Prime Minister Narendra Modi betrays a sense of desperation in the shrill campaign that he is conducting in these general elections. Earlier, in a speech at Latur in Maharashtra, he called for people to vote for the BJP in the name of the Pulwamamartyrs.
The Election Commission’s action against this speech is still awaited. On April 21, the last day of campaigning in Gujarat, Modi said, had Pakistan not returned the Indian Air Force pilot, then it would have been a qatal ki raat (night of slaughter).
Ironically, on March 1, the day Pakistan returned Indian Air Force pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman, the US President, Donald Trump spoke to the global media at Hanoi in Vietnam, where he was present for the US-DPRK summit, that world should expect, shortly, good news regarding India-Pakistan tensions. This was said a few hours before Abhinandan was returned by Pakistan!
Again, in another rally at Barmer in Rajasthan, Modi said:”India has stopped the policy of getting scared of Pakistan’s threats, everyother day they used to say `we have nuclear button’. What do we have then? Have we kept it for Diwali?”
Such brazen invocation of armed forces, threats of nuclearwar in order to garner votes, is an act of complete desperation byModi, as onall other issues the electorate is determined to oust this government.
PEOPLE’S LIVELIHOOD DESTROYED
The fact is that the BJP-RSS, under Narendra Modi’sleadership, is simply unable to face public anger against the drastic fall inpeople’s livelihood status. There hasbeen a systematic all-round attack on the quality of life of the people duringthe last five years. Having assumed thecontrol over the central government, while promising achhe din, the illusoryballoons that Modi had floated in the 2014 campaign have all burst one afteranother.
Even after doctoring the statistics to inflate India’s GDPgrowth rate, it registered the lowest this year during the last fiveyears. As against the promise ofcreating 10 crore new jobs during the last five years, unemployment today hasreached the highest levels in the last five decades. The Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy(CMIE) has estimated that post-demonetisation, there was a loss of 50 lakh jobsdirectly. Additionally, nearly 1.5 crorepeople’s livelihood has been destroyed.
Agricultural distress continues to mount. Modi has betrayedthe promise of a minimum support price being at least one and a half times morethan the total production cost. Hefurther betrayed the promise of a one-time loan waiver, so that the farmers arenot pushed into committing distress suicides. During the last five years, agricultural growth has fallen drasticallyaccompanied by an increase in distress suicides by farmers.
Industry continued to stagnate during most of these fiveyears and is now showing a decline. TheIndex of Industrial Production (IIP) shows a declining trend. In February 2019, industrial growth fell to0.1 per cent compared to 1.7 per cent in January 2019. In January 2018, industrial growth rate was6.9 per cent. Modi’s 2014 promise was to ensure an annual industrial growthrate of 12 to 14 per cent! The capitalgoods sector is an indicator of our economic health. In February 2019, this(capital goods) contracted by 8.8 per cent over the minus 3.4 per cent growthin January 2019.
Despite all the hype over the slogan Make in India, thetotal inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during these five years was 28per cent of all capital inflows into the country. The rest of the 72 per cent inflows were allspeculative, into the financial markets. This compares very poorly with the earlier period of five years, whenFDI inflow were 48 per cent between 2009 and 2014.
Despite all hullabaloo of expanding India’s exports, thetrade deficit, i.e., the difference between what India imports and exports,stood at a record high of $ 176 billion in 2018-19.
The livelihood conditions of vast sections of our people,including the middle class, has drastically fallen due to the relentless risein the prices of petroleum products. Additionally,between 2014 and 2018, the prices of ten essential commodities rose by anaverage of 7.5 per cent – sugar costing Rs 24 a kg rose to Rs 42 in 2018; dalcosting Rs 47/kg in 2014 is now over Rs 70/kg; milk Rs 36/litre is now over Rs.45/litre. These are all-India averages.
CRONY CAPITALISM
Refusing to provide any relief to the people over this relentless economic onslaught and, particularly refusing to undertake a one-time loan waiver for our beleaguered annadatas (farmers), the Modi government has now written off Rs 5,55,603crores during the last five years of loans taken by corporate cronies from our banks.
Eighty per cent of such loans waived during the last decade have been done under this Modi government. The Modi government refuses to reveal the names of those whose loans have been waived. This secrecy is meant to protect the sources of its political funding, concealing the worst form of crony capitalism that India has ever seen. The Enforcement Directorate has now revealed that 36 of the mega looters of our public money have left the country seeking shelter abroad. This means that the Modi government has permitted those who have looted our public money to escape scot-free foreclosing all possibilities of such loot being recovered and culprits punished.
