Heads he wins, tails we lose

Every election is described as a watershed, but that statement was perhaps more true of the election to Parliament in 2014 that any other election in recent memory. It was the first election that brought into office a party other than the Congress with an absolute majority on the strength of its own numbers in the Lok Sabha. The other non-Congress governments of 1977-79 and 1989-90 were formed largely by ex-Congress leaders with the support of non-Congress parties. The BJP governments formed in 1998 and 1999 were not on the strength of an absolute majority for the BJP in the Lok Sabha.

Besides, the person who was sworn in as Prime Minister was markedly different from his predecessors. Mr Narendra Modi was the quintessential outsider – never been a member of parliament, never been a minister in the central government, never lived in Delhi for a reasonable period of time.

Mr Modi’s and his party’s promises during the election campaign, therefore, merited serious attention. Mr Modi himself remained in campaign mode for several months after he became Prime Minister. He did not tire of repeating that his goal was sabka saath, sabka vikas. People, especially the youth who voted for the first time, believed him and believed that achhe din was around the corner.

Promises galore

In his first speech on Independence Day (15 August 2014), the Prime Minister was lavish in his promises. He promised toilets in all schools, bank accounts for all, a moratorium on all activities that were divisive for ten years, and a new direction for the country. Since that day, more promises have been made, particularly Clean India, Skill India, Make in India, Start up India, and Stand up India. Besides, he or the ministers concerned have made other promises like Electricity for All, confiscation of black money, Rs 15 lakhs to each person, end to tax terrorism, end to corruption, end to infiltration on the border, end to illegal migration and

so on.

And the government promised 2 crore jobs a year. That was a take-your-breath-away promise. It was postulated on the promise of more investments, more credit, less taxes and ease of doing business.

It was an impressive agenda, an agenda if implemented with total and unrelenting focus would have swept aside all conflict and electrified the country. The nation would be brimming with confidence, there would be celebration on the streets, and the world would have saluted the brave new India that had re-discovered the spirit of the 1990s.

Three years later, what is the reality around us?

Nation torn by conflict

On our screens and in the newspapers, on the streets and in homes, in campuses and in conferences, the dominant subject is conflict. There is a war-like situation on the India-Pakistan border. There is widespread unrest in the Kashmir valley. In central India, the Maoists have regrouped and seem to have regained their capacity to strike. Gau rakshaks are on the rampage, people have been killed. Love jihad has acquired sinister proportions, and official anti-Romeo squads have joined hands with the moral police groups to terrorise young couples. Communal and caste clashes are on the rise. Incidents of rape have multiplied. The Indian Exclusion Report 2016 released by the Centre for Equity Studies has found that Dalits, Adivasis, and Muslims continue to be the worst-hit in terms of exclusion from access to public goods.

Polarizing talk, vigilantism, ideological profiling, intolerance of dissent, insult and abuse are instances of a society being torn apart by conflict. I cannot recall any previous period in the history of independent India when so much conflict stalked the land. In a conflict-filled country, development will take a back seat as it has in India since the middle of 2015.

The underlying cause is Hindutva – not Hinduism – and the numerous organisations and pracharaks who devote their whole time and energy to promote Hindutva. Hindutva is a distortion of Hinduism; it is an ideology that is founded on notions of hyper-nationalism, majoritarianism, social hierarchy, patriarchy and gender inequality, mono culture, racial supremacy, vegetarianism, Hindi-dominance and other reactionary ideas. None of these notions is compatible with building a modern, plural, liberal, secular and free country.

Hindutva contradicts development

The inherent conflict between development and Hindutva is obvious. Development cannot be achieved or sustained without a modern, plural, liberal, secular and open society. Development needs champions and they must be courageous and willing to do battle with those who will use every means to preserve the status quo. Development needs diversity, dissent and debate; Hindutva’s aim is to silence those voices. Mr Arvind Subramanian, the Chief Economic Adviser, recently pleaded for diversity of opinion and said with rare candour, “This diversity will require both competence and capability. It will require voices that are not silenced, compromised, or conveniently moderated by the lure or fear of power.”

Today, there are champions for cows but there is no champion in government for education. In the budget of 2013-14, education got 4.57 per cent of total expenditure; in the budget of 2016-17, that share declined to 3.65 per cent. Who cares that 6.2 million children of primary school age are out of school? Who cares that many states are moving towards appointing contractual teachers instead of appointing regular teachers, thus leading to a decline in the quality of teachers? Who cares that only 42.5 per cent of children in standard III can read a standard I level text?

There are champions for enforcing morals but there is no champion in government for healthcare. Who cares that public healthcare facilities, ostensibly free, extract a high price from patients? Who cares that in many states there is a critical shortage of allopathic doctors and specialists? Who cares that 35.7 per cent of children below the age of 5 are underweight, 38.4 per cent are stunted and 21 per cent are wasted?

There are champions for Hindi but there is no champion in government for farmers and farm labour. Who cares that 22 per cent of households that have agriculture as the main occupation have a median income of Rs 12,135 per month? Who cares that 7 per cent of households that have agricultural and allied wage labour as the main occupation have a median income of Rs 9,039 per month?

Go back to BJP’s election manifesto. Go back to the Prime Minister’s speech on 15 August, 2014 and the promises he had made. Go back to the promises of his government (I have listed some in the beginning of this piece). Every promise has been overshadowed by the HIndutva agenda. No longer does one hear of achhe din. Development is the casualty.

The author is an attorney, a Rajya Sabha member and the former Finance minister of India