Ayodhya verdict: Epochal leap of faith

The responsibility laid on man as a rational being, to integrate himself, to relate the present to the past and the future, to live in time as well as eternity has become acute and urgent -- S. Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanishads.

THE Supreme Court has taken off the poison in the air with its unanimous Ayodhya judgment. The political class had failed in its principal mandate to reconcile social contradictions. The religious leaders lacked mandate to rise above their identities. The politics of India used religion to polarise communities. Minorityism nursed identity politics, while the people were pushed into ghettos. Demographic transformation afterwards transcended identities. Political might of minorityism was firmly put down on the mat. The stage was set for the Supreme Court to shun judicial shyness to tread on the tricky path of faith and pronounce verdict to conclude explicit acrimony of over three decades. 

UNION Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had brought leaders of the Muslim community face to face with a few top functionaries of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS). The objective was to prepare grounds for the acceptance of the impending Supreme Court verdict on Ramjanmabhoomi title suit. Both sides talked necessities of the co-existence. One Muslim scholar 's word, however, hung on to the ears of the RSS functionaries.

"Mulk bachega to Mazhab bachega (Religion will survive only if the nation stays)," said the Muslim scholar. Four days later, the RSS functionary, while recalling the remark, noted: "The Muslims always professed their religion above the nation. That remark was significant, signalling change in thoughts even if shared by only a few. We've to see how does it go forward,"  said the RSS functionary.

The saffron outfit would await the Muslims to take further initiatives for dialogue. The RSS and its various socio-cultural-politico wings now genuinely argue that they want dialogue with the Muslim community leaders. It's not that they've just been talking. They have, indeed, been doing this for a while behind the closed doors. They just want that secrecy to go away.

Mohan Bhagwat, RSS supremo, after the Supreme Court verdict.

INDIA'S partition is still fresh in the collective memory of the people. That was on the basis of religion. The liberal politicians of India embraced the Muslims who chose to stay in India. The Congress leadership, drawing from the pool of the battery of freedom struggle leaders, steadied the nation on the path of peaceful coexistence of all communities. The talent pool fast became depleting, and the demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri brought curtains on the golden age of India's selfless politics. The consequent phase saw the birth of self-centred politics. The Muslims harbouring minorityism were the convenient hunting grounds for the proponents of identity politics. The Congress in 1970-80s evolved potent potion to win elections, with Muslims at the core of the social engineering consisting also of the upper castes and Dalits. The 1990s saw the arrival of aggressive politics around social justice. The Congress' potent electoral potion passed on to scores of identity based political outfits. They firmly pushed the Muslims into the ghettos.  

The BJP patriarch L K Advani has claimed that the Ramjanmabhoomi movement was the second biggest mass mobilisation after India's freedom struggle. He's seemingly not far from the truth, though JP (Jaiprakash Narayan) may disagree for having given India the third generation of leaders with his clarion call for 'Sampoorna Kranti'.             

Yet, the spate of communal riots across the length and breadth of the country for one and a half decades since 1989, with a few sporadic reported from the western Uttar Pradesh very recently, was by all accounts due to the virulent explosion of  the politics of exclusion. Both the secularists and the BJP practised the politics of exclusion to perfection. The idea of India conceived by Mahatma Gandhi was unmistakably dead.

LORD Ram is India's foremost cultural icon. He transcended religion. His celebrations in the East Asian culture despite majority Muslim population are loud testimonies to Ram's transcendental appeal. Ram breaths in lives of the people who were shipped to scores of islands by the British for sugarcane cultivation in faraway lands. Thousands of such people clung on to the copy of Ramayana. Indian life is incomplete without Ram.    

Ram is an embodiment of supreme sacrifice. He weaves magical spell with His unconditional acceptance of all on the path of Dharma. That man has to coexist in harmony with animal, plants and all is an overwhelming lesson of Ramayana. There's no other cultural icon in India who comes closer to Him in transcending scores of India identities, including caste and creed. Mahatma Gandhi swore by Ram.

If Ram can't have a temple at His birthplace in Ayodhya, then where else was the question which electrified millions of youth across the country in the early 1990s. The Muslims already co-opted by the identity politicians proved myopic. They threw their weight behind Babur, who despite the best efforts of the NCERT book was seen by the majority of the population as an aggressor whose successors unleashed religious persecution of not fully documented proportions. That there stood a mosque in the name of Babur at the birthplace of Ram was seen as an affront to the collective cultural conscience of the Hindu population.

The Muslims in the early 1990s could have owned up India's greatest cultural icon and handed over the land to the Hindus. That would have shut the political shops of many. India wouldn't have missed two decades to the communal embers. They missed the bus in 1990s. Second chance rarely comes in lives of the mortals. The Supreme Court verdict has imposed a choice on the Muslims, which by and large has been accepted by the community. But they can't by a bystander. They must board the bus.

PEOPLE in secular countries don't live in ghettos. Indian interests are harmed by communities embracing exclusion. The Supreme Court has only opened the doors. Hindus and Muslims now must walk in together.

Bravo Kejriwal, but buck stops with you

DELHI chief minister Arvind Kejriwal deserves all the plaudits, for he's making the right noise against pollution. Union Minister for Environment and Forest Prakash Javdekar is worth yawn, if not derision, for ticking off Kejriwal for doing politics over pollution. Tight lid over Delhi's gas chamber has now firmly been clasped. National Capital Region (NCR) is gasping for breath. Executives have shown thumbs to Supreme Court and Rule of Law. Turning deaf ears to orders of the apex court against instruments of pollution is now a policy and administrative habit. Could the Right to clean air become a clarion call in the mainstream political discourse?

An Una-Delhi journey lasts not more than four hours. Foothills of the mighty Himalaya astonishingly have the worst air. The city spaces soak in fumes and thick dust whipped up by vehicles. Only a few kilometers earlier in the descent, Himachal Pradesh stays in the lap of pristine nature. Slipping into the vast expanse of Punjab and Haryana in the Winter months, farm fields on fire and smouldering embers give a stunning sight shock. A few minutes in the open turn eyes irritable and throat soar even while locals continue their chores nonchalantly. Closer to Delhi border, thick blanket of smog take the horizon with frightening proportions. Possibly, journey from heaven to hell lasts only a few hours.  

People in northern parts of India have seemingly made peace with their fate to co-exist in the blanket of dust and fumes. That remains a constant in life notwithstanding change of seasons. Slowing of wind speed and dip in temperature only worsen the prevailing battered air. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana coupled with mass hysteria to burn firecrackers sent the air in the NCR to the abyss. Law of hypocrisy shifts focus on others, while dimming own complicity. Farmers, thus, in Haryana and Punjab are currently the whipping boys in the popular narrative of the national capital region.   

