Chief Minister – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Policies – Programmes X-rayed – Part II

Modi 1

Modi as PM

(Each year of Modi as PM is dealt as one stage, as follows)

The THIRD STAGE :2014 onwards 

“The Third Stage” of ascent and governance covers the first year of Modi’s Rule as Prime Minister of India and a few important developments of this period are sketched hereunder.

The very first event covered here is the swearing in ceremony, of Narendra Modi as P.M. which was held on 26th May 2014.  The uniqueness and the historicity of this programme needs not only to be recorded but also reviewed.  It is important to note that a proper understanding of this event,  would throw light on the nature of governance likely to follow in the coming five years.

For the first time in the history of the swearing-in ceremonies since Independence,  foreign dignitaries from SAARC Countries were invited.  The dignitaries included:  Nawaz Shariff, the Prime Minister of Pakistan;  the President of Afghanistan, Hameed Karjai;  the President of Sri Lanka, Maheendra Rajapaksha;  Prime Minister of Bhutan, Sharing Tugbey;  President of Maldives,  Abdulla Ameen Abdul Gayoom;  Prime Minister of Nepal, Susheel Koirala; Prime Minister of Malaysia,  Naveen Ram Gulam;  and Speaker of Bangla Desh,  Sirin Choudhary.  All these dignitaries were seated in the first row.

The leading Industrialists of this country were invited as Special Guests for this occasion.  Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani,  Gautam Adani, Ashok Hinduja, Shashi Roy, Mittal brothers, Rajeev Singh, Pavan Manjal, Tulsi Tantri, Raj Kumar Dhoot,  Naresh Goel, Mittu Chandil, Rana Kapoor, R. Chandrashekhar, Subhash Chandra, Sajjan Jindal were among those invited  and many of them were present on the occasion with the members of their family.

Among the politicians Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jaya Lalitha,  Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee;  Chief Minister of Orissa,  Naveen Patnaik; Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, and the Chief Minister of Kerala,  Chandy,  were conspicuous by their absence.

While the above are stark realities, what were the specialities of this grandeur?

Invitations extended to the Big Business Magnates and their family members amply indicated that the New Prime Minister Modi was sending out signals to them that he would be their Prime Agent and a reliable ally.

“Hidden Agenda” behind extending invitations to the heads of SAARC Countries needs to be marked.  Narendra Modi had established his victory by using the card of “Religious Polarisation”,  but after winning elections Modi wanted to establish an atmosphere of peace and harmony with the neighbouring countries.  Behind this move Modi also desired to extend an olive branch to Minorities of this country through his gesture to the Heads of SAARC countries.  Thus it can be said that the Swearing in Ceremony,  with its “Hidden Agenda” indicated the contours of Modi’s rule in future.

In order to understand the path which Modi’s government would traverse,  it is important to understand the composition and character of the Modi cabinet.   Forty of the 44 Ministers in the Modi Cabinet were Crorepaties.  Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister, was the richest of the lot with declared assets worth Rs.113 Crores.  It cannot be forgotten that the Prime Minister, Modi, was also a Crorepati.  Thus 90 percent of the members of the cabinet were Crorepatis.  This Cabinet also had its element of Ministers with criminal antecedents,  as 30 percent of members of Modi’s Cabinet had criminal antecedents.  In this background,  would it be an exaggeration to describe Indian democracy as a government of the Crorepaties,  by the Crorepaties and for the Crorepaties?  Whom do you expect such a government to serve?

Let us analyse the happenings that were witnessed within a few days of the assumption of office by Modi’s new Cabinet.  State Minister attached to the Prime Minister,  Dr. Jitendra Singh, who belonged to the State of Jammu & Kashmir, had said- “There is a need to have exchange of thinking on the need to abolish Art. 370 of Indian Constitution,  which confers special status to Jammu and Kashmir”.  This statement was designed to create a controversy on the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir under the Indian Constitution.  This statement assumed special significance as Dr. Jitendra Singh hailed from Jammu & Kashmir and also because he was attached to the Prime Minister as Minister of State.  Could not one suspect that  this statement had the approval of Prime Minister Modi?

Secondly,  the Modi government had declared enhancing the quantum of F.D.I (Foreign Direct Investment) in Defence Department from the present 26 percent to 100 percent.  The dangerous part of this declaration was that the Modi government was throwing open a sensitive Department like Defence to Foreign Direct Investments and to the Private Capital.

Thirdly,  Modi government had declared creating more than 100 Smart Cities in India and these were designed to help the big capitalists.

Fourthly, Modi government was out to introduce another project to declare all the illegal immigrants as illegal and drive them out of India.

Fifthly,  Prime Minister Modi,  had issued Ten Commandments to all the Ministers.  One of these commandments stated that no Minister should make any appointment of Senior Officials of their departments and the Prime Minister alone would finalise them.  This reflected the centralising stance of the Prime Minister.

These measures introduced within one week of Modi assuming office provided ample indication about the direction in which his government was designed to move.

During the first year of Modi’s Rule,  there are several aspects that need to be analysed.  One issue related to Modi’s attitude towards the Judiciary, which itself has many facets.

