need for a further generational change after the party lost two consecutive elections in 2004 and 2009. It was clear that seniors like Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were not inspiring younger and new voters and that it was time to take drastic decisions.

By then, three-time Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had positioned himself for a larger national role. Undoubtedly, his projection as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial face came up for opposition from Advani and his supporters in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But, after a few hiccups, their resistance was eventually worn down. And once Modi proved his credentials in the electoral arena by leading the party to an emphatic victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, there was no looking back.

Modi and his confidant Amit Shah have since moved fast to bring in younger leaders. Party seniors were been gradually sidelined and even second-generation leaders made way for a younger set. But unlike the Congress, the change-over has been a smooth affair.

Senior leaders were first denied ministerial berths in 2014 by laying down an upper age limit of 75 years. In the recent general election, these leaders, including Advani, Joshi, Shanta Kumar, Sumitra Mahajan, B.C.Khanduri and Kalraj Mishra were not even given tickets.

At the same time, Modi, assisted by BJP president Amit Shah, has picked new chief ministerial candidates which went against all conventional logic. For instance, Devendra Fadnavis, a Brahmin, was appointed a chief minister in Maharashtra where power has always been with the all-powerful Maratha community. Similarly, Manohar Lal Khattar, a non-Jat, was chosen as chief minister of Haryana where it is the Jat community which dominates. It’s the same story in Jharkhand and Assam.

Though there were initial murmurs in the party, there were no protests or counter moves to all these decisions, thus ensuring the emergence of a new-look BJP.  

The Congress can certainly take a few lessons from the BJP which successfully managed to reverse the trend of electoral losses by taking some tough measures. It was a gamble but it paid off. The result is that the BJP is the central pole of Indian polity today while the Congress is struggling for survival.

The Congress too needs to disturb the status quo and go in for major changes without being afraid of rocking the boat. But to do so, it needs a powerful and charismatic leader who also has capabilities of winning elections for the party. The BJP has that advantage.

Congress increasingly gives the impression of a party seeking ‘retirement’ as Sonia Gandhi with Manmohan Singh in tow, both shuffling when walking, are the face of Congress. But where is the new dynamic youthful strides going to come from?

Unfortunately, Rahul Gandhi has not measured up to the task, which has allowed the old guard to retain its vice-like grip on the party while Gen-Next leaders continue to wait in the wings.

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Modi and Shah are making concerted efforts to ensure that their dominance in the party and the government remains unchallenged

In a series of tweets congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah recently for taking the bold and historic step of resolving the festering Kashmir problem, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh pointed put that the “groundwork” for this permanent solution was laid down over the last five years.

“In the first five years the government under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi prepared for the ground for a permanent solution in Jammu and Kashmir. Now, after coming back to power, we have taken many big steps in the direction of that solution,” Singh said.

Ordinarily, this statement would have escaped attention but then we are not living in ordinary times. Singh’s throwaway reference to the work done on Jammu and Kashmir in the Modi government’s first term was essentially an attempt to draw attention to his contribution to this exercise and to claim his rightful place in the ruling dispensation’s ecosystem since a systematic effort has been made to sideline him.  

Singh was heading the crucial home ministry in 2014 before he was moved to the defence ministry in the Modi government’s second term. It’s a different matter that unlike Shah, Singh never enjoyed the same clout as his successor today because of his proximity to Modi. Though Singh is technically the number two in this government, there is no doubt that Shah is the de facto second-in-command.

The process of marginalizing Singh, which began in 2014 when the BJP came to power, has continued after the Modi returned to form a government after a resounding electoral victory earlier this year. In fact, the sidelining of Singh is in line with the concerted efforts made by the Modi-Shah duo to see that no party senior or a leader with a mass base is allowed to get out of line or eclipse the BJP’s big two. The wings of such potential candidates are invariably clipped so that BJP ministers and MPs remain faceless and beholden to Modi for their electoral victory.

While Singh has been rendered powerless for the past years, Transport minister Nitin Gadkari has been effectively silenced while former chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje have been kept out of the power matrix in their respective states. Venkaiah Naidu was given the vice-president’s post even though he was loathed to leave active politics.

The late Sushma Swaraj was never trusted because of her allegiance to BJP veteran leader LK Advani and was accommodated in the government as she could not be ignored given her experience, talent and seniority. However, she was not allowed to function autonomously though she was heading the crucial external affairs ministry. It was, therefore, not surprising when Swaraj opted out of electoral politics before the last Lok Sabha poll on health grounds and was denied a Cabinet berth in the government’s second term though she could have been accommodated in the Rajya Sabha.