Stubble burning before the Rabi crop season has defied all measures of the government. Doles of incentives and sticks with police actions have yielded no results. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have, incidentally, lit more this year than previously. From harvesting of Kharif crops to the onset of Rabi season, farmers have a small window to clear their agricultural land. Mechanised farming isn't yet the hallmark of Indian farmers, with hands in plenty to do the jobs, which could, otherwise, have been done by machines. Subsidies to farmers to buy machines to harvest their crops have found least takers. Farmers feel least enthused with prospects of machines lying unused for most of the year. With 80 per cent of the farm land holding less than four acres, the policy thrust to extend subsidies to individual farmers could only have been worked by the babus in the country.     

NITI Aayog had commissioned a study on stubble burning, which three years ago submitted the papers, with recommendations that the farmers be incentivised for not burning crop residues along with long term roadmap for setting up infrastructure to process the biomass with the involvement of the private players. The studied solution roadmap, sadly, remains tucked away from cognitive attention of the policy makers. 

The Narendra Modi government only a few weeks ago unveiled enhanced Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Rabi crops. The government with MSP increase wants farmers to grow more foodgrains. Ironically, India is a foodgrain surplus country, while there are few takers for the export. A huge pile rots, while rodents feast on them. Intermediaries make fortune out of the MSP driven grain production and its further pushing into the monstrous public food distribution system, accounting one-twentieth of the Budget of the country. Farmers survive for another year, slipping into firm grip of village money-lenders, while intermediaries fatten. If financial strain wasn't enough to break their bones, they also face with the prospects of Haryana and Punjab becoming the cancer bowls of the country. 

India Gate lost to smog.

DELHI by all accounts is a policy sterile city. It has exploded with population after India's partition in 1947. First, the city hosted the migrants from eastern and western Pakistan. Later, the Kashmiris descended. Afterwards, the pulls of economy drove millions of people from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and hilly states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to the national capital. Many came for government and public sector jobs, with Centre anchoring headquarters of almost all the PSUs in the small confines of the city space. Delhi alone, unofficially, is now staring at a population close to 30 million. Rising wave of population drove enterprising builder-politician-bureaucrats nexus to squat on public lands to carve out colonies, which from beginning boasted of sub-human conditions.

Delhi is a city of construction. Buildings get demolished to pave way for fresh constructions. Mass of dusts swirls in the air for want of enforcement of building construction norms. World's most dense city generates more than 10,000 metric tonnes of solid waste daily, half being the organic waste. Only 10 per cent of the waste is processed. Rest is dumped at landfill sites or burnt. Burning of leaves and garbage in Delhi was banned many years ago. But people in Delhi know well that laws are made to be read only in papers.

Vehicular population may, arguably, leave behind its human counterpart. That's incumbent for a city of livelihoods. Yet, Delhi has added least infrastructure after the 2010 Commonwealth games to speed up traffic. The mass transport system, first growing leaps and bounds with whole-hearted support to Delhi Metro by the Sheila Dikshit dispensations till 2013, slowed afterward, with buck largely stopping with the Kejriwal government in the city. Ring Rail in Delhi has now gone idle, with the city government paying no attention to repeated pleas of the Ministry of Railways to provide linkages with Metro stations and Bus stops.              

CHILDREN in Delhi schools must write letters to "Captain uncle" and "Khattar Uncle". They should also write letters to Kejriwal uncle, for Delhi government has only taken cosmetic steps to curb causes of pollution in the past few years. Yet, Kejriwal must be lauded for politics over pollution. That helps bring the discourse to the center-stage of popular consciousness.

Assembly elections: Identity slingshot

Democracy by all accounts is India's greatest sociopolitical leveler. Electorate in Maharashtra and Haryana reassured all that India isn't on a course to turn into a ruthless one party politico-administrative Chinese system. That people have least appetite for vindictive politics has also been loudly told. Drum beating and cult worship aren't essentially preferences of the Indian electorate. The popular verdict in Maharashtra and Haryana is laced with clear message for the Opposition -- Believe in your strengths.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would stay in power in Maharashtra and Haryana. Yet, the outfit isn't exultant. Faces of party leaders turned long, after the full import of the verdict in the two states became clear. It evidently dawned upon BJP leaders that the party cannot dictate the agenda to the people. Democracy is all about the vice versa -- people dictating agenda to parties. 

The BJP essentially drummed being the sole custodian of the spirit of nationalism. Dissenting voices on even procedural matters were hurriedly branded anti-national. Leading voices of the BJP displayed penchant to ask for certificate of nationalism from Opposition leaders. The BJP campaign was all about commanding electorate to cast their votes to party's nominees since rivals had suspect nationalistic credentials. 

The electorate had grown bored of nationalism shrill. The neighbourhood shops weren't selling enough goods. Youth came home after losing contractual jobs. Farmers still sold produces at one tenths of the market prices. Elders watched over the idling youth spend days and nights staring at mobile phone screens with earplugs stuck in perennial entertainment trance. 

Economy has fallen flat. Spin doctors seek succor in food delivery boys running around. A few start ups create "Wows". Policy mandarins in Narendra Modi dispensation talk like business honchos. For them, India is all about a few metropolitan cities. The BJP has to bear the slingshot pain.

Victories mostly sober politicians. V P Singh hadn't sent Rajiv Gandhi to Tihar jail after the 1989 win. Atal Bihari Vajpayee also hadn't shown cells of Tihar jail to the Opposition leaders. But the 2019 Lok Sabha verdict opened the floodgate of vindictive politics. The pack of enforcement directorate (ED), CBI and others were sent on hunting grounds against Opposition leaders. Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar talked ED in his whirlwind rallies, and people said enough is enough. Same goes for Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Dushyant Choutala in Haryana. 

Identity politics has demonstratively made a strong comeback in Indian politics. The Lok Sabha verdict had spurred obituaries for identity politics. Politics in regions identified with dominant castes. Smaller castes rode piggyback to partake in the game of power. The BJP's poll mascot Narendra Modi sought to challenge this set political template. The party worked for consolidation of other castes. The ploy paid rich electoral dividends. It turned the political social engineering of a number of regional outfits on its head. But that worked when national narrative found resonance with the electorate. 

Tangible gains with welfarism push had cheered the vulnerable. Dominant castes, though, had nothing to gain from Modinomics, which is nothing but targetted delivery of subsidies. They became aware that they are staring at the prospects of a lost decade, with wealth being knocked away and income drying. Dominant castes sought to regain the lost political space. The BJP, indeed, co-opted them. But they were slotted to supporting roles. They, however, sought centrestage.  

The Congress stays in defeatist mode. The grand old party of India is yet to come to terms with the political erosion of the clout of the Gandhi family. With Sonia Gandhi back in the saddle, the reigns in regions are slowly being restored to old warhorses. That has been the Congress' political character. But that was also sought to be undone by the Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi. The Maharashtra and Haryana poll verdict makes it evident that the electorate want the Opposition to believe in their strengths and shun their doubting Thomases.