Facet One : Let us take the question of Judicial appointments.  The prevalent practice was that the Collegium of the Supreme Court would send a panel of names for appointment as Judge of either the Supreme Court or the High Courts and the Central government would accept the panel and forward them to the President for issuance of orders of appointment.  Based on these lines,  the Collegium sent a panel of four names for appointment as Judges of the  Supreme Court of India to the Central Government.  The Central Government sent three of these names for appointment as Judges of the Supreme Court to the President of India and separated one name from the list of four.  The one so separated was Gopal Subramaniam,  a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India.  The obvious reason for separating and not sending Gopal Subramanian’s name was that he had appeared as “amicus curie”,  in Gujarat’s Sohrabuddin Encounter Case.  In this case the Home Minister of Gujarat, Amit Shah, who is a close-Associate of Prime Minister Modi and other officers were implicated.  It is for this reason that the Modi government wanted to stall the appointment of Gopal Subramanian,  as a  Judge of the Supreme Court of India.  Because of various types of reports that had appeared in the press,  which upset Gopal Subramanian, even before the Chief Justice of India could intervene in this episode,  Gopal Subramanian wrote to the Chief Justice of India that his name be withdrawn from the Panel.  However,  the Modi government had successfully stalled the appointment of Gopal Subramanyan as a Judge of the Supreme Court,  as they had an axe to grind against him.  This event evidences the apathy of Modi Govt. towards an independent Judiciary and had exhibited their inclination for a “Committed Judiciary”.

Facet two :  An event that took place in April 2015 records another instance of Prime Minister Modi’s apathy to judicial independence.  A secret conclave of the Chief Ministers and the Chief Justices was organized at Delhi,  on April 2015 and both the   Chief Justice of India,  Mr. H.L. Dattu and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi were present.  Prime Minister inaugurating this Secret Conclave said- “The Judges while delivering Judgments in litigations filed by Five-Star Activists shall be cautious and not deliver purpose – driven judgments”.  He further said- “If the governments commit mistakes,  the Judiciary is there to correct them.  The Judiciary shall under no circumstances be in the place of those who commit mistakes”.  A keen perusal of Prime Minister Modi’s statements would reveal that they appeared like words of advice tendered by an elder brother to his younger one.  The question that arises in this context is,  if the Executive head of the country starts tendering advice to the Judiciary as to how the Judges shall deliver Judgments,  what would happen to judicial independence?  If the Chief Ministers of States,  who are executive Heads,  start hobnobbing with the Heads of the Judiciary,  the Chief Justices,  then what would happen to the common man who looks upon the Judiciary as the dispenser of Justice?  It should be said without any reservation that the very concept of a “Secret conclave” of the Chief Ministers and the Chief Justices envisaged and executed by Prime Minister Modi is a dangerous one and an anathema and should be deprecated.  This reveals Modi’s design to subjugate the Judiciary to the Executive.

It is tragic that Prime Minister Modi,  during the very first year of his rule, sentenced to death the Planning Commission,  envisaged by Prime Minister Nehru for achieving the Planned development of India,  and introducing in its place,  the “NITI” Ayog.  An indepth analysis of this ghastly act of Modi,  is needed to understand the clandestine designs of the Modi government.  What needs to be noted here is that Prime Minister Modi displayed his political inclination by displacing the words “Socialist Planning” and introducing “Market Planning” in its place by the founding of NITI Ayoga.  The comment of Sitaram yechuri,  CPI(M) Member of Rajya Sabha on Niti Ayog is worth perusing.  He said – “This is not “NITI” Ayog,  this is “Anithi and Durnithi” Ayog”.

Another facet of the first year’s rule of Narendra Modi,  is that,  he  had got promulgated TEN ORDINANCES during the course of one year of his rule.  This is most unfortunate.  It is relevant to cite here the Ruling of Chief Justice P.N. Bhagavati in D.C. Wadhwa Vs. Bihar State.  He said – “The country shall not have ordinance rule”.  In this light it is tragic that Prime Minister Modi had resorted to “Ordinance Rule” in India during his very first year of administration.

Another “Hidden Agenda” of Prime Minister Modi came to light during the first year of his Rule when the Information Department of the Central Government released an Advertisement on 26th January 2015 to mark the Republic Day event.  The Department had released to the Press the Text of the Preamble to the Constitution of India.  The paradoxical part was that the Text that was released to the Press was the original Text of the “Preamble” as contained in the 1950 Constitution,  thus publishing only the words “Sovereign Democratic Republic” and blatantly omitting the words “Secularism” and “Socialism” incorporated in the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution of India during the Emergency clamped by Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi.  This Advertisement released by the Information Department of the Govt. of India,  had kicked up a controversy.  Reacting to the controversy,  Sanjay Raut,  of Shiv Sena,  a BJP ally,  had said- “The two words “Secularism” and “Socialism” shall be permanently dropped from the Preamble to the Constitution”.  He further said- “This country can never be Secular; Bala Saheb Thakaray and Veer Savarkar had since the beginning said, India was divided on the basis of religion.  Pakistan for Muslims and Bharat for Hindus”  and added “The views of Prime Minister Modi about Hindutva are formidable”.

Congress Leader, Manish Tiwari, reacting to the on-going controversy, said – “The BJP’s design is to replace the words  “corporate” and “communal” in place of “Socialism” and “Secularism”.

In this regard we should note the observation of the Supreme Court of India in S.R. Bommai’s case.  “Secularism is an inseparable part of the basic structure of the Constitution”.

It is necessary to note that Barak Obama, President of U.S.A., while participating as the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations,  said – “It is necessary for India,  in the interests of its development,  to abide by Art. 25 of its Constitution and keep away from religious controversies”.