Rajnath Singh was put in his place soon after he took over as home minister in 2014 when he was not free to appoint his personal secretaries. He was further pushed on the defensive when the Delhi Durbar was rife with rumours, believed to be circulated by party insiders, that Modi had pulled up Singh’s son Pankaj following allegations that he had taken money for arranging the postings of police officials. The BJP was forced to issue a denial after a furious Singh complained to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. But the damage was already done.

More recently, Singh was kept out of key Cabinet committees and it was only after he threatened to resign that corrective measures were taken. Last month when Amit Shah presided over the groundbreaking ceremony of projects worth ₹65,000 crore in the Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, Rajnath Singh was conspicuous by his absence. Singh, who represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha, was said to be traveling then but questions have been asked if the programme dates could not have been adjusted to ensure Singh’s presence. Similarly, Singh had a minimal role in the government’s recent moves on Jammu and Kashmir, which were handled by Modi, Shah and national security advisor Ajit Doval.      

Known to be a straight talker, Nitin Gadkari hit the headlines in the run-up to the last Lok Sabha elections when a series of controversial statements made by him were seen to be a pitch by him for the Prime Minister’s post. Not only did he invoke Nehru and Indira Gandhi (at variance with party position) and speak of tolerance in his public remarks, Gadkari literally sought accountability for the BJP’s defeat in last year’s Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh assembly polls. “If I am the party president, and my MPs and MLAs are not doing well, then who is responsible? I am,” he said.

Paying tribute to Sushma Swaraj recently, Gadkari dwelt at length on how as BJP president he depended on her for advice. Truly a telling comment in view of Swaraj’s equation with Modi and Shah. Today Gadkari is barely seen or heard and the only time he is in the news is when he has a fainting spell which is quite frequent.

Though he lost his government in the last assembly election, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wants nothing more than to get back his old job. But the BJP’s Central leadership is not obliging him by toppling the Kamal Nath government though it has a wafer-thin majority in the assembly. While it is well-acknowledged that Chouhan’s personal popularity has not dimmed, Modi-Shah duo wants to hand over the reins of the state to a new leader. This was evident when Chouhan was not given charge of the party’s state unit or made the leader of the legislature party.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje was also denied a position in the state after her defeat. She had blotted her copybook during her tenure as chief minister when she challenged Modi over appointments in the state unit and distribution of tickets during the assembly elections. Raje has been keeping a low-profile since then though like Chouhan, she was appointed party vice-president at the national level but this was to guard against their interference in the party’s state unit. After the party lost the assembly polls, the BJP made a conscious decision to give tickets to Raje’s detractors in the Lok Sabha elections and followed it up by accommodating them in the Modi government at the Centre. The result is that the two-time chief minister and a one-time powerful leader has been virtually banished from active politics.

It all began in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when senior leaders like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha were put to pasture. And it is clear this exercise is continuing as Modi and Shah work assiduously to see that their dominance in the party and the government remains unchallenged.

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As Madhya Pradesh chief minister with a wafer thin majority in the Assembly, Kamal Nath has his task cut out for him – the looming threat to his government calls for his political management skills

The Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh has got a temporary reprieve since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his second-in-command Union home minister Amit Shah are currently preoccupied in tackling the Kashmir issue following their momentous decision to scrap Article 370 and bifurcate the state.

However, Kamal Nath cannot afford to be complacent or let down his guard as the Modi-Shah duo are known to strike when the enemy is least prepared for an attack. This was evident in the ongoing budget session of Parliament when opposition parties like the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Telugu Desam Party were caught napping when faced with a string of defections from their ranks in the Rajya Sabha.

After the Bharatiya Janata Party toppled the Congress-Janata Dal (S) government in Karnataka, it was expected that Madhya Pradesh would be its next target since the Kamal Nath government has a wafer-thin majority in the assembly. In fact, the BJP  let it be known publicly after its massive victory in the Lok Sabha polls that the Madhya Pradesh government would not last long.

But project Kamal appears to have been deferred for the time being. Besides the fact that the BJP’s central leadership has more pressing issues to tackle at present, the party has to first settle the leadership issue in its state unit.