Jats in Haryana and Maratha in Maharashtra backed their trusted parties to the hilt. They have sent signals to Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to flock to caste outfits in the two states. The economic slide may loosen smaller castes from the BJP glue. And that could open up the prospects for revival of regional outfits. 

Snails' test for Sino-India ties

MODERN world often seeks succor in ancient glories. Bridge, if, not laid for centuries to cement links between ancient and modern only leaves momentary jubilation. Hopes fall with thud on hard surface of reality. Mammalpuram or Mahabalipuram near Chennai could well take pride in being China's spiritual Guru -- once upon a time. The seventh century Pallava dynasty sired Bodhi Dharma who sparked spiritual renaissance in China and other east Asian countries. But India's glory of ancient past was sucked in the dark tunnel of medieval period when fear reigned with the advent of murderous Muslim rulers. India subsequently became doubtful and uncertain of own strength. China embarked on contrasting path.  Now, gap is too large for trust for two diametrically opposite political systems. Mammalpuram is, thus, a break for Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping to breath in moisture laden sea side air to count missed opportunities.

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had taken a giant step to open the shut doors on China in 1988. That was a year before he vacated office after a popular negative vote. For more than two decades, India had conducted her world affairs in which China had no space. That was because of the Chinese betrayal in 1962 in which love and affection of New Delhi were paid by Beijing spilling bloods of Indian soldiers and annexing vast tracts of India's landmass. India's popular psyche knows China as a treacherous country. 

Beijing hasn't walked even an inch to regain India's trust. India has, however, shown eagerness to forget the past. New Delhi's zeal has always met with Chinese realism. Post-1988, accounts abound to show China as India's numero uno stumbling block on the world affairs. They merit no retelling.

CHINA by all accounts is a brute imperialist, spreading tentacles all around. Beijing has been exploiting her deep pocket to gain economic slavery in African and South Asian countries. China's no holds barred exploitation of human capital to produce goods at unbeatable prices has for long tilted the trade balance in her favour at the cost of other humane and democratic societies. No civilized country in the world, practicing free speech, democracy, liberalism and fair play, can ever compete with China's trade thuggery. 

Wearing the facade of Communism, China is essentially a military totalitarian state. And, so Beijing's compulsive imperialism has seen China being the global trespasser, with none of her neighbouring country being exception. India has seen China's economic and geographic imperialism in worst forms, and there's no let down in Beijing's compulsive streak.        

Deep pocket has seemingly allowed China to make huge intellectual investment across the world, including the US. India's borrowed economic intellectual wealth from the US, thus, have sought in the past three decades to steer policy directions in Beijing's favour. Lately, Arvind Panagaria, the first vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, was evidently a "China awe-struck policy wonk". During his stint, which coincided with Narendra Modi's first four years, Panagaria tried to open the floodgates for Chinese trade.   

In 2014-15, India exported goods and services worth $11.9 billion to China. Import in contrast was $60.4 billion, with the resultant trade deficit of $48.5 billion. In 2017-18, India export rather dipped to $10.3 billion, while Chinese import ballooned to $63.2 billion, with consequent deficit of $52.9 billion. The deficit in 2018-19 was $53.5 billion. 

Indian eagerness to forget China's treacherous past has truly been fodder for Chinese imperialism. In contrast, India's insistence on resolution of border disputes has only seen the high Chinese wall. Despite scores of talks, with escalation of the seniority of interlocutors, there has hardly been any headway to talk about. On the contrary, no year goes by without the Chinese trespassing into Indian territories across the length of the Himalayan border.     

There shouldn't be any misgivings that India-China relations haven't kept pace with even snails on core Indian interests. 

FORMER Prime Minister P V Narsimha was more prescient than Rajiv Gandhi. Rao didn't bother about China. He looked East. Under Rao's stewardship, India found depth in relations and confidence in conduct with deepening of ties with Asean (Association of South-east Asian nations). That paid rich dividends. New Delhi can count on a few friends.

India and China cannot be natural friends as long as Beijing is ruled by a military totalitarian regime. Rest is delusion.

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Diplomatic expert and senior journalist Ramananda Sengupta had this to ask the blogger after reading the above article: "If India cannot be a natural friend with a totalitarian China, then how does New Delhi have good ties with a few similar regimes in Arab and Africa."

The blogger responded: "With Africa and Arab world, India has politico-economic scales to steer diplomatic ties to serve core interests. This is missing in the case of China."  

Missing E-factor

THREE months have gone by since the new government was elected with an unprecedented mandate in the recent years. World's largest democracy, arguably, also has the most costliest electoral exercise. Actual spending is seen dwarfing the official ceiling on expenses by candidates. The first three months after the 2009 and 2014 had shown economy spurting seemingly on the back of asteroid doses of the largess splurged by political parties in the length and breadth of the country. Yet, 2019 strikes a discordant note.

Dismissing a strategy meeting weeks ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP chief Amit Shah was seemingly exasperated. To a question on going big on media blitzkrieg, Shah blurted out to a fellow party leaders -- "First, let Arun ji and Piyush settle their quarrel".  

In the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, all knew that the contest would be unequal. Not that the BJP had the greatest of the poll mascot, but for the fact that others had hugely depleted coffers. Loss of key states had, arguably, bled the Congress treasury white. Regional parties weren't better off. The BJP treasury, however, was in its prime pink. It was evidently clear that one political outfit would take the pole position in election spending to swing the outcome of the poll. Others will be bystanders.

The BJP, thus, was deliberating "how and where" to unloosen the fat purse. "Arun Jaitley was firm that the party should give more money in the hands of the block and district level functionaries. Piyush Goyal argued that the BJP should spend more on media blitzkrieg. There was no common ground," said a functionary, who attended such strategy meetings at the BJP headquarters.

Jaitley had been ailing. He seemed fragile. His muscles had loosened. Yet, he stayed put at the BJP headquarters to man his mandate -- strategizing and perception management. "The BJP spent 42 per cent less on media advertisements in 2014 Lok Sabha elections in comparison to 2009 general polls. Jaitley's prescription was accepted, that more funds would go in the hands of foot soldiers of the party across the country than being spent on media and other publicity platforms," added the functionary.   

That media is currently bleeding in an affirmation to the changed tack of the political outfit with the most bloated moneybag. 

THE 2008-09 financial year was one of the worst for Indian economy. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had slumped to 3.09 per cent on 2011-12 baseline (6.72 per cent under the 2004-05 baseline). The Manmohan Singh led UPA had retained power at the Centre. The Congress ruled in a large number of states. The Congress coffer must have been spilling over the brim. The money was well spent by the party. The 2009-10 fiscal clocked 7.86 per cent GDP growth as per the 2011-12 baseline (8.59 under the 2004-05 series).

