VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 281 Date: 13.05.2019
Contents:
1. Do We Need Modi To Lead Us Again?
2. Conspiracy Theories Originating At The Level Of The Supreme Court
3. His Master's Voice
4. Security Is Politicised
5. Model Code Of Conduct To Cover Financial and Other Enforcement Agencies
Do We Need Modi To Lead Us Again?
Under Narendra Modi for the last 5 years India's image among its citizens and on the world stage has fallen down from an erudite, responsible, cultured, sympathetic, secular and progressive nation. We are decidedly lo-brow today besotted with confusion, controversies, confrontations that seem decidedly unnecessary
Modi's anathema to family and dynasty as indicated in most of his statements stems from probably the fact that he has no family. The fact that he has been separated from his wife since his marriage clearly makes him unable to perceive and understand family values. Lately to add to the claim of a 56 ins. chest the BJP has been saying that Modi is a 'mard' like no other. In Indian society where 'mard' is associated with masculinity there are two facets to it, one of physical strength which one grants that Modi maybe has but the other aspect of the ability to procreate is something that we have not seen from him. So like Modi's most claims the 'mard' label is also half true. His visits to his mother are cultivated to add more to the Modi persona and timed to maximise political gain to show that he still has family. The lack of family has led to unbalance in his life which reflects in his policies that tend to be unstable. The over-effusiveness while meeting foreign leaders with some cringing away from the Modi hugs while maintaining a haughty reserve with Indian fellow politicians and leaders including his own party - the BJP, shows an anxiousness to be accepted by foreigners while wanting to keep a distance from countrymen.
In his utterances which tend to be outrageous and outlandish one clearly sees the lack of education. This is more so reflected during election times when the edge of vindictiness creeps into his comments. These are unnecessary and do not fit into the characteristics of a leader particular as senior as the Prime Minister. Modi in his enthusiasm to appeal to the uneducated and uninformed voter gets carried away and makes bombastic statements which verge very little on the truth. One is sure in these Modi himself knows that what he is saying is not true but at the same time he knows that his audience has little knowledge of the truth and he takes advantage of it, revelling in the cheap thrills it brings to him. In the same style he thrives in challenging the system, to see how far he can go without being caught out. This is seen in most of his statements that have been reported to the Election Commission on the violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The problem is that Modi in the campaign mode more often than not forgets that he is the Prime Minister of India and says whatever comes to mind which again more often than not devalues the image of the Prime Minister, his office, his party and himself.
The other thing that we have seen with Narendra Modi is that he likes to hear what he believes and if there is anything not matching with that, he tends to come down on it with a heavy hand. Thus among international ratings India lately went up a few notches in the Ease of Doing Business but in the Happiness and Press Freedom indices, India was rated very lowly. So while Modi's government publicised the Ease of Doing Business achievement, they were ominously silent on the slippages or low rankings in the other two indices. There is also another tendency to discount international ratings or figures relating to India, mostly when they do not find favour with the present government, by saying that the ratings or figures are not true. And what do foreigners know about India, since we obviously know better! That is the reason why today India's economic indices are such a mess. Why talk of transparency, we have become as opaque as China in reporting of the country's economy. We are fast coming to the situation like in China where any economic figure is given and that's it. No question entertained, no answers given. Then with Modi there is this tendency to hide uncomfortable facts or events like the employment figures recently or the jiggling of the GDP figures. A compulsiveness to show only that is complimentary to the government.
Economic measures under Modi as we have seen are characterised by limited thinking and implementation programs are defined by two steps forward, three steps backwards. Nett result a mess all around. These have been the hallmarks of the demonetisation exercise, the cashless program, the GST putting through,the health plan which has very limited takers among private hospitals since rates are not remunerative showing sloppy preparatory work for the world's largest health program! Demonetisation failed all around but brought down real estate prices even though there were still no buyers and the sector is still recovering from the debacle. But that is what Modi was touting recently. This was akin to taking an elephant by its tail to wag its head. It was touted that demonetisation would bring more tax payers into the tax net but current year e-filings have shown a shortfall of more than half a million in Mumbai alone. As for cashless operation, the amount of cash in the economy has gone back close to the pre-demonetisation levels signifying that in India cash is king. Again in disaster situations like it was found during Cyclone Fani when it hit Orissa recently cash was desperately needed by people to buy emergency needs since with no power and wireless connectivity ATM's and PoS' were down and which will be limping to normalcy only in a months time. With Modi becoming PM people were banking on the replication of the much touted Gujarat economic model across India but sadly 5 years hence economic performance has become the Achilles heel of the Modi government.