It is an open secret that after 13 years in office, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is itching to get back his old post but Modi and Shah have other plans for him. The two leaders have signaled that Chouhan’s innings in the state is over and  have deliberately denied him charge of the party’s state unit. They did not even  appoint him the leader of the legislature party in the assembly.

The BJP wants a new leader in Madhya Pradesh and there was talk that  Kailash Vijayvargiya, the party’s national general secretary in charge of West Bengal, would be Chouhan’s replacement  but his chances have dimmed after his son courted controversy by assaulting officials with a bat.  Finding an alternative is also proving to be problematic as Chouhan’s popularity has not taken a hit even after he lost the government. He remains the BJP’s top mass leader in Madhya Pradesh.

However, the BJP will move in for the kill at an opportune moment when it stands to gain politically from Kamal Nath’s ouster. Having promised justice to the victims of  the1984 anti-Sikh riots, the BJP would like to stack up sufficient material against Kamal Nath for his role in stoking violence in Delhi following Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The Congress leader was indicted by the Nanavati Commission for his role in the riots but no action could be taken against him for lack of evidence. Nevertheless, this issue comes back to haunt Kamal Nath periodically. His appointment as Madhya Pradesh chief minister met with strong protests from the Sikh community. Though these protests died down, the BJP has a powerful weapon in its armoury to dethrone the Congress chief minister.

Kamal Nath has his task cut out for him. The looming threat to his government calls for his legendary political management skills. He recently provided a glimpse of what he is capable of when Kamal Nath managed to persuade two BJP legislators to vote in favour of a government Bill. The tables have turned as it is the Congress which is now openly declaring that several more BJP MLAs could switch sides in the coming days. Having been caught off-guard, the BJP’s state unit is rattled by this development. It is eagerly waiting for word from the central leadership to proceed with replicating the Karnataka model in Madhya Pradesh but it has not got the go-ahead so far.

During his long stint in politics, the nine-term MP from Chhindwara has held several portfolios at the Centre, ranging from environment to commerce. Kamal Nath has earned the reputation of being an able administrator with a quick grasp of contentious policy issues and has fought well for the country both at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and during the WTO negotiations. While jet setting across the globe, he never lost sight of his constituency, setting up a well-oiled establishment to deal with the grievances of the local people.

But unlike his predecessor Chouhan who was constantly on the move, meeting and connecting with the people, Kamal Nath confines himself to his office as he deals with files and policy decisions. Not just the public but his own party workers have complained about his inaccessibility. The Congress is hoping that as chief minister, he will compensate for his lack of people’s skills by delivering on governance. The fact that Kamal Nath has a wide network of friends in the corporate sector, the party believes, could prove to be a plus point as it could help in attracting investments to the state.  

Like senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath does not believe in antagonizing his political rivals but tends to reaching out to them. Shortly after the Lok Sabha results were declared, Kamal Nath lost no time in calling on the Prime Minister, ostensibly to introduce his son who has replaced him as Chhindwara MP. Only time will tell if this visit will help in saving his government from a predatory BJP.

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While Opposition members have often used standing committees to prolong decision-making by a ruling dispensation, Modi Government’s bulldozing important Bills without scrutiny does not bode well for democracy

When India replicated the Westminster model and introduced the system of Parliamentary standing committees in the early nineties, the basic purpose was to ensure an in-depth scrutiny of proposed laws and budgetary proposals as it was felt that these were often not discussed at length in Parliament due to paucity of time.

A conscious decision was taken to keep the press and public out of these committee meetings so that members were not obliged to take a partisan stand which is the case when legislation is debated on the floor of the House. A free and frank discussion, it was felt, allowed MPs to offer constructive suggestions which would help strengthen and improve a particular legislation.

This system has worked so far. But the incumbent Modi government has been particularly reluctant to refer legislative Bills for scrutiny to Parliamentary committees. The number of Bills which were sent to committees for detailed deliberations dropped to 26% during Modi’s first term. In contrast, the figures for the earlier two Lok Sabhas was a healthy 60 and 71%. The Modi government is yet to open its account in the ongoing Parliament session.

A defanged and divided opposition has looked on helplessly as the Modi government ensured the passage of 20-odd Bills in the first session of the new Lok Sabha without sending even a single one to a Parliamentary committee. These include the amendments to the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, the legislation criminalising triple talaq and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill to name a few.

The opposition has registered its protest but these have been ignored by an emboldened Modi government which has used its numerical strength in the Lok Sabha to push ahead with its legislative business.