Electioneering splurge had seemingly knocked off the slowdown fangs to release adrenaline in the lifeline of the economy. The story re-ran the script in 2014 also with much greater intensity. The first quarter clocked GDP growth of 8.02 per cent under the revised 2011-12 series only to ascend steeply to 8.70 per cent in the second quarter, mapping the first three months after the election results. 

The first quarter of the 2019-20 fiscal delivered a fiver for the GDP growth. Five per cent for India is by all accounts a commentary of the economy in the worst health. The first three months of the Narendra Modi government in the second tenure would report the second quarterly growth. That the economy is gasping for breath is affirmed indisputably with the government finally waking up to the deep structural reforms covered by disinvestment.    

Dissonance between electioneering largess in the form of arming foot soldiers with party funds and the economy crying erosion of demand is palpable.

The BJP and allies, indeed, put the money in the pockets of the foot soldiers. But the money didn't spread out as intended to a significant extent. The BJP workers are full of tales about their peers pocketing the money but not passing on to the targets. They did so, because they were confident that victory in the elections was already on their side. That they became thrift with the large flow of money in their hands was also on account that Modi was winning them elections. 

THE money in place of being in circulation got stuck. And that possibly explains the missing E-factor of the economy. Electioneering splurge too failed to wake up the animal spirits of demands. That the printing of high denomination Rs 2000 currency is no more being printed could also be an after-effect of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The government in an RTI reply has admitted that the Rs 2000 currency hasn't been printed yet in the current financial year. The ATMs running dry in elections times has been pos-2017 phenomenon. Did the availability of Rs 2000 notes help push the cash flow to the electoral agents who in turn sat over the pile of cash to unleash demand depression in the economy? Circumstantial evidences suggest a fair correlation.

Mahatma Gandhi: Talismanic hypocrisy

Albert Einstein was most prophetic in his one-liner tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth, Einstein had to say on Gandhi. Seventy one years after Gandhi departed, it's indeed a tall order to believe that such a soul led India's greatest ever political movement, with the velvet touch of empathy and simplicity. That within a few decades his political heirs sanctified Gandhi and turned him into oratorical rituals to spread tentacles of the Gandhian anti-thesis is, indubitably, India's monstrous hypocrisy.  

There's a certain deluge of commentary on Mahatma Gandhi. That India's commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of the icon befits the occasion. That the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is in the midst of a process to attain lethal perfection in politics of mass mobilisation makes Gandhi the most convenient icon to bank on. And also for the fact that transportation of a ritual deity to the centre stage of the political discourse perfectly suits the dispensation which seeks to send dynastic demigods into oblivion.

The Mahatma plunged in the Indian freedom movement at a stage when the polity was fragmented. There were scores of streams within the polity and outside against the British rule. Millions of people died of hunger and epidemics. The British lords stayed enmeshed in crony capitalism. Sporadic reprisals amidst episodic bravery marked India's restlessness to throw the foreign yokes. Gandhi weaved magical spell to spearhead a coherent political agitation under the banner of the Congress. Rest is history.

Gandhi has been largely depicted by historians as the man with Midas touch for mass movements. He deftly sought definitive behavioural changes from the masses. He stayed away from power. Yet, he served a talisman to the new elites taking positions of power lest they lost their ways to wilderness.

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you're in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test -- Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj (freedom) for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away," Gandhi read out the moral political mantra to his ardent disciples when they assumed high offices.

The mantra arguably electrified the political class for the first two decades. Afterward, memory of the poorest and weakest started becoming fainter. The convenient escape route for the political class from the moral stigma of failing the Gandhian test was to pass the onus to the children. The Gandhian talisman found its resting place with the NCERT books.

In another one decade, the self in place of melting away was cast in stone for the leading lights of Indian politics, the principal instrument to free the spiritually starving millions. The Congress turned dynastic. Indian polity went into a meltdown. The after effects in the next two decades coalesced into caste based family enterprises. The Gandhian talisman was knocked off of its moral anchor.

The Mahatma practically became distant for the political class. His name didn't fetch votes. In place, Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Ram Manohar Lohiya, Karpoori Thakur, E V Ramasami (Periyar) and a few others became potent political icons who helped their worshipers fetch votes in truck loads.     

The Gandhian talisman proved a burden for the policy makers. The poorest and weakest were seen roadblocks to India's "earnest desire to become a developed country like the US". So, ways were (and are being) invented to chase them away from forests, islands, farms to herd the teeming millions into ghettos. The sub-human ghettos proved huge political investments for heirs of Gandhi.

Two-third of the population stays dependent on agriculture. Vast majority of the political class is land owning "agriculturists" after the residual generations of leaders educated professionals were edged out by their anti-thesis. To protect their own interests and milk government doles, the new political class pushed farmers to a never ending poverty. 

For Gandhi, Swaraj meant the economic self-sufficiency in such a manner that majority of the needs of the people could be served by enterprises within their surroundings. Now, most of the needs of the people are served by enterprises in China.   

The Gandhian talisman by all accounts has been stripped off all the moral and ethical weights. 

The ruling elites when they swear by Gandhi, and they do it more often, invite being condemned as bunch of hypocrites. The hypocrisy, sadly, has now acquired monstrous proportions.       

Public path for economy

Indian economy by all accounts has entered self-limiting bind. That the specter of slowdown is looming with cascading effect on unemployment is sharply visible. Economy isn't panting for breath all of a sudden. That the journey down the hill began from policy mishaps since 2008 is told to death. The Narendra Modi government took to "curing" ills of the economy with a number of eventful interventions, which had mighty side effects. Now, the Modi government must look inwardly to kick-start engines of the economy. 

THE North block mandarins are searching for clues to steer economy to eight per cent GDP growth trajectory. Flurry of outreach has come on the back of the growth knocking five per cent figure in the last quarter of the current fiscal. Essentially, the North Block policy wizards are asking for clues from those who're tired and fatigued, largely on account of excesses of the government. Nirmala Sitharaman and Anurag Thakur, ministers with principal mandate to steady the economy, with bureaucrats in tow, should, therefore, stay put in their respective holes and indulge in genuine economic crisis-management. 

The golden decade of the economic growth (1999-2009) was left on auto-pilot mode somewhere along the journey. The golden touch of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his aides spurted the economy to glorious highs. The mantra was simple -- structural reforms along with aggressive disinvestment programme to spur the consumption demands, which in turn put industries on expansionist path. The Congress, true to its nature of a status quoist outfit, led the UPA, with Left parties keeping hawks' eye in the first term, squandered the opportunity offered by the firm ground work done by the Vajpayee government. The second term of the Manmohan Singh government was comatose.

The Modi government should revisit the Vajpayee mantra. Besides structural reforms and aggressive disinvestment programme, Modi should work with state governments to not just fix economy's self-limiting glitches, but also lay ground for the next golden decade of growth.