These controversies reveal that Prime Minister’s BJP-led NDA government should give up riding the two horses,  that of “Religious fanaticism” and “Development”  and steer itself clear of this controversy on the “Preamble”.  It is high time Prime Minister Modi should break his silence and issue a clarification regarding the controversy.  Otherwise it will become evident that Modi government has the “Hidden Agenda” of establishing a “HINDU RAJ”.

During the first year of Modi Rule, Arun Jaitley,  the Finance Minister, had introduced the first Budget of the Modi government.  This needs to be analysed.  This Budget,  on the one hand, has spread the Red Carpet to the Big Corporates and on the other effected severe cuts in the Social Sector which was meant for the amelioration  of the poor.  This Budget had not extended any benefits to the poor.  This could as well be described as the Budget carrying the seal of “Modi Brand” on it.

To conclude this “third Stage”,  we shall set down hereunder,  the achievements of the Modi government during the first year of its rule:

[1] During his maiden speech in Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Modi had said:  “The 1200 years of the history of slavery has placed Indians in a state of slavery”.  In the normal discourse 200 years of British rule is referred to as slavery under British Imperialism.  But Modi’s reference to 1200 Years of slavery,  relates it back to the Muslim rule.  Thus this statement made by Modi in his maiden speech tantamounts to Hinduisation of History.  We see Modi’s  “Hidden agenda” revealed in this maiden address.

[2] The reforms undertaken by Modi government during the first year are [a] 100 percent FDI in Defence Sector  [b] Opening out Railways for Privatisation.

[3] Prime Minister Modi convened a meeting of all the Principal Secretaries to the Govt. and instructed them as follows:  “If you find any hurdle in your Department directly contact me and dispose off the files”.  This reveals that Modi was converting the Cabinet System into the American Presidential System,  where the President rules the nation through the Secretaries.

[4] Within two days of assuming office of Prime Ministership,  Modi appointed Nipendra Mishra as PM’s Principal Secretary,  thus satisfying the comprador capitalists.

[5] The gift Modi gave to the people of India for giving BJP a clear majority in the Lok Sabha is enhancing the Railway fare by 142 percent and thus breaking the back of the common man.

[6] Modi government was described by the Congress as the U-Turn government.  Within six months of assuming office, Modi Govt. had once in every week, had reversed its own policies to adopt the policies of the Congress-led UPA.  A few of the examples are furnished hereunder:  When Congress-led UPA attempted to introduce 40 percent FDI in the Insurance Sector,  the BJP had stalled the Bill.  But now BJP led Modi Govt. had introduced a Bill to provide 49 percent FDI in Insurance.  What a U-Turn!

Congress had brought out a pamphlet exposing 25 U-Turns of Modi Govt. in 6 months and thus called it a U-Turn government.

[7] It is paradoxical that in a Cabinet System of government headed by Prime Minister Modi, every Cabinet Minister has been converted into a “Rubber Stamp” and Modi is running a defacto presidential form of government.

[8] In Modi government the RSS has been functioning as an extra-Constitutional authority.

[9] Prime Minister Vajpayee had advised Chief Minister Modi,  after “Godhra carnage”,  “follow the ideals of Raj Dharma”.  Now,  under Modi’s Prime Ministership Sangh Pariwar has given a call for “Ghar Vapsi” and resorting to conversions to Hinduism.   Prime Minister had conferred “Bharatha Ratna”, the highest national title to Vajpayee.  under these circumstances can anyone expect Vajpayee to advise Prime Minister Modi, to follow the ideals of Rajadharma?

[10] Prime Minister Modi had decided to launch the completion of One Year of Modi Rule at Chandrabhan Village,  near Mathura,  the birth place of BJP Ideologue,  Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and 60,000 had assembled in that Village for this celebration.  Modi declaraed in this Celebration that his government is a pro-poor government. See the following instances of Modi’s Rule-

[a] Can it be believed that in the first Budget of the Modi government, a huge amount of Rs.1.75 lakh Crores was slashed from the expenditure for Social Sector Projects which were meant for the poor?

[b] None of the Projects of Modi government like Jan Dhan, Jeevan Jyothi Bima Yojan, Suraksha Bima Yojan, Atal Pension Scheme,  which are declared to be meant for the poor are Statutory benefits.  While the pro-poor scheme of UPA like Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Food Security Scheme confer rights under the Law.  They are legal rights,  enforceable in a Court of Law.

with such measures how could Modi government be a pro-poor government?

Before concluding the analysis of Prime Minister Modi’s first year of achievements, it is pertinent to peruse a very important statement made by one of the Senior-most leaders of BJP and the former Deputy Prime Minister of India,  Lal Krishna Advani.  He said- “There is no guarantee that Emergency may not be clamped again.  Forces that oppose democracy and the forces that can trample democratic forces are getting strengthened.  An emergency-like situation is raising its head”.  Even as Prime Minister Modi’s rule was completing the first year, the above statement of Advani,  who had opposed Emergency  tooth and nail,  when Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi had clamped Emergency forty years back,  and which period was considered a “black period”,  had kicked up a controversy in political circles.  It may be recalled that Advani was kept in custody by Mrs. Gandhi during that period.  There were more than one lakh arrests,  fundamental rights were suspended, many organisations were banned, there was pre-censorship of the media and a literal dictatorship was prevailing.  However it may be noted that with the backlash against emergency, Mrs.Gandhi was trounced. Despite this the undeclared emergency is preferred by Narendra Modi!