Realizing that the opposition does not have the numbers or the will to challenge it, the Modi government unilaterally extended the Parliament session dusted up all its old Bills and rushed ahead with their passage. Brushing aside the opposition’s objections, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders maintained that the Bills which had been tabled for passage were not new but those which had been pending since the last Lok Sabha.

Unlike his predecessors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is particularly averse to referring important Bills to Parliamentary committees. The showman that he is, the Prime Minister wants to set a record for the most productive Parliament session. Second, he wants to take advantage of the disarray in the opposition ranks to literally bulldoze legislation through Parliament. More importantly, Modi does not want any hurdles which can delay the passage of Bills.

Past experience shows that scrutiny by a Parliamentary committee is a time-consuming process. This can impact decision-making as opposition leaders, who head these committees, use it as a political tool by prolonging the deliberations. This is exactly what happened when the Manmohan Singh government was in power. Two of its flagship legislations- the Right to Food Bill and the Land Acquisition Bill – were deliberately delayed by the Parliamentary committees then headed by BJP leaders. Since the reports of the committees were submitted virtually towards the end of the government’s tenure, the Centre did not have sufficient time to implement the legislation and take electoral advantage of its “pro-poor” programmes.

Clearly, Modi wants to avoid a similar situation. Not only is he intent on making a big splash by ensuring the smooth functioning of Parliament, the Prime Minister does not want any roadblocks in the implementation of his government’s agenda which can damage his personal image as a decisive leader. More importantly, Modi wants to use the session to remind the opposition about its diminished strength and the government’s massive majority in the Lok Sabha. Unlike the past, no effort is now made to reach out across the political aisle and establish a working relationship with the opposition. The divide is all too clear as the BJP believes dialogue with its opponents is unnecessary.

On its part, an enfeebled has objected to the government’s attitude. It has accused Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah of showing scant regard for Parliament and treating it like the Gujarat assembly where the Modi-Shah duo had acquired the reputation of pushing through the government’s legislative business without adequate debate. But to little avail.

Besides the fact that the opposition is in a hopeless minority in the Lok Sabha, it is also a divided house, having also lost the edge it enjoyed in the Rajya Sabha in the Modi government’s first term when it had the numerical strength to challenge the treasury. The ruling alliance has since bridged the gap and is now close to a majority in the Upper House following a series of defections from the opposition ranks. Former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar’s son Neeraj Shekhar, Congress leader Sanjay Sinh and four members of the Telugu Desam Party have switched loyalties to the BJP, swelling its tally.

At the same time, the BJP has succeeded in driving a wedge in the opposition thanks to some deft floor management. This was evident during the voting on the triple talaq Bill when the BJP managed to get the support of the Biju Janata Dal while made sure the Bahujan Samaj Party, the People’s Democratic Party, YSR Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Janata Dal (U) were not present during the vote.  

From all accounts, the pattern set in the first session of the BJP government’s second term will become the norm. It is clear that the future of Parliamentary democracy is in peril as Modi has made it known that he does not like being questioned or opposed.

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Can Tamil machismo hold back a sophisticated and relentless BJP-RSS machine from breaking its resolve?

Tamil Nadu along with Punjab is one of the last bastions that has not fallen to the BJP’s nationalism led drive to paint all states with Saffron. Tamil Nadu has resisted imposition of Hindi. It is proudly a Dravidian state with deep suspicions of North Indian Hindus and Brahamins. But how long can Tamil Nadu’s own nationalism hold back a sophisticated and relentless BJP-RSS machine from breaking its resolve? There are signs that other states, such as Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, may be wilting. Can this crushing juggernaut be stopped?

When the Bharatiya Janata Party swept the Lok Sabha election in 2014, its president Amit Shah had directed party cadres they should not rest on their laurels and should instead start work on expanding the party’s footprint in  West Bengal and Odisha.

The mission proved to be a resounding success as the saffron party made huge inroads in these two states where it replaced the Congress and the Left parties as the main opposition party in the last Lok Sabha election.

Shah gave a similar clarion call to the BJP rank and file to go into unchartered territory after its resounding victory in the last Lok Sabha election. Having consolidated its position across large parts of the country, Shah said the party should now focus on growing in the Southern states.

The BJP has already swept Karnataka made a significant dent in Telangana and improved its vote share marginally in Kerala though like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, it remained immune both to Modi’s personal charm and the BJP’s nationalist and majoritarian agenda.