Barring western and a few southern regions, finances of majority of the states  are in shambles. They are barely surviving, struggling to pay salaries and pensions to their employees. Their scopes of fiscal expansions are limited. Consequently, law and order, education and health have, arguably, taken sever blows in such states.

The Centre should work with states to fix their finances and work within a timeline to expand fiscal strength by 50 per cent with the help of disinvestment programme. The enhanced fiscal capacity must be put to work to spurt the economy. 

United Nations mandate 222 police personnel for 1,00,000 population. If all the police vacancies in India are filled, the country would come to the ratio of 185 per lakh population. 

Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odishra, Andhra Pradesh are among the states with police-population ratio in 65-123 range. The police personnel are overworked and stressed. Various police reform recommendations are gathering dusts. That the decades' old weaponry of the state police requires immediate overhauling needs no further arguments. 

One year timeline to fill all police vacancies in states could add muscles to the consumption demands.

Ironically, public employment was turned into a policy curse at a time when India under the instructions of IMF (International Monetary Fund) charted on the path of reforms in early 1990s under the stewardship of P V Narsimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.  This has outlived its utility. Public employments essential to meet basic norms must be revived. 

A developing nation can leave education and health infrastructure space to individual enterprises at its own peril. A large number of states have taken recourse to recruiting contractual teachers, with some of them even sub-letting such employments. That the education sector should firmly remain in the public funded domain is, indeed, basic requirement for a developing nation. And, hence, the expanded fiscal strength of states should fuel expansion of teachers' strength along with expanded schools' networks. 

Additionally, Panchayati Raj unveiled in 1980s has become infested with unbridled corruption, exhibited by SUV riding Sarpanch and local bodies' representatives. Institutionalizing, financial and performance audits by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is crying need of the hour. This along with institutional capacity building of local bodies, with men and machines, could put India on the path of faster and sustainable growth pedestal. 

The three booster doses would require financial infusions of high scales beyond fiscal capacities of state governments. Here, the Centre should deploy resources gained from aggressive disinvestment programme to fund the public employment and curing fiscal health of states. 

But the Centre, sadly, has no institutional framework currently to work with state governments to guide them to sound fiscal health. NITI Aayog is beset with policy dwarfs to rise to the occasion. This gaping hole in sound fiscal policy architecture is, indeed, worrisome.  

The Modi government has sought to pump prime the economy with infrastructure spending in the first term. The public employment to meet basic minimum strength in various spheres could give fresh legs to the economy for the next decade. This could be the lasting legacy of the Modi government in the second term.

MIGHTY DISGRACE

Indian Constitution has failed over 100 children in Bihar who died for want of timely medical support. Indian democracy has ruefully demonstrated that it's a system of unaccountable governance. National silence, by and large, over deaths of children has affirmed the worst fears that apathy for poor has grown by leaps and bounds. Naked medical infrastructure in Bihar, which mirrors other states as well, is a warning to all -- citizens of the country are facing a ticking time bomb in imploding health infrastructure. Extent of undernourishment among children is a hard slap on faces of policy makers who have for years written papers on socio-economic planning of the country.        

Till the last count, more than 100 children have died at one hospital in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, in a span of about a fortnight. Thick-skinned say, it's an old story, that a mystery illness kills children during the peak summer in parts of Bihar. For years, health babus have called it acute encephalitis; some even ventured to attribute deaths to toxins released by unripe Litchi. Indian Parliament found mention of the deaths, but for maligning Litchi, which is causing hardship to growers. For politicians, deaths may be mystery. But stunted policies over the years had arguably foretold these deaths.

Guess works of medical fraternity converge largely on undernourishment and lack of sanitation as principal culprits. That 44 per cent of children in Bihar are underweight lends credence to the assessments of health professionals. Spectre of filth in Bihar indeed makes the state sitting on pile of garbage. None could, thus, dispute general diagnosis that undernourishment and filth are killing the children.

But National Food Security Act (NFSA) has also completed six years in existence, guaranteeing 25 kgs of foodgrains to each family almost free. The government has been pouring over Rs 1.25 lakh crore every year, principally for the reason that the poor shouldn't suffer from undernourishment and hunger. Bihar is a state, which has been aggressively implementing the mother of all welfare programme. The obvious rationale to pump in over Rs 1.25 lakh crore each year in running the Soviet era public food distribution programme is only to fight undernourishment. Underneath, however, the programme fattens embedded vested interests, who suck the lifeblood of the country, because the political class has no spine to tell that India must stop the political business of a state funded agriculture where only few pocket gains that too in just four to five states.

Thick-skinned Bihar politicians additionally, have bared delusion that the political change in the state was just facile that only the faces changed. The dark age of 1990s had ceded the state seemingly to light at the end of the tunnel in 2005 in the state. White clad thugs hid their guns and only chanted the mantra of their castes day and night in the changed political theater of the state.  

Gargantuan corruption in Panchayat and Local Bodies, the third tier of democracy, has shown an insatiable appetite for wealth. Public service, indeed, is least of their priority. That the former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh was awestruck at jewel laden 'Sarpanch and Mukhiya' at Vigyan Bhavan and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad at the scale of SUVs lined up on Tughlaq Road in 2012 when he called meeting of such persons had bared that unbridled corruption rules at the Panchayati Raj, which was thought to be government's channel of delivery of services to people.    

NITI Aayog is the new czar of policy making in India. Bereft of genuine talent pool from socio-economic space, the policy think tank has shown masterly hunger for private resources to deal with India's critical issues. It seeks privatisation. Heir to Planning Commission, a few of the interventions of NITI Aayog have shown that it essentially seeks quick fix solutions. And, one such stroke of genius to deal with crippling health infrastructure was Ayushman Bharat -- Rs five lakh medical insurance plan for 10 lakh people in the country. 

Heavy stroke of the scheme, amplified politically, sought to to put up a facade on a dilapidated health infrastructure. It was projected as a panacea for the health needs of millions. The Centre for past two years put all efforts to popularise the scheme. That AIIMS in Patna, Bihar, and others too in various state capitals remain works progressing at snail's pace failed attention of the political leadership. That the country is acutely short of qualified doctors failed the attention of the political masters of the country. That upgradation of district hospitals has been crying needs for decades fell on deaf ears. 

Policy thrusts, indeed, was to look for solutions from within private hospitals. After education majorly slipping into the private hands, health by all accounts is firmly in grips of private enterprises. And, that profiteering is the only indisputable mantra of private enterprises suggests that the political masters have thrown the public health to the wolves. 

Bihar deaths are just warning. The poor have fallen first. Others too will be in the queue.                             

Lok Sabha elections 2019: One who beats boredom may win.

India is, arguably, a most lucrative market for tools addressing boredom. A large chunk of population essentially looks bored. Technological advancement added with increased mobility appears to have made the populace more prone to boredom. Irony of the day is the pervasive boredom amongst children; they seem bored even of their parents, teachers and friends. The political space in no way can remain immune to such an all embracing boredom.

