http://www.bagchiblog.blogspot.com
As the 2019
elections inch closer everyday, campaigning for candidates is acquiring fever
pitch. While candidates are being nominated rallies have become the order of
the day. Newspapers are full of reports of who said what against whom. The two
major parties, Bharatiya Janta Party and the Indian National Congress, are
generally at the throat of each other, one accusing the other of corruption.
Apart from the abuses for the opposition, there are sops galore for the people,
particularly those constituting the weaker segments of the Indian society. The
promises, extravagant in nature, are being made and, it seems, were the Congress
to come to power it would have precious little left for improvement of
infrastructure and other sundry services.
Modi seems to
have learnt a lesson from the 2014 General Elections when he made extravagant
promises which he could not fulfill during the five years that he ran the
government at the Centre. He was mauled by the Opposition on two of his
promises – one was about bringing back the reported piles of black money and
putting Rs. 15 lakh in each Indian’s pocket and the other was about ushering in
“achche din” (good times) with the defeat of the “corrupt” Congress. Though
Modi won the elections fulfillment of these two promises have remained elusive.
He, therefore, seems to have been more circumspect this time and has refrained
from making hard-to-fulfill promises.
Many of his
supporters have criticised Modi for his failure to bring in “achche din”.
Newspapers have been running reports and comments on his inability to usher in
good times. The people’s expectations had been raised sky high by these
profligate and lavish promises and when they saw that these were nowhere in
sight they were thoroughly disappointed. Even a rightist commentator and
generally a Modi supporter, Gurcharan Das, expressed his disappointment the
other day at Modi government’s utter failure in bringing about “achche din”.
Das pities that Modi’s was a golden opportunity to make the best of a chance
that he got but seems to have squandered it by failing to capitalize on it. Das
says some good work was done but the most basic thing – jobs – that were not
being created are still nowhere in sight and hence the dividend offered by the
favourable demography was lost.
The difficulty
is that nobody ever defined “achche din”. Even BJP or Modi never ever clarified
what would be their components. As it is, ours is an aspirational society. Even
those who live in shanties have aspirations of living a better and dignified
life. They were so much taken in by Modi’s promises that they started dreaming
of a far better life, far removed from the daily grind of poverty and perpetual
want. With all those dreams disappearing in thin air they have been disappointed
and frustrated. Their frustrations will surely cost Modi some votes at the
forthcoming elections.
The extravagant
promises generated runaway expectations. Modi did not have a magic wand with
the wave of which he could bring about all round happiness and prosperity
immediately on being elected the prime minister. If I expected that I would
become as rich as Mukesh Ambani, live in a 27 storied (effectively 60 storied)
mansion with six floors for the collection of my cars on Modi winning the 2014
elections I would be nothing but an inveterate fool. An intelligent man would
realize that ”achche din” takes a lot of effort and dedicated, honest work to
materialize and five years is too short a time for any government to work
through the rot and mess that was left behind by the previous government.
The ignorant and unsophisticated were not able
to appreciate that the promise of bringing “achche din” was only a handy thick
and heavy stick to beat the Congress with which, honestly speaking, it thoroughly
deserved. It wasted ten years of the country and instead of progressing towards
a better life and greater prosperity it made the country regress and brought it
close to a precipice.
Elections are
times when all kinds of promises are made. Sops for farmers and the poor
continue to be showered, this time, even by the Congress. But then they need to
be taken as so much of trash. It is what the political parties do after winning
the elections that matters and not what they promise before they form the
government. “Achchey din” was a ploy to win the 2014 elections and nothing more,
just as “Garibi Hatao” (remove poverty) was a ruse used by Indira Gandhi to win
the 1971 elections. Hence, those who are disappointed need not shed tears for
no-show of “achche din”.
*cartoon: from internet
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