Modi to blame for Uttarakhand crisis, his hate for Congress disastrous
It's becoming increasingly clear that neither Rahul Gandhi's Congress, nor Kanhaiya Kumar-inspired Left, not Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party will checkmate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Only Modi can beat Modi. Modi can be trumped but by his own policies.
The hallmark of the political situation today is ironical. The Modi government is steamrolling the Congress and the opposition parties. It's flouting all democratic norms and proprieties. It's pressing ahead with its political agenda that contravenes the spirit of the Constitution, and is dividing the people.
At a time like this, the Opposition, the Congress in particular, is at sea. They don't appear to have a concrete strategy to stop Modi in his tracks. They are falling prey to his trickery.
Uttarakhand is the latest example of Modi-Amit Shah duo's savage Congress-mukt Bharat campaign that they promised during the Lok Sabha elections. After BJP's shenanigans in Arunachal Pradesh that toppled the Congress government, now Uttarakhand is being purged of Congress' rule. Nine Congress legislators including former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna have switched sides to help the BJP bring down the Harish Rawat government.
The Arunachal and Uttarakhand developments can be best described as, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
The scourge of defections, misuse of the powers of governors and disregard for norms set by the RS Sarkaria Commission, continue to be at the centre of the destabilising game being played against opposition-ruled governments in states. The perverted "aaya ram-gaaya ram" politics of defections continues to be played to break parties using power and pelf.
The 10th Schedule of the Constitution or the Anti-Defection Act, it seems, is honoured more in breach than the observance. The Sarkaria Commission's recommendations on appointments of governors are honoured in the same manner. All this thanks to the dirty games played by the governments at the Centre.
At the root of the malaise is the intolerance for state governments under the opposition parties' rule by the Central government. In a federal multi-party structure and after the end of monopoly of single party dominance, different parties ruling different states have become a norm. Such situations call for healthy centre-state relations.
However, the Modi government, like its predecessors, is back at playing the old game of destabilisations. The government has set its eyes on adding new areas of influence and brining more state governments under its thumb. The government doesn't care about disturbing the centre-state equilibrium.
The reason is the BJP has to beef up the party's strength in the Rajya Sabha where it lacks the majority to push legislations, especially bills for which there is no political consensus. This can be done by winning state Assembly elections or by destabilising state governments ruled by opposition parties. The contrived majority in the state assemblies can augment the BJP strength in the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP won three state Assembly elections after coming to power. They won a big victory in Haryana and notched much improved performances in Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir.
However, Delhi and Bihar elections put a spoke in the wheels of Modi-Shah's plan to augment the BJP's strength in the Rajya Sabha. Having burnt their fingers in Bihar with the miserable failure of game of defections played through Jitan Ram Majhi and the subsequent drubbing in the elections, the BJP is mortally scared to try the same in major and large states. Therefore, it is targeting smaller states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Uttarakhand.
The BJP finds the Congress easy meat to push its devious plan of Congress-mukt Bharat in operation and also for augmenting its strength in the Rajya Sabha. Modi nurses visceral hatred for the Congress. He knows that the Congress is the only challenger to his ambition for a long innings at the 7, Race Course Road and in South Block.
Modi also knows that the Congress under the de facto charge of Rahul Gandhi is defocussed. It is riven by internal bickering on account of conflicts between the old guard and the younger generation. The Gandhi scion himself is yet to prove his mettle and the party remains unsure of his leadership potential and future.
Modi feels the time is ripe to go for the Congress' jugular. His vaulting ambition makes him dream of a situation in which the BJP can rule the roost as the only pan-India party at the Centre after the Congress gets further weakened and emasculated. The regional parties can have their respective states and shares of power but they wouldn't be a challenger in Delhi.
In all this Modi overlooks one crucial factor. And that's him. While pursuing his plan to make India Congress-free, he has forgotten his election promise of maximum governance, minimum government. He is reneging on his promise to work for "sabka saath, sabka vikas."
Communalism and ultra-nationalism have become the guiding principle of his government and dissent has become a punishable crime as it were. The promise for creating employment for the millions entering the job market remains on paper. All this is not earning him new supporters. Non-performance will ultimately translate into voters' ire.
Modi's own failure will defeat him.