SPARKS continue to fly in the last leg of five and a half weeks long elections for the 17th Lok Sabha. Longevity of electioneering has sapped principal generals of political outfits eying seat of power in New Delhi. Boredom has struck poll watchers too. Cues of trends from any source command premiums. With few fence sitters, polarized populace has only scales to climb. That May 23 isn't far away is a relief. Yet, an imminent verdict on perceptions -- held and formed -- could well be pounding millions of hearts.

History at times appears repeating. The 2014 Lok Sabha elections were held five years ago. But it has more immediacy than five years of the BJP led NDA governance. A little attempt to refresh memory of last general elections could well just demonstrate the stark similarities. 

A bus driver flips through phone to catch news.

Principal theme of 2014 polls was Narendra Modi bashing. Principal theme of 2019 elections remains Narendra Modi bashing. Intensity of Modi bashing was electrifying in 2014. In 2019, it's no less intense. The theme, indeed, shaped political vision and philosophy of BJP baiters of a multitude of political outfits. The Congress, principal foe of the BJP, wore the blanket of Modi hatred before the people. The cloak remains unchanged. 

The BJP yearned to fight elections around Modi. The Opposition obliged. So, the central narrative of 2019 Lok Sabha elections is the choice before the people -- Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi or someone from amongst regional satraps. Size of an opponent does make one grander. Modi, thus, delights in rivalry with the Congress. 

RAHUL Gandhi has given a full account of his world views in past one and a half decades. From a reluctant politician, Gandhi has graduated to a combative politician, clutching onto an issue and sticking with it to fan out noise. He appears more confident than earlier. That he's interacting with media more often is a sign worth noting. 

That politics is an art, however, hasn't struck Gandhi in last 15 years. He's largely a boring politician. That he would appeal to an audience, which is already in a firm grip of boredom, is a hope, which leans heavily on the wall of improbable. His father, Rajiv Gandhi, was an equally boring person thrust onto the political upheaval board by chance. He could win popular endorsement once was for an overwhelming sympathy vote for her mother who had fallen to bullets of terrorists. 

Modi in a stark contrast is an entertainer. He's an artist. He entertains. He can force subjects of entertainments by the drop of hat. His entertainment bouquet is deep and rich. And, he has perfected the art of political entertainments in a state where it's daunting to engage people in public meetings. People in Gujarat largely don't have contempt for time. 

Entertainment demands full scripts. Story in parts don't appeal to the mass. Issues in elections are indeed multi-layered scripts. Largely, they're academic, and they gain popular acceptance when people have immediacy with them. Also, people in India are largely fearful -- of fate. They would shudder at smallest signs of fear. That political outfits continue to rile them by stoking bogey of "reservation in danger" is a case worth noting. Rumour mongering by the WhatsApp factory too scares people easily.

But people do connect with issues when presented in their entireties. Agrarian distress, specter of unemployment and social discords are indeed issues of grave nature. A layman too can decipher major issues affecting the masses. A few who hammer out solutions are hailed as leaders. Gandhi hasn't yet crossed that bridge. 

All that Gandhi could think of was another dole -- Rs 72,000 annual to about five crore poorest of the poor. His prescription to issues of serious discourses betrayed bankruptcy of ideas. This robs him off desired credibility to occupy the high office.

Rahul Gandhi doesn't yet have scripts to win elections. He can't entertain either. His sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, however, has shown hints that she could be an entertainer, while requiring a rigorous training in coming years. But she has the potential to take the stage. 

India is also much changed from times of 1990s. Demographic

Mohan Balmiki in Rampur said, he'll vote for Modi

changes coupled with mitigated electoral thuggery have largely turned regional caste and identity satraps into political pygmies in national elections. People since 1998 have gradually been converging for a coherent mandate to back stable government at the Centre. For about 21 years, people of India have pushed likes of HD Deve Gowdas to the margins of national politics. 

Entertaining tribe amongst regional satraps is also fast becoming extinct. They have been robbed off entertainers like -- M Karunanidhi, J Jayalalitha, Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bal Thackerey and Devi Lal. Their successors are plastic imitations. Mamata Banerjee is an exception.    

There's only one entertainer. He's Narendra Modi. On May 23, people would deliver verdict whether he could go on with his show for another five years. The showman has script and measure of doses to release on times to help people battle their boredom.  

Minimum Income Guarantee: Plot to handcuff India

A fortnight ahead of first ballots to be cast, Congress president Rahul Gandhi unveiled script to thrust his party at the centerstage of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. With promise of Rs 12,000 a month for five crore poor, 20 per cent of the total poverty stricken households, Gandhi ushered in a Rs 3.60 lakh crore annual package to blunt the march of BJP's mascot Narendra Modi. In the absence of repackaging of subsidy programmes, currently implemented worth  Rs 7 lakh crore, Gandhi is arguably calling for freezing nearly 40 per cent of India's total annual Budget to stay politically relevant. 

ONLY a few days ago, Congress' poll wizardry in unleashing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wrapped up her Ganga yatra. Ensconced in a customized boat with necessary comforts, she sought to rekindle the old touch of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But crowd hungry television crews struggled to find thronging mass of people during the course of yatra. The political voyage was scratchy and revealing. The verdict within the Congress was evident, that the magical touch of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is suspect. 

The Opposition grand alliances in parts of the country have shown contempt for the Congress. Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, holding the turf of Uttar Pradesh, found no merit in giving lease of life to the Congress in the state where the grand old party is in prolonged vegetative state. Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal) would not yield an inch to the Congress, which is gasping for breath in the state. The Congress remains a baggage on the back of Lalu Prasad's heirs in Bihar. Regional satraps' shunning Congress robbed the main Opposition party of the political depth to claim the status of a challenger of the ruling BJP.

Former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian in the 'Economic Survey (2016-17)' floated the idea of universal basic income. Early this year, he followed his idea with a book -- Of Counsel: The challenges of the Modi-Jaitely economy -- publicly lobbied for political acceptance of the idea of universal basic income (UBI). 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemingly has no appetite for doles of universal nature. His statecraft is embedded in targeted welfarism. That he shunned the proposal for a universal farmer income support for small and marginal farmers with an annual cost of Rs 75000 crore is a definitive illustration. So, Modi didn't fall for Subramanian's welfarism prescription, which in some forms are being implemented in China, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom and elsewhere. 

THE Congress has principally been slammed by party sympathisers for failure to come out with a narrative to counter Modi. The Congress stayed the course of Modi the person bashing all five years. Sympathisers were rightly alarmed, for knowing well that Modi thrives on negativism. And, consequently, Rahul Gandhi clutched on the Subramanian straw to stay relevant in the elections.