UNSCRUPULOUS EMOTIVE CAMPAIGN
Unable to meet the people’s anger over this assault on theirdaily life and fearing a rejection at the ballot, Narendra Modihas now mountedthe most unscrupulous aggressive campaign over the fight against terror and thesacrifices of our armed forces as the means to muster people’s support. In the process, he and the BJP-RSS combineviolated with impunity the guidelines of the Model Code of Conduct laid down bythe Election Commission. Does one need to go far to reason why the ElectionCommission is allowing such a violation of its own guidelines?
Let us examine the emotive claims now being made by Modi.
Claim: Eliminated cross-border terrorism.
Reality: Modi became the Prime Minister boasting that he had a 56 inch chest capable of defeating Pakistan’s efforts at engineering cross-border terrorism. Today he is frenetically campaigning that he has succeeded in instilling a sense of fright in terrorists. But, then what are the facts?
Compared to the period 2009-14, in 2014-19 under NarendraModi, the number of terror attacks inIndia rose from 109 to 626 and the ceasefire violations by Pakistan rose from563 to 5596. The number of our securityforces martyred increased from 139 to 483; the number of civilians who havebeen killed by terrorist attacks rose from 12 to 210.
Modi government’s Jammu and Kashmir policy led to analarming rise in numbers of local youths joining militant groups. This rosefrom 16 in 2014 to 191 in 2018.
Post the terrorist attack at Uri military base, surgicalstrikes were conducted by Indian Army. Modi and the BJP government claimed tohave demolished the cross-border terrorism facilitates and boasted that therewould not be any further terrorist attacks from across the border. Then came the Pulwama terrorist attack thatkilled 40 of our CRPF jawans. Followingthis, when the Indian Air Force successfully targeted terrorist bases insidePakistan in Balakot, we were all told that India had successfully paralysed, ifnot eliminated, all future terrorist attacks. Post-Balakot, terrorist attacks have continued and more securitypersonnel have been martyred. Terroristattacks have also injured civilians with bombs being planted in busy civilianareas in Jammu region of J&K.
This is the reality of Mr Modi’s 56 inch chest!
Claim: Modi frightens Pakistan.
Reality: It is an established fact that fundamentalism ofall hues only feed each other. The claimthat Pakistan is scared of the BJP/RSS and Narendra Modi is completely contraryto the facts. In fact, Muslim fundamentalism and Hindu communalism feed on eachother and draw strength from each other.
Way back in 1999, on the eve of the general elections thatwere held after the then BJP government led by Atal BihariVajpayee lost itsmajority on the Floor of the Lok Sabha, the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba was asked whomthey would like to see win in the 1999 general election in India. It’s information secretary said, “The BJPsuits us. Within a year they have madeus into a nuclear and missile power. Lashkar-e-Tayyeba is getting a goodresponse because of the BJP’s statements. It is much better than before. We pray to God that they come to power again. Then we will emerge even stronger”. (Hindustan Times, July 19, 1999)
In a book, Spy Chronicles, jointly written by two formerspymasters – Pakistan’s former Director General Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) Lieutenant General (Retired) Asad Durrani and India’s former Research andAnalysis Wing (RAW) chief A S Dulat; Asad Durrani says that Indian PrimeMinister, Narendra Modi is a more preferred choice for the ISI. He says: “The reaction in Pakistan to Modi’selection as the PM was that it served India right. Let Modi take care of India,destroy its image, and possibly destroy its inner balance.” The ISI’s choice of who should win in theIndian elections is, thus, clear.
Virtually confirming this, on April 10, 2019, Pakistan PrimeMinister, Imran Khan, a day before the first phase of voting began, gave anendorsement to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. He expressed before a hostof foreign media journalists that he hopes that Modi will win becauseIndia-Pakistan peace will have “a better chance”.
Need anything more be said, Mr Modi, as to whom Pakistanprefers to win in India? The strongerHindutva communalism becomes in India, the stronger will become Muslimfundamentalism in Pakistan. In fact, they are “made for each other”.
Indian people will surely see through this emotion rousingand exercise their vote on the basis of their day-to-day life experience duringthe last five years.
The defeat of this BJP government looks imminent, paving theway for an alternative secular government, post-elections.
Sitaram Yechury is General Secretary CPI (M).