But this has not deterred the BJP which has drawn up a blueprint for expanding in the Southern region. For instance, party workers have been told to especially target new areas and to reach out to different sections of society in its ongoing membership drive. In addition, the BJP took a calculated decision to appoint Rashtriya Swayamsevak Swayamsewak Sangh ideologue B.L. Santhosh as party general secretary (organization) in place of Ram Lal who has returned to the RSS.

Fluent in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada and an engineer by training, Santhosh is a long-time RSS pracharak who was credited with the formation of the BJP’s first government in Karnataka, his home state. He has also been working in Kerala and it was at his instance that Shah undertook a padayatra in Kerala to protest the spate of political killings.

Having set its eyes on the Southern states, Shah’s game plan is to utilize Santhosh’s organizational skills as well as deep knowledge of the region to ensure that the saffron party is no longer considered a North Indian party here.

However, the Southern states present a mixed bag for the BJP. While it is hoping to inch ahead in Telangana and Kerala,  the saffron party faces its biggest challenge in Tamil Nadu.

BJP insiders admit that their attempts to make the Sabarimala Temple controversy in Kerala into an emotive issue like  Ayodhya did not pay them electoral dividend and instead it was the Congress which benefited from it in the recent Lok Sabha election. The BJP failed to open its account in this election but party strategists are convinced the party has the potential to grow in “God’s Own Country”. The BJP’s optimism is based on the increase in the party’s vote share, which has now climbed to 13 percent. According to a BJP leader, this will serve as a solid foundation on which they can build upon in the coming years.  

“It is our experience that once we have a vote share of 12 percent in any state, it serves as a springboard for the party’s  upward climb,” remarked a BJP strategist.

The saffron party is, therefore, paying special attention to Kerala. It was no coincidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveled to Kerala soon after his massive electoral victory to offer prayers at the famous Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple. The BJP is banking on its Hindutva agenda to wean away the majority Hindu population which has been voting largely for the Left Democratic Front and partially for the Congress-led United Democratic Front which also has a strong base among the Muslims and Christians.

Besides wooing the Hindus, the BJP is also reaching out to the minorities in Kerala, which constitute nearly 45 per cent of the population. Working in this direction, the saffron party recently inducted former Congress MP Abullakutty into its fold in the hope that he can help the BJP dent the Muslim vote. However, this could prove to be a futile exercise as the minorities remain wary of the BJP and are unlikely to shift loyalties easily as proved in the recent general election. The BJP also depended on Alphonse Kannanthanam and former Kerala Congress leader P.C.George to win over the Christians but to little avail.

Though the Hindus preferred to go with the Congress-led UDF in the last Lok Sabha poll, there is no doubt that the majority community, especially the upper castes, are becoming impressed with the BJP’s Hindutva agenda. Despite this,  the BJP will not have an easy ride in Kerala given the high literacy rates and the fact that its people have strong ideological roots. More importantly, the BJP is handicapped because it does not have powerful state leaders and a strong organization to take on its well-entrenched opponents.

While the BJP is hoping to work on its weaknesses in Kerala, party insiders admit that it is a long haul for it in Tamil Nadu. While the rest of the country was mesmerized by Modi’s persona and the BJP’s nationalist agenda, Tamil Nadu was a rare state which witnessed anti-Modi protests. The BJP had hoped that the broad alliance it forged with the AIADMK and other smaller parties would help it make inroads in Tamil Nadu but it could not win a single seat here while its vote share is less than four percent.

Besides the fact that like Kerala, the BJP does not have local leaders or a party organization in Tamil Nadu, the people of this Southern state are wary of the saffron party as they believe it seeks to undermine their regional and cultural identity. The strong anti-Hindi protests witnessed in Tamil Nadu each time the BJP attempts to impose the use of Hindi in an indication of the prevailing public sentiment.

Tamil Nadu has always been dominated by strong regional parties and its politics heavily influenced by the anti-Brahmin Dravidian movement. It is not easy for a national party to get a foothold here on its own and, more so, for a party like the BJP which is considered an “upper-caste Brahmin party”.  A national party necessarily needs the help of a regional player to register its presence in Tamil Nadu. The Congress was in luck this time as its senior partner, the DMK, was on a strong wicket.  The BJP floundered as its allies were weak. From all accounts, the saffron party faces an uphill task ahead here.

“There are several factors which are at play in an election. It is a combination of a strong organization, charismatic leaders, an emotive issue and a critical mass of voters. We have to work on these in the South,” a senior BJP leader rightly pointed out. How long can Tamil Nadu hold the fort against a slick and determined wave?