While Advani did not name any person or any government in the statement he had made,  even a common man could read between the lines and say that Advani was making an oblique reference to Modi’s rule.  When Advani made this statement,  the infamously called “Lalit Gate”  had taken place.  In the Lalit Modi scandal,  the names of Sushma Swaraj,  the Central Minister for Foreign Affairs and the son of Vasundhara Raje, the Chief Minister of BJP ruled Rajasthan were named.  In this background the opposition Congress had demanded the resignations of Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje.  Even while all these developments had occurred, the Prime Minister,  Narendra Modi,  was observing a “Calculated Silence”,  without making any comment of these developments.  These certainly pointed to an impending emergency,  but undeclared.  In this regard the reaction of the Congress Spokesperson Tom Vadakan is pertinent.  He said “About whom Advani had made these observations is quite obvious.  Whose govt. is ruling?  Who is the Prime Minister?  Are these not known to him?  But the seasoned politician Advani,  has not named the Prime Minister in his Interview,  that is all.  However anyone who read the statement would know as to whom the statement points to”.

In concluding this part of the analysis,  it can be said, without fear of any contradiction,  that the Prime Minister’s development slogans,  the mask of Hindutva and the  use of presidential type of administration had come to light even before the end of the first year of administration.

FOURTH STAGE :

The Fourth Stage of Narendra Modi’s Political Travelogue,  refers to the Second Year of his administration between 26th May 2015 and 25th May 2016.  While this period does not witness many administrative changes it does spell out certain very important developments.  A few of these are taken up for analysis hereunder.  One of the most important developments during this period is the Judgment of the Supreme Court of India,  setting aside the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, as ultra-vires the Constitution of India.  This historic Judgment was delivered by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India,  headed by Justice J.S. Khehar, Presiding over the Five Judge Bench on 16th October 2015.  It was a Judgment by a majority of 4:1 and yet can be described as a historic judgment and  16th October 2015  could as well be described as a red letter day in the history of 65 years of the Judiciary in independent India.

In this background it is necessary to have a glimpse of the said Act and the Judgment there of.  Modi Govt. had succeeded in getting the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill,  2014 as also the 121st Constitution Amendment Bill, 2014 passed by both the Houses of Parliament and the necessary State Legislatures and had obtained the assent of the President of India for the said Bills.  The Bill had become an Act,  but was challenged before the Supreme Court,  when the Five Judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice J.S. Khehar was setup to decide on the Constitutional Validity of the said Act.  This Act gave Primacy to the Executive over the Judiciary in the matter of appointments of Judges.  The design of Modi government was to subordinate the Judiciary to the Executive,  as it found that the Judiciary was the major stumbling block in its design to perpetuate a fascist rule.  Modi government’s desire was to give a decent burial to the System of the Collegium,  which was making Judicial appointments.  It is in this background that the said Act was challenged and the Constitution Bench had now delivered the majority  Judgment which declared that the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 was destructive of the independence of the Judiciary and hence the system of the “Collegium”, which was authorized to make judicial appointments, continued the validity to make judicial appointments.  In a way this judgment was a slap on the face of the Modi government,  whose ulterior object in getting the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 was to take complete control of the Judiciary,  and this historic Judgment smashed the design of the government.  This Judgment could as well be described as the Saviour of judicial independence.

“Outlook” an English Weekly had published an Interview of an Octogenarian Legal expert and a Human Rights activist, Richard V. Fak,  which laid bare the utterior motives of the Modi government.  Fak, a Professor Emeritus of Princeton University, is the author of more than 40 Books on law and is an internationally renowned human rights activist.  This Interview was by Pranav Sharma of the Weekly and reflects the opinions expressed by 137 Educational Experts and Intellectuals.  In an Appeal signed by them and addressed to the Silicon Valley 137 American experts expressed their deep concern over Modi’s design of Digitalisation of India.  A few excerpts of this Interview are narrated hereunder.

Pranav Sharma asked Fak- “What is your main concern about Modi’s Digital India movement?”  Fak said in reply – “Digital India has the immense capacity to bring about social changes.  But,  at the same time there is the fear that it may be misused.  One cannot rule out the possibility of Modi Administration targeting the Minority community or those who criticize its policies.  My opinion about Modi government is that it does not have the attitude to tolerate its critics and it does not exhibit a friendly attitude towards them”.

Pranav Sharma posed this question to Fak: “Modi as Prime Minister has won the mandate of the people.  He has the support of a sizeable section of the Indian community.  What is your opinion about  this?

Fak replied- “It does not mean that any policy or programme which has become popular,  is a fair one.  We have observed that Modi and his administration has provoked Hindu Nationalist feelings to gain the support of the Hindu majority.  This is what is disturbing”.

Pranav Sharma asked- “Do you believe that the democratic Institutions in India have weakened after Modi become Prime Minister?”

Fak replied- “My belief is that the democratic institutions are getting weakened under Modi’s administration………..  But,  there is no clarity that Digital India which Modi desires to introduce will increase transparency.  The background of Modi as Chief Minister of Gujarat and his one year’s rule of India,  are creating a genuine concern  and a feeling that the future of democratic institutions in India are in grave danger”.