With the economy in disarray Modi has little to talk about the 'achhe din' he had promised and that is why the dialogue during the elections has been artfully diverted to nationalism and personality issues. These latter issues stir up emotions and easily divert the mind of the electorate which is what the BJP strategy has been.
With Modi there has been this noticeable tendency of fitting in yes-men and cronies in major institutions be it the RBI, Election Commission and also in the government bureaucracy making sure that instructions are carried through with the least obstruction. Sadly this leads to a paralysis in the diversity of views and leads to a situation of a horse running with blinders. This is not good for a country like India with its range of complexity and may lead to a situation of some sectors and communities getting preference over others.
Do we need a person like Modi with his erratic ways to lead us again? The answer to that will be given on May 23 but the alternative to Modi is a barrenness and the possibility of a terribly fractured mandate and more uncertainty as we go into the future.
So essentially the choice is between the devil and the deep sea.
Modi's anathema to family and dynasty as indicated in most of his statements stems from probably the fact that he has no family. The fact that he has been separated from his wife since his marriage clearly makes him unable to perceive and understand family values. Lately to add to the claim of a 56 ins. chest the BJP has been saying that Modi is a 'mard' like no other. In Indian society where 'mard' is associated with masculinity there are two facets to it, one of physical strength which one grants that Modi maybe has but the other aspect of the ability to procreate is something that we have not seen from him. So like Modi's most claims the 'mard' label is also half true. His visits to his mother are cultivated to add more to the Modi persona and timed to maximise political gain to show that he still has family. The lack of family has led to unbalance in his life which reflects in his policies that tend to be unstable. The over-effusiveness while meeting foreign leaders with some cringing away from the Modi hugs while maintaining a haughty reserve with Indian fellow politicians and leaders including his own party - the BJP, shows an anxiousness to be accepted by foreigners while wanting to keep a distance from countrymen.
In his utterances which tend to be outrageous and outlandish one clearly sees the lack of education. This is more so reflected during election times when the edge of vindictiness creeps into his comments. These are unnecessary and do not fit into the characteristics of a leader particular as senior as the Prime Minister. Modi in his enthusiasm to appeal to the uneducated and uninformed voter gets carried away and makes bombastic statements which verge very little on the truth. One is sure in these Modi himself knows that what he is saying is not true but at the same time he knows that his audience has little knowledge of the truth and he takes advantage of it, revelling in the cheap thrills it brings to him. In the same style he thrives in challenging the system, to see how far he can go without being caught out. This is seen in most of his statements that have been reported to the Election Commission on the violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The problem is that Modi in the campaign mode more often than not forgets that he is the Prime Minister of India and says whatever comes to mind which again more often than not devalues the image of the Prime Minister, his office, his party and himself.
The other thing that we have seen with Narendra Modi is that he likes to hear what he believes and if there is anything not matching with that, he tends to come down on it with a heavy hand. Thus among international ratings India lately went up a few notches in the Ease of Doing Business but in the Happiness and Press Freedom indices, India was rated very lowly. So while Modi's government publicised the Ease of Doing Business achievement, they were ominously silent on the slippages or low rankings in the other two indices. There is also another tendency to discount international ratings or figures relating to India, mostly when they do not find favour with the present government, by saying that the ratings or figures are not true. And what do foreigners know about India, since we obviously know better! That is the reason why today India's economic indices are such a mess. Why talk of transparency, we have become as opaque as China in reporting of the country's economy. We are fast coming to the situation like in China where any economic figure is given and that's it. No question entertained, no answers given. Then with Modi there is this tendency to hide uncomfortable facts or events like the employment figures recently or the jiggling of the GDP figures. A compulsiveness to show only that is complimentary to the government.
Economic measures under Modi as we have seen are characterised by limited thinking and implementation programs are defined by two steps forward, three steps backwards. Nett result a mess all around. These have been the hallmarks of the demonetisation exercise, the cashless program, the GST putting through,the health plan which has very limited takers among private hospitals since rates are not remunerative showing sloppy preparatory work for the world's largest health program! Demonetisation failed all around but brought down real estate prices even though there were still no buyers and the sector is still recovering from the debacle. But that is what Modi was touting recently. This was akin to taking an elephant by its tail to wag its head. It was touted that demonetisation would bring more tax payers into the tax net but current year e-filings have shown a shortfall of more than half a million in Mumbai alone. As for cashless operation, the amount of cash in the economy has gone back close to the pre-demonetisation levels signifying that in India cash is king. Again in disaster situations like it was found during Cyclone Fani when it hit Orissa recently cash was desperately needed by people to buy emergency needs since with no power and wireless connectivity ATM's and PoS' were down and which will be limping to normalcy only in a months time. With Modi becoming PM people were banking on the replication of the much touted Gujarat economic model across India but sadly 5 years hence economic performance has become the Achilles heel of the Modi government.