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Having cracked the caste arithmetic in Maharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance looks set to continue its winning streak in the state assembly elections due in October

As Congress members make a beeline for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka to Goa, the election-bound state of Maharashtra is proving to be no exception. With less than three months to go for the assembly polls, cadres from both the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party are scouting around for greener pastures and the BJP is proving to their preferred choice given that the saffron party is on the ascendant in this western state. The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance enjoys a massive majority in the assembly and, more recently, it swept the Lok Sabha polls.

What is particularly galling for the Congress-NCP alliance is the erosion in its support base as Dalits, backward classes, upper castes and, now even the dominant Maratha community, have shifted allegiance to the BJP.

The BJP’s success in winning over the Marathas follows the concerted efforts made by the saffron party over the last five years to reach out to them. The party’s focus on the Maratha community is understandable as it comprises nearly one-third of the population in the state and has always wielded strong political influence. Unlike Haryana where the BJP chose to ignore the dominant Jat community and consolidated the non-Jat vote, in Maharashtra the BJP strategized to win over the influential Marathas.

The BJP has been working on various fronts simultaneously to wean away the Marathas from the Congress-NCP alliance. The saffron camp worked hard to weaken the influence of the Marathas over the bank, sugar and milk cooperatives in the state. While draining them economically, the BJP made a special effort to touch base with the influential Maratha leaders in the Congress and the NCP, persuading many local leaders to switch sides. For instance, the Congress was dealt a severe blow on the eve of Lok Sabha elections when the leader of its legislative party Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and several others joined the BJP. The NCP also suffered a similar fate.

Then again, the saffron camp moved quickly on the demand for including the Marathas in backward class category to enable its members to avail quotas in government jobs and educational institutions. At the one stage, it appeared that the state-wide protests by the Marathas for reservations would spiral out of control and hurt the BJP’s electoral prospects. But Maharashtra chief minister Devender Fadnavis, under the guidance of BJP president Amit Shah, managed to snuff out the protests. They first identified the local leaders in districts who were spearheading this stir and then proceeded to give them tickets and positions to soften them. At the same time, it worked on meeting the Marathas demand for quotas.

The project, which began in 2014 when Fadnavis asked the State Backward Class Commission for a report detailing the extent of the social and economic backwardness of the Marathas, eventually culminated in the enactment of a law providing 16 percent quota for Marathas.

The BJP government got a shot in the arm when its move was endorsed by the Bombay High Court earlier this year though the quota was slashed down to 12 percent. The decision has since been challenged in the Supreme Court on the ground that this quota exceeds the 50 percent ceiling on reservations laid down by the apex court. The matter will come up for its next hearing later this month. The BJP is encouraged by the fact that the Supreme Court has not stayed the High Court order though it has ruled against its retrospective implementation. In fact, the saffron party is not worried about its decision being struck down as it believes it has succeeded in sending out the message that the Fadnavis government is indeed serious about providing quotas to Marathas and has been working in that direction for the last five years.

This effort is held out in sharp contrast to the previous Congress-NCP government’s decision on quotas which was struck down by the courts. The BJP also tom-toms the fact that a Brahmin chief minister has swung this deal while earlier Maratha leaders had failed to deliver on the long-pending demand. In fact, when the BJP appointed a Brahmin as chief minister, it was believed that he would fail as Maharashtra has traditionally always had a Maratha chief minister, But Fadnavis has proved his critics wrong and like his Haryana counterpart, has managed to hold his own and got widespread acceptance.

Having already won over the other castes, the BJP’s success in winning over the Marathas has underlined its dominant position in Maharashtra. Together with its partner, the Shiv Sena, this alliance looks set to continue its winning streak in the coming assembly elections. Coming a few months after its massive victory in the Lok Sabha polls, the momentum remains in favour of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. Besides getting its caste arithmetic right, the saffron camp also has the advantage of the strong religious polarization witnessed in the general election. The same sentiment will prevail in the October state polls.

“We are comfortably placed in Maharashtra. We have a strong party organization, our alliance with the Shiv Sena is on track and, more importantly, there is no anti-incumbency against our governmen,” a senior BJP leader told Lokmarg.    