According to the view held by Fak:  “Modi, in a way may be speaking about majority.  But,  that does not weaken the opposition.  Instead,  it puts pressure on the opposition.  If democracy has to develop in its strength,  differing voices without any sense of fear shall freely flow and without any kind of fear from the ruling government”.

In the light of the opinions expressed by American experts,  voicing grave concern about impending dangers for the future of democracy and thus warning the democratic institutions are in peril due to the fanatic Hindutva onslaught,  should not the Indian intellectuals and the people of India get awakened to these dangers and get united to fight these fascist forces?  this is the million dollar question.

An understanding of the word and the deed,  the conflicting symbols of the cow and the lion,  the disastrous journey of the rabid communal forces from Babri to Dadri,  are essential to save Indian democracy from peril.  At the out-set a look into the path treaded by the Hindutva forces from Babri to Dadri is necessary.  While Babri saw the demolition of the Masjid  at Ayodhya  and its disastrous consequences,  the Gujarat Carnage of 2002  led not  only to the massacre of more than 2000 Muslims in Gujarat, but also destruction of properties of minorities worth more than 12,000 Crore rupees,  and the flight of more than a lakh muslims from Gujarat to save their lives,  and this is illustrative of the great magnitude of destruction and devastation done with the sole objective of spreading Hindutva and establishing a Hindu Raj.  Now we have Dadri, a Village in the land of Buddha,  an Apostle of Peace and non-violence,  where one Mohmad Akhlak was brutally murdered and his son flogged almost to death (but he miraculously survived),  on the  plea that they had eaten Beef.  The paradox is that while these Sangh Pariwar cadres were going about killing and plundering under the pretence of saving the cows,  Prime Minister Modi was canvassing for the BJP candidates in the State of Bihar and what he said,  when he broke his silence is worthy of analysis.  Modi had said: “For India’s progress communal harmony is essential.  The poor Hindu must join hands with a poor Muslim to fight against poverty”.  What a duplicity?  What a rift between words and deeds?  Talk Development and Do Hindutva!  This was BJP’s Rajaneeti!

Modi had selected the “Lion” as the emblem for “Make in India”.  The Sangh Pariwar chose “the cow” as its saviour.  Now Modi takes a ride on the Lion on the one side and the Cow on the other.  It is not riding on two horses,  but riding on two animals,  the Cow and the Lion (Remember the cow is lion’s prey).  What a contradiction and what a paradox?  There is another question that arises.  Is the Lion, the one in the Forests or the Circus Lion,  domesticated by Modi?  Indian electorate alone shall decide on the future of such a ride?  Is it for the Welfare of the common Indians?  A gomukha-vyagra, the two-animal symbol?

The last episode in the Fourth Stage,  the second year of Modi’s rule.  This episode relates to the shedding of tears by the Chief Justice of India,  the Supreme head of the Judiciary in India,  before the Prime Minister of India,  the Supreme head of the Executive in India.  This is unprecedented but most unfortunate!  Chief Justice of India,  T.S. Thakur,  shedding tears before the Prime Minister of India,  Narendra Modi,  at the Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices held on 24th April 2016.  This is an unparalleled incident and had drawn the attention of the national and international media.  The cause for expression of the deep agony by the Chief Justice of India,  is the utter apathy of the Modi government in not filling vacancies of Judges on the one hand,  and on the other,   the growing pending of cases to Himalayan heights.  What a tragedy?   Even the tears of CJI would not motivate the Prime Minister to action.  We will take a look at the factual situation relating to pendency of cases and the strength of the judiciary.

[1] There are 38.68 Lakh pending cases

[2] In 1987 the Law Commission made a recommendation and said that instead of 10 Judges that are required for a population of 10 Lakhs,  presently there is a need for 50 Judges for that population.  This recommendation is in cold storage.

[3] According to the Chief Justice of India there is a need for 50,000 judges instead of 20,000.  This recommendation has not yet been acted on.

[4] Presently more than 48.3 percent of Vacancies are there in the Judges Posts.  The government is not interested in filling up these vacancies as their design to take control of the Judiciary failed miserably as the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 has been declared unconstitutional by the Constitution  Bench of the Supreme Court of India.

With this analysis,  the Fourth Stage gets concluded.

FIFTH STAGE :

While the Fifth Stage is meant to enlist the achievements of Prime Minister Modi during the third year of his rule,  this Section commences with a review of Seven Hundred and Twenty days of Modi’s Rule,  to assess as to how far he has fulfilled the promises held out by him in the BJP Election Manifesto and in the Speeches he delivered in the run up to the elections of 2014?

[1] Modi had promised during his Election Campaign that he if elected to power would recover the entire Black Money of Rs.15 lakh Crores deposited by Tax evaders in India, in Foreign Banks and deposit Rs.15 lakhs to the Bank Account of every Indian.  Immediately after his historic electoral victory,  Modi declared a project to enable voluntary declaration of Black Money,  and this resulted in the declaration of Rs.3770 Crores,  which was only a pittance.  Thus there is a world of difference between what is promised and what was achieved in the two years of governance.

[2] Modi had promised a corruption-free India,  if he came to power.  But in the last two years of his rule,  a series of cases of corruption against those in Power in BJP have sprung up.  A case of Vyapam Scam of several Crores has been reported against Madhya Pradesh BJP Chief Minister, Shivaraj Singh Chavan.  Rajasthan BJP Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s son has been implicated in a Scam along with Lalit Modi,  who had fled to England facing a massive Scam.  There were several other scams reported against BJP Ministers who are in Power.  Has not Modi breached his promise of a Corruption-free Bharath?