With the economy in disarray Modi has little to talk about the 'achhe din' he had promised and that is why the dialogue during the elections has been artfully diverted to nationalism and personality issues. These latter issues stir up emotions and easily divert the mind of the electorate which is what the BJP strategy has been.
With Modi there has been this noticeable tendency of fitting in yes-men and cronies in major institutions be it the RBI, Election Commission and also in the government bureaucracy making sure that instructions are carried through with the least obstruction. Sadly this leads to a paralysis in the diversity of views and leads to a situation of a horse running with blinders. This is not good for a country like India with its range of complexity and may lead to a situation of some sectors and communities getting preference over others.
Do we need a person like Modi with his erratic ways to lead us again? The answer to that will be given on May 23 but the alternative to Modi is a barrenness and the possibility of a terribly fractured mandate and more uncertainty as we go into the future.
So essentially the choice is between the devil and the deep sea.
Conspiracy Theories Originating At The Level Of The Supreme Court
Two Supreme Court judges have lately raised the bogey of judgments being marginally modified in text for advantage to the entities involved be they individuals or corporate entities. We who have worked in corporate India know of the deteriorating quality of administrative support to recent times. Therefore the incidents mentioned by the judge in the cases of Ambani, Amrapali and combining the hearings on the Rahul Gandhi case and the Rafael case are where the judges themselves have slipped up and shown lack of due diligence. This can also be attributed to the Registrar of the SC who should be pulled up for these errors which benefit the litigants except in the last case. If judges bring up such cases of 'unseen hands' then it is a insult to the competence of the SC and shows an erosion of their ability to handle such matters. Conspiracy theories should not be originated at the level of the Supreme Court since that will lay the precedent for the country to follow which is a dangerous thing.
His Master's Voice
We are steadily seeing the His Master's Voice culture developing in our incumbent BJP government. Toe the official line seems to be the diktat to everyone and defend it at all costs. We had seen this in the case of Rajeev Kumar, Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog, a respected home grown economist who was an avid critic of Modi's financial policies particularly demonetisation up until he took up his official assignment and once in the chair started to sing hosannas in praise of Modi's policies including that of demonetisation. The same kind of thing is happening with Krishnamurthy Subramanian, the new Chief Economic Advisor (CEA). Again a professional with good credentials is succumbing to the ploys of government and like a canary singing their tunes once he has assumed office. He had said lately that the crimping of the GDP figures in the last two quarters is indicative and reflective of the fact that alls well with the system for computation of the GDP which was under pressure for manipulation to output rosy figures. This is a simplistic argument and the CEA is well advised to look closely into the matter since the rot is dark and deep.
Security Is Politicised
On the one hand the PM claims the nation is secure under the BJP but it is the BJP who are seeking and being given security exposing the lie to the PM's claim. Lately the NSA Doval's son has been given Z+ security. Why? It is not clear. The son is learnt to be heading a private foundation. If there is a threat to their person, should not the foundation arrange for the security and pay for it? Again some of the BJP candidates for the Lok Sabha elections and the BJP party functionaries in West Bengal have been provided security. As a level playing field should not the other other party candidates and functionaries be provided similar protection. Or is this security provision also a political ploy to show that the BJP is under threat in West Bengal?
Model Code Of Conduct To Cover Financial and Other Enforcement Agencies
From the time that the Lok Sabha elections were announced or a little before that the financial and other enforcement agencies, the triumvirate of the IT, ED and the CBI have been raiding one or the other political party opposed to the incumbent government. The last was Mayawati being named by the CBI in the sugar mills scam just about a fortnight ago. Earlier it was the DMK, the Congress splinter party in Andhra Pradesh and also Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi party in UP for the sand mining scam. Should these investigating agencies not be brought under MCC - Model Code Of Conduct since otherwise as we have seen now the incumbent government uses them to their advantage by launching raids or naming people from the Opposition parties in one or the other scam to unsettle them in their election campaigns. It is best that this be done and the Election Commission be advised to amend the MCC before the next elections.
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