Union Minister Arun Jaitely has said that the NDA government currently is running subsidy programmes worth Rs 7 lakh crores. The annual Budget size of India is about Rs 24 lakh crore. So, Rahul Gandhi's dole could take the subsidy burden to about Rs 11 lakh crore, accounting for almost 40 per cent of the national resources. That the question on how would additional Rs 3.60 lakh crore be mobilized was left unanswered by Gandhi on expected line. That the inflationary impact and the consequent mortal blows to economy weren't worth shedding light by the Congress leadership was also on predictable line. Answers to details would rob the magic of Congress' political art of revisiting 'Garibi Hatao' slogan.

Former vice chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagaria, the only economist worth mentioning in the Modi dispensation for first three years, has reasoned that universal basic income or its any variant would only mean that there would be no incentive for work. All those earning less than Rs 12,000 a month would find incentivized to stay home. The government will pay for their leisure. Agriculture could be denied farm labour. The informal sector's labour cost could go up punitively. That the Congress is brewing a recipe to make India more lazy arguably isn't an outlandish claim.         

One doesn't need to be an economist to know that there's no scope for India to expand its resources by additional Rs 3.60 lakh crore imminently. That makes it incumbent that the resources being earmarked for infrastructure upgrade -- rail, road and port -- would face the axe. The spiral effect of mortally wounding developmental resources would unleash wave of employment for the educated youth. 

INDIA evidently can ill afford the political expediency of a political outfit scrounging for survival tricks. Economists must come out of their closets to unequivocally condemn Congress' recipe for economic disaster.    

           

Lok Sabha elections: Wilting caste factor

BETWEEN cheerleaders and naysayers of Indian airstrike against Pakistani terror bases following Pulwama attack lies firming up of electoral narrative, that nationalism is pushing casteism to the margins. With two surgical strikes in BJP's arsenals, the Opposition undeniably has an uphill task to steer public discourse back to issues affecting the masses. Lok Sabha elections, beginning 40 days from now, is pregnant with possibilities to change the future course of Indian politics.

CASTE swept through the political narrative in 1990s. Social justice juggernaut, with firm grip by 1980s, succumbed to mutation within a decade. Personal aspirations of regional political satraps took higher flights on deepening of caste faultlines. The Congress, indeed, commanded caste rainbows in its belt for long, but with a pan-India appeal. The Congress yielded space in state after state to caste leaders soon after the VP Singh led Janata Dal imploded with the might of inner contradictions. Narendra Modi led BJP delivered first mortal blows to caste satraps in 2014 by riding on aspirational plank. The 2019 Lok Sabha elections promises to show if the caste satraps could clutch on to prevailing arithmetic to live another day in Indian politics.

Demography is fast changing. A vast chunk of Indian youth have few recollections of contemporary political history. Growing expanse of education and access to climb social and economic ladders deny alibi to lament lack of opportunity. Nearly 25 crore of Indian electorate are said to be in age group of 18-25. This chunk rubs shoulders in educational and professional institutions with peers of a cross-section of castes. That may be blunting caste consciousness as well. Besides, shrinking of employment opportunities along with a largescale expansion of access to educational institutions are taking the shine out of charm of reservation bogey. The principal anchor of caste satraps could possibly be adrift on high sea. Additionally, family proprietorship of caste based political outfits also ensured that they remained stuck in the narrative of 1990s. 

THREE decades are too long a period to milk the same plank. Satraps aged and passed batons to their offspring. Original proponents toiled hard amidst the masses. Their offspring grew up in comforts. Satraps were grounded. Offspring show up at stages. Satraps lorded over a large base of peers. Offspring have few.

Messrs Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Om Prakash Choutala, Kansi Ram, Ram Vilas Paswan, and others have faded. They indeed passed batons to their respective heirs. Likes of Akhilesh Yadav, Tejaswi Yadav, Ajay Choutala, Mayawati have reaped gains of last gust of legacies of satraps. They stuck to old plank, and refused to evolve with times. Consequently, they were struck with full might of fast changing demographic profile. Paswan, indeed, survived, but only for reason that he he read the changing weather well to clutch onto season's flavor.       

A few other remnants of 1990s, which include the likes of H D Kumaraswamy, stay alive with the power of arithmetic in Indian politics.

Yet, a few of social justice campaigners who branched out of caste satraps remain potent till days by perfecting social welfarism. Navin Patnaik and Nitish Kumar aren't caste satraps, but couched in all pervasive welfarism suited to their turfs abundant with poverty.  

Electoral rise of the BJP and Congress would undeniably shrink spaces for casteist political outfits. Not that the BJP and Congress aren't embedded in caste arithmetic, but they stitch broader equations with national narratives. People haven't also shunned casteism in their preferences. Socially caste is arguably more explicit. But political import of caste identities in electoral politics is evidently wilting with emergence of strong leadership at the national level.

That a few of the chief ministers -- Kamal Nath, Devendra Fadanvis, Manohar Lal Khattar, Raghubar Das, Arvind Kejriwal, Vijay Rupani -- come from electorally insignificant caste groups demonstrate that the fast changing demography and their aspirations are guiding Indian politics to an altogether new territory.    

Emergence of nationalism on the back of popular fatigue and angst against terror strikes in the country could possibly deliver the knock out punch to already weakened caste politics. The youth, particularly, has explicit aversion to status quoism. What passed on as fatalistic sense of resignation is not popularly accepted. That India struck against sources of terrorism is an undercurrent sweeping through the youth yearning for a collective catharsis from mortal blows of status quoism. 

RISK takers, indeed, are rewarded. A Modi led BJP has a rare opportunity to push electoral caste into oblivion. Rahul Gandhi led Congress could also draw a sense of relief, that the lost turf to caste satrap is up for grabs sooner. 

Pulwama: India must redeem

Pulwama attack, snuffing out 40 lives of paramilitary personnel, marks two decades of Pakistan's unequivocal and consistent state policy to bleed India with thousand cuts. India in contrast has been equivocal and willing to fall for guiles of her western neighbor, largely under the influence of Pakistan apologists, who command disproportionate influence over national narrative. And, thus, India sees episodic furore followed by long spell of collective amnesia.

ON Thursday afternoon, India was reminded that the country has a ticking time bomb right at the top of her political map, Jammu and Kashmir. That a local militant in the ranks of Jaish e Mohammed (JeM) slipped away from the watch of hawk's eyes of intelligence sleuths only to blow away a crammed bus carrying the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel is a deafening slap on the policy of status quoism.

India is mourning brutal killing of 40 of her brave sons in the line of duty. Hundreds of them have laid down their lives bravely in the recent times. The nation is breathing air of revenge. People are on the street. Politicians will flock to the people. And, consequently, political spectrum concurs to back government for any action against the terror attack.

India has withdrawn the most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. Certainly not the most favoured nation, Pakistan got the status in 1996 for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) obligation. It was never reciprocated, because Pakistan unlike India has clarity of purpose on her relations with the eastern neighbor. That what war couldn't achieve must be gained from Jihadists pushed into India from across the border is cast in the stone for the masters of the theocratic nation.    