[3] One of the most Senior Leaders of BJP had said that the clamping of Emergency cannot be ruled out.  He had said an Emergency-like situation is already prevalent.

[4] Modi government had designed to demolish judicial independence by enacting the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014.  However,  the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had held that the said Act was unconstitutional being violative of Judicial independence.  Modi’s design to subjugate the Judiciary to the Executive had thus got frustrated.

[5] The greatest achievement of Modi in the last two years was to throw open the Defence Sector for Foreign Direct Investments and to allow Private Capital to make in-roads into Railways and to open up 49 percent foreign Investments in Insurance.  While Modi effectively played the role of the prime agent of the Foreign Capital and the Big Business in India, it also effectively subjugated itself to neo-imperialist interests of America,  playing role as a Junior Partner.

[6] So far as the Poor of India are concerned,  they were blessed with mouthful of promises and a flood of assurances,  with few of them being realized.  Indeed the poor in India were left in the lurch.

With this concise review of Modi’s seven hundred and twenty days of rule,  a survey of the achievements of Prime Minister Modi during the third Year of his rule is presented hereunder.

The first episode relates to the Address delivered by the Prime Minister from the Red Fort on the Independence Day.  This  was the  third time Prime Minister Modi was addressing the Nation from the Red Fort in Delhi.  The Chief Justice of India was highly disappointed at this address as P.M. had not made even a formal mention of the vacancies in the Judiciary and the steps envisaged by the government to address this problem.  Having been disgusted at this callous unconcern of the Prime Minister,  the Chief Justice of India, made certain statements which are extracted here:

“During the British days a case took ten years to get disposed …………… Now,  even after a hundred years we are unable to dispose a case.  That is the reason why I am again and again requesting the government to pay attention to the filling up of vacancies of Judges”.

“In India,  for the 24 High Courts we have 1076 sanctioned posts of Judges.  Among these sanctioned posts,  478 posts are remaining vacant.  Hence 48.3 percent posts are remaining unfilled.  This year our Collegium has recommended 74 persons for filling up the posts of Judges and the government has put it in cold storage”.

“The entire edifice of the Judiciary is collapsing.  In the various High Courts,  there are 40 Lakh cases pending disposal.  To completely dispose of one Appeal,  the client would feel that he has undergone life imprisonment”.

“The government has not been approving the proposals regarding appointments and transfers sent by the Collegium.  A doubt arises whether the central government desires to bring the entire Judiciary to a grinding halt?”

“If such a situation arises and if the government tries to push the Judiciary to a corner,  then it would become inevitable to the Judiciary to act judicially”.

The Chief Justice of India,  the Apex Judicial functionary of the Judiciary in India,  has several times made several types of efforts,  including shedding tears in the presence of the Prime Minister,  and urged for filling up of vacancies,  but the Prime Minister,  Narendra Modi,  till date had not responded to the CJI’s call.  How insensible?

During this period,  one of the important steps taken by Prime Minister Modi is the declaration of demonetization on 8th November 2016,  by which the high denomination Notes of the value of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 were declared withdrawn.  This sent a “shock wave” throughout the nation.  It was stated that this demonetization had three-fold purposes,  they were an attack on Black Money,  a drive against Fake Notes and an attack on Terrorists,  who were using Black Money and Fake Notes.  While a Section welcomed this step as laudable, another section dubbed it as “a great scam”.  It is pertinent to record a few of these observations.

Mamata Banerjee,  Chief Minister of West Bengal, reacting to demonetization,  gave a call to all non-BJP parties,  including the CPI(M), to get united to fight against the Modi government and get this declaration withdrawn.  She  said that Prime Minister Modi’s declaration can be described as “Black government’s Black Policy”  and is a Policy of the anti-people,  anti-poor government.  This measure is like an Emergency situation,  and is like an armed attack against the opposition”.

The Chief Minister of Delhi,  Arvind Kejrival said:  “The act of demonetization of the Central government is a mega scam”.

According to Swaminathan, of Swamionics History reveals that Black Money is only two percent of the whole Black Money.  Major part of Black Money is transparent in the form of Gold,  immoveable property and in investments and another part of Black Money is deposited in Foreign Banks.

The various reactions reveal the stark reality that it is only an illusion that demonetization would eradicate the entire Black Money.  There is also the likelihood of demonetization making way for new forms of Black Money.

What is tragic is that the poor,  the working and the middle classes,  while standing in long que’s  to get their own money,  became victims of this exercise and it is estimated that nearly a hundred of them had lost their lives, while standing in the Ques.  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee’s following remark is sharp and revealing.  She had said “Prime Minister Modi,  while in a way,  is Hitler,  on the other way,  is Mohamed Bin Tughlaq.  In the interests of India,  Prime Minister Modi shall have to be defeated”.

After citing another event,  the Fifth Stage would be concluded.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi,  by appointing Yogi Adityanath,  as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh,  has revealed that the object of BJP is the establishment of Hindu Raj.  By this decision it can be said that the BJP had torn its veil of development asunder,  and exposed its real face.

A conclusion of the Fifth Stage is thus drawn.

SIXTH  STAGE :

The Sixth Stage of the ascent of Modi and his governance covers the Fourth Year of his rule in India.