On the other hand, a demoralized Congress and NCP is in disarray. Not only has it lost its support base, but the Congress organization is also weak and faction-ridden. The leadership vacuum at the center, following Rahul Gandhi’s decision to step down as Congress president, has added to the party’s woes. The grand old party has a serious problem at hand as there is no visible or immediate let-up in the overriding anti-Congress mood. “Anti-Congressism has now become an ideology,” bemoaned a party leader.

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Irrespective of who takes over as the new Congress president, the biggest hurdle the new incumbent will face is that of acceptability within the party

There appears to be a large sink hole developing in Congress as Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that he is firm on stepping down as president, The party is gradually coming to terms with the fact it will no longer be headed by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

The party is like a family of nursery age children left at home for days without parents. But it does not appear they will be orphaned. They will soon be fostered to a caretaker handpicked ‘headmaster’ and Mummy and Daddy will be at hand nearby.

It is not easy for the Congress to grasp this new reality as it has, over the years, become heavily dependent on the First Family. The party relies on the family to win them elections and also to keep it united. It appears to be headless at the moment, at least in the public eye.

There is no doubt that the Congress will soon have a new president. The process of consultations to find a consensus candidate has been kickstarted and the party’s highest decision-making body- the Congress Working Committee – will be scheduled within a week or ten days to appoint the next party president.

Several names are doing the rounds. Mallikarjun Kharge, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Ashok Gehlot, and Anand Sharma are said to be in contention but there is no final decision has been taken.

While there is no room for any ambiguity that the Congress will now be headed by someone who does not belong the party’s first family, there is no clarity on the role of the Gandhis in the new set-up. More importantly, questions are being asked if the Gandhis are ready to relinquish their control over the party.

In the four-page letter he penned announcing his resignation, Rahul Gandhi said  several leaders had suggested that he name his successor but  he did not wish to get involved in the process and wanted the party to take this decision. Congress insiders insist the Gandhis have made it known that they intended to stay away from managing party affairs and that it is now for the others to shoulder this responsibility.

However, this does not mean that the Gandhis will turn their backs on the party. They have told their colleagues that they will be always to there for the party. In his four-page resignation letter, Rahul Gandhi also clarified that though he would no longer be heading the party, he would continue to fight for the ideals of the Congress. He also said he will be available to the party whenever it requires his services or advice. The Nehru-Gandhi scion is planning to embark on a padyatra across the country to create awareness about the Congress philosophy and position himself as an ideologue.

While Rahul Gandhi will be very much on the job, Sonia Gandhi will also contribute her bit.  As chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party she has been mandated to appoint leaders in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and also to coordinate with other opposition parties on specific issues. She is also authorized to call regular meetings with MPs to decide on the party’s Parliamentary strategy. Then again, the family’s latest entrant into politics – Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – also has a seat on the high table. As party general secretary, she is a member of the Congress Working Committee.

What this essentially means is that the Gandhis are very much around and are unlikely to fade away or allow the party to slip out of their control. The family has too much at stake and cannot afford to walk away without a backward look.

In fact, it is an accepted fact that the new party president will be picked by the Gandhis as they would like to  keep one foot in the door in case the Congress experiment with a non-Gandhi  fizzles out.  Senior Congress leaders privately admit that it is entirely possible that Rahul Gandhi could return as party president after a couple of years but not before that. However, they also acknowledge that the Congress needs the Gandhis as the party would collapse without them.

This has raised apprehensions in the party that the new president will not be able to take independent decisions and function autonomously. In fact, many leaders are wary of taking on this responsibility in view of the experience of previous non-Gandhi Congress chiefs like P.V.Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesari who were booted out unceremoniously.

Irrespective of who takes over as the new Congress president, the new incumbent has a daunting task ahead. The biggest hurdle he faces is that of acceptability within the party and ensuring that he is able to discharge his responsibilities effectively. The “to do” list is endless. To begin with, the morale of the Congress cadre needs an urgent boost, the party organization has to be overhauled and strengthened, the internal wrangling in the state units dealt with forthwith and greater ideological clarity provided to the rank and file.

It is not an easy job given the constraints facing the new President. Unlike the Gandhis, who were insulated from internal criticism as these attacks were generally targeted at their team members, the next Congress chief will not enjoy this luxury. He will be constantly under the scanner and will be in the direct line of fire from in house rebels and critics.

Years ago, a senior Congress leader had once told a disgruntled office bearer to understand that “the Congress is a Nehru-Gandhi party.” The new party chief will soon find out if the Congress has outgrown the First Family or the cadre continues to look up to it for patronage and political survival.

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