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi wasn't stricken by New Delhi political bug when he checked in the seven, race course road abode of the most powerful person of the country. But he didn't remain immune for long. Soon, he began day-dreaming to emulate his icon and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and yearned to finish his unfinished business -- to make friends with Pakistan and trade peace for Kashmir valley. 

Recurring Pakistani betrayals didn't affect Vajpayee to cease his yearning for peace with the rogue neighbor. The poet in him made Vajpayee draw the Insaniyat contour for his Kashmir outreach. Both proved mirage. People rejected his dovish outlook. New Delhi's peacenik tribe shoved Vajpayee on to the path of staus quoism. 

Vajpayee hadn't politically groomed Modi. The honours would remain with the BJP patriarch L K Advani. Yet, Modi's decisive mandate left Jammu and Kashmir untouched. The foolhardy experiment to share power with PDP (People's Democratic Front) in J&K proved an avoidable political disaster. Neither development nor the iron muscle flexed might in the northern state. Modi only watched from far distance the unabated alienation of the youth in the valley fast accepting pathological Jihadi indoctrination with great help from the social media. The BJP strategist Ram Madhav arguably blunted the Modi mandate for any decisive impact on J&K.

Worse, Modi allowed his business friends like Sajjan Jindal to further loosen screws on Pakistan after the surgical strike in the wake of 2016 Uri terror attack. The opening of Kartarpur Sahib corridor is another example of the willingness of New Delhi to fall for the guiles of Islamabad and her friends across the border. If the pressure cooker steam had boiled uninterruptedly since 2016 Pakistan would have been squirming for breath. 

Two years would have been enough time to steam-roast Pakistan -- strategically, militarily, and diplomatically. But the course was allowed to become an event, which is now celebrated in a film.

No punitive action would be enough for Pakistan. The world will not shed a drop of tear if Pakistan is struck off the map. The existence of this nation is a crime against humanity. Afghanistan is bleeding for over a decade due to Pakistan. 

Let Pakistan pay for her crimes. Let India perform another surgery on Pakistan. 

Narendra Modi: Saving 'Sultanate' in uncertain times

In another 70 days, Narendra Modi will seek a fresh mandate. Unlike 2013-14, he wouldn't be swimming with anti-Congress tide. That he has kept the people immensely busy with his talks in recent past may make electorate unwilling to look at Congress years before casting votes. And, so, the BJP appears in full grip of doubts at crucial times. 

THE Narendra Modi government would be signing off the final financial year 2018-19 with a total allocation of Rs 61,084 crores for rural employment flagship programme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The inaugural financial year of the Modi government had seen an allocation of Rs 32,977 crores. 

Modi's inaugural speech in Lok Sabha in 2014 had seemingly set the agenda of the government that it wouldn't be like the Congress led UPA which even after 70 years of India's Independence had nothing but to make people dig soil for livelihoods in a veiled mocking of MGNREGS. 

Financial allocation for MGNREGS in the last financial year of the UPA government was Rs 33,000 crores. Indeed, wage payouts under MGNREGS were marred with long delays, which are no more the norms in the Modi government on account of the expansion of Jan Dhan coverage (Banking coverage and direct benefit transfer). 

Modi had laid siege to "Delhi Sultanate" from Ahmedabad with contrasting governance template. Not digging soil, but the people would be working in big factories, that India would become if not China than at least Gujarat. 

But last quarter allocation of about Rs 6,000 crores to MGNREGS in the revised Budget for 2018-19 taking the full allocation to the flagship scheme to the whopping Rs 61,084 crores demonstrated that labour is moving to rural areas in search for unskilled works on account of shrinking base of skilled work demands in urban areas. 

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may soon have to cut the policy rates. That inflation continues to ebb isn't something to cheer about. Possible collapse of buying appetite of consumers should worry the policy shenanigans. The December inflation at 2.19 per cent is an 18 months' low. 

The record high MGNREGS allocation and ebbing inflation together tell the story of Indian economy -- panting for breath. Reverse migration of labour is evident. Declining rural income is indeed the story of India in recent years, which in turn gives no incentive for the private investment to chase business expansion.

Indian economy's journey on jobless growth path surely isn't a phenomenon of the times of Modi. That India embarked on jobless growth is a 2008 story. Yet, the journey only gained more steam in Modi's times is well illustrated with official statistics on specter of unemployment in the country, which remains at 27 months' high, besides logging 11 million jobless in 2018.

IN the bylanes of suburbs around Agra, Jatav youth had bolted the electoral stereotype in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Much to the anger of their elders, they would openly argue that Behenji (Mayawati, the BSP supremo) wouldn't be becoming Prime Minister, but Modi could create jobs for them. The youth cutting across caste lines believed Modi's words. 

BJP president Amit Shah during a roadshow.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there would be roughly 250 million youth votes in the age group of 18-25. This segment's immediate worry is employment. They may even be worried of the scale of reverse migration of labour to the rural areas. The urban centres aren't vibrant enough to pull the rural youth with gainful employments. In 2014, such youth had defied the caste pulls. Do they have enough reasons to do same in 2019?  

MODI'S exuberance for his Gujarat model of development had dulled mid-way during the NDA tenure. In the latter half of 2016, Modi was seemingly convinced that his programmes like 'Make in India', "Skill India', etc., were slogans for seminars and Babus to keep them busy in the four walls of New Delhi babudom. He, consequently, had borrowed from Indira Gandhi's electoral book to focus his governance on welfarism. The BJP on purpose, thus, had unveiled the 'Garib kalyan agenda' in 2016. 

After wards, Modi government and the BJP worked in tandem to enlist beneficiaries for a host of welfare schemes. The BJP now has a basket of 22 crore beneficiaries of various welfare schemes to count on for votes in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. That the 2014 mandate wasn't for doles and welfarism is well forgotten within the saffron outfit.   

Indian jobless growth journey by all accounts is for the reason that the private investment remains elusive in the country. The UPA-II failed to revive the private investment. By the time Modi assumed power, Indian private sector was largely in the bad books of the banks. The public sector banks (PSUs), principal carrier of the private investment fuel, are faced with existential crisis. Modi inherited the economic template with missing private investment.

Not an economist and not even blessed with ears for those with expertise, Modi took a flight for flamboyance. Demonetisation of high value currencies along with unleashing of 'tax terrorism' of greater proportions never seen in the history of Indian economy put the engine of India's economy in deep coma. The windfall gains out of low crude oil helped Modi to enhance public investment in infrastructure. But infrastructure development by nature is of long gestation, yielding benefits in the long run. 

Modi may possibly not inspire the youth who seek income opportunities. Those who have gained from welfare schemes aren't sworn either to loyalty of benefactors, for they know that others too would offer doles, which may even be better. Modi has an uphill task in a few weeks to retain his 'Sultanate'.