One of the major steps in the field of finance undertaken by Prime Minister Modi,  was the ushering in of the G.S.T. A concise presentation of this measure is made hereunder.  This presentation is an analysis based on the views expressed by the renowned scholar Anand Teltumbe.  This presentation consists of two Parts.  One is historical and the other political.

From the historical point of view,  it is found that Prime Minister accords G.S.T,  the same status as the Independence Day.  Thus the launching of G.S.T. was scheduled to be observed in the Central Hall of Parliament during the midnight of 1st July 2017.  It needs to be recalled that only three events were held in the Central Hall of Parliament.  The first was the declaration of Independence on the midnight of 15th August 1947 and the second event was that of the Golden Jubilee of Indian Independence,  which was held at midnight in the Central Parliamentary Hall.

Another dimension of this historic event cannot be overlooked as it is also part of history.  The Congress-led Central Govt.  had tried to introduce GST thrice in the Parliament and on all the three occasions it was opposed by the BJP on the one hand and the then Chief Minister of Gujarat,  Narendra Modi,  on the other.  Paradoxically when the BJP-led NDA came to Power at the Centre,  the BJP and more so the Prime Minister Narendra Modi sponsored the introduction of GST.  Is this not a bundle of contradictions?

Nextly,  the political dimension of GST be analysed.  What is needed to be noted is that,  behind the declaration,  “One Nation, One Market, One Tax” – the “Hidden Agenda” of BJP and Sangh Pariwar, the “Hindu Nation” is the Secret.  This is analogous to the slogan,  “One People, One Nation, One Leader”, given by one of world’s most notorious Fascist’s and Dictator, Adolf Hitler.

This has another political dimension,  which is also very important.  Another “Hidden Agenda” of GST is to convert a formal Federal structure into an unitary one.  The paradoxical part of the GST is that the States have surrendered their right to tax as incorporated in “the State list” of the Constitution of India.

The GST has yet another dimension.  This method of Taxation helped more the Corporates,  the Big Business and Big Capitalists and the Foreign Capitalists.  The small Industrialists,  the small Businessmen will get looted under this system of Taxation.  Further the poor, the depressed and the suppressed classes get their back broken under this system of taxation.

The other Episode that needs to be analysed as Part of the fourth year of Modi’s rule is the issue relating to freedom of speech and expression.  Let us examine this aspect.

Two important happenings need to be mentioned here.  The first,  the CBI raid on the renowned T.V. News Channel, N.D. T.V. and the other is the censorship of a Documentary on the Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen.  Let us probe into these incidents.

N.D. T.V. had taken a Loan from a Private Bank.  The NDT.V. and the said Bank entered into a Private Settlement on the modus of clearance of the Loan and on this basis the NDTV cleared the Loan.  There was neither a complaint nor any dispute raised by the said Bank after the above-mentioned settlement.  Despite this the Central Government had suo-motto ordered a CBI investigation into this deal.  Through this raid the Modi government had given a warning to the entire Media – “would you listen to what we say?  Or else Do you want us to put the noose around your neck?”  This was the secret message of the Modi Government.

It may be recalled that Mrs. Gandhi, as Prime Minister of India,  during the Emergency,  had clamped Pre-Censorship and restrictions on the Freedom of Speech and expression.  This declaration was made under the Constitution of India.  But Prime Minister Modi,  had imposed restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression and on the Media,  without officially declaring the emergency,  as was done by Mrs. Gandhi.  Thus “an undeclared Emergency” is in vogue under Modi’s rule.

Let us examine the Episode relating to the Documentary on Amartya Sen.  The producer of this Documentary, Suman Ghosh,  had included an Interview with Amartya Sen in this Documentary.  In this Interview,  Amartya Sen had used the words “Cow””Gujarat”, “Hindu India”, “Hindutva” etc.  The Censor Board directed the producer to cut these words from the Interview.  The Producer contended that these words constituted the soul of the Interview,  and if cut,  the Interview would lose its soul itself and refused to censor the Documentary as directed by the Censor Board.  The permission for the release of the Documentary was refused.

These episodes amply illustrate as to how Prime Minister Modi’s Rule had strangulated the people of the Country from being free citizens enjoying the fundamental rights of speech and expression as declared under the Constitution of India.

Democracy had found a new definition under Modi’s rule.  The Classical definition, “of the People, for the People  and by the People” had been given a go-by and the following definition being practiced.

“Come to power by any means and anyhow;  Having come to Power,  retain it by any means and anyhow;  and when the official term of Power is over,  Regain Power by any means and anyhow”.

This had come to be the new definition and a new norm for Democracy under Prime Minister Modi’s Rule.  By now all ruling parties had come to adopt this new norm.

SEVENTH STAGE :

The Seventh and the last Stage of Prime Minister Modi’s Rule covered under this Section,  covers a few of the events during the fifth year of Modi’s rule.

The National Statistics Commission had published “the GDP back series”.  This covered the three periods of Rule in India ie. that of Atal Bihari Vajpayee,  Dr. Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi and has given a comparative analysis.  These statistics are revealing and deserve to be studied.

1999 to 2004 covered the period of BJP’s Prime Minister,  Atal Bihari Vajpayee.  During these five years,  GDP’s average grwoth rate yearly record was 5.82 percent.  After this 2004-05 to 2013-14,  the Ten years,  the Congress led UPA under Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh was in power.  During this period the Average yearly GDP growth rate was 8.12 percent.   This was followed by the period 2014 to 2018,  BJP led NDA Rule under the Prime Ministership of Narendra Modi.  During these four years the Average yearly GDP was 7.22 percent.  These statistics officially released by the National Statistics Commission,  on a comparison established that the period of Ten years under Congress led UPA Government with Dr. Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister,  showed the highest GDP.  Further during these Ten years,  of Singh’s rule,  the GDP average had crossed two times the 10% Annual average.

Another measure of economic development of the Country is “Gross fixed Capital formation”.  This phenomenon was also comparatively studied by the  Commission and the results are reported as follows:  During Prime Minister Vajpayee’s period the above achievement was 7.2 percent and during Prime Minister Modi’s rule the above achievement was 6.4 percent.  While during Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Rule of the Congress it was 10.2 percent.  These statistics evidence that during the UPA rule under Congress leadership with Dr. Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister, economic development,  capital investment and job creation were far better than under the BJP rule of both Vajpayee and Modi.  These statistics are revealing and establishing that economic growth was far superior under the Congress-led UPA rule when compared to the BJP led NDA rule.

Revealing Facts :

Are you aware of these facts?  UPA Government during its rule spent Rs. 2048 Crores on Advertisements.  Modi led NDA during 2014 to 2018 has spent Rs.4880 Crores on  Advertisements.  This evidences that the Modi-led NDA has spent more than twice,  what the Congress led UPA had spent.

This information was furnished by Rajavardhan Rathod, Minister of State for Information in the Modi Cabinet.

Under Adolf Hitler, the man-in-charge of propaganda was Goebbels, who believed that a falsehood repeated a hundred times sounds more true than the truth itself.  Obviously the expenditure on propagating falsehood shall have to far exceed what is spent on telling the truth!  What a paradox!

Contradictions :

The contradictions under Modi’s Rule need to be studied and the study in contrast of the “Hunger Index” and the growth of riches of the Super Rich in India is presented hereunder.

The “Hunger Index” published by the United Nations,  reveals that the extent of hunger is continually on the rise; of every nine persons in the world,  there is one person who is struck with hunger.  While this is the global position,  let us study the position of hunger in India.

Recently “Global Hunger Index” has been published.  According to this Report,  of the 119 Nations,  India is at the 103rd place.  Among the nations labeled as Nations suffering from severe hunger,  India is listed.  This is indeed tragic.  Let us see the position occupied by our neighbouring countries.  China (25th Place), Nepal (72nd Place), Myanmar (68th Place), Sri Lanka (67th Place).  Thus we are far behind all these neighbours.  Perhaps the only solace we can draw is that while Pakistan’s place is 106th,  India’s place is 103rd.  Could this be a real solace?

The tragic part is that India which occupied the 100th Place in 2017 has slided down to 103rd place in 2018.  This shows that those suffering from hunger and malnutrition have been on the increase now in 2018 when compared to 2017.  Could this be called the contribution of Modi’s government to the amelioration of the Poor?!

Let us now probe into the position of the rich and the super-rich in India.

According to the Report of the World Organization,  51.5 percent of the wealth in India is under the control of the 1 percent rich.  This is according to the statistics available for 2018.  Compare this with the statistics of 2017  and we find that during this year 45.10 percent of the wealth of India was controlled by 1 percent rich in India.  This evidences that the 1 percent rich who controlled 45.10 percent of the wealth in 2017 have increased their wealth to 51.5 percent in 2018.  So the number and strength of Super-Rich in India had increased from 2017 to 2018.  In the last 12 months the strength of the millionaires had increased by 2,300.  Hence the strength of the millionaires in India had increased to 3.43 lakhs.  The wealth of the millionaires now is Rs.440 Lakh Crores.  At the same time the 91 percent of the others in India only possessed less than Rs.7 lakh Crores.  The millionaires  in India occupy the 6th Place among the millionaires of the world.  India occupied its place next only to America, China, Germany, Britain and Japan.  Another interesting revelation is that a Report published on 22nd October 2018 by the Income Tax Department stated that the proportion of Crorepaties had increased in the last three years,  and has touched 68 percent increase.  Similarly,  in the last three years,  those Corporaties,  Joint Families and Institutions earning more than a Crore,  which  recorded 88,948 in 2014-15,  has increased to 1,40,139 during 2017-18.  This records a 60 percent increase.

These Statistics of the Hungry on the one hand and Super-rich on the other,  establish an incontrovertible  truth that during the last four years of Modi’s rule,  there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of children reeling under hunger, starvation and malnutrition,  as the Global Hunger Index indicates.  In contrast, it is also found that there has also been an astronomical growth of the rich and the super-rich under the last four years of Modi’s Rule.  Do we need any proof to show for whom Prime Minister Modi’s rule stands?

Thus The Seven Stages of Prime Minister Modi’s rule presents the Chief Minister-Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies-Programmes X-rayedin  A GLIMPSE.

                                  

(The booklet in English, including Appendices,  is available in print at Rs. 100.

For copies and details write to : Dr KS Sharma, Viswa Shrama Chetana, Gokul Road,          Hubli-580 030, Karnataka. Or mail to [email protected].)

 

About the Author

Dr KS Sharma (born 1934), called by his friends as a 85-years-young Activist-Scholar, who still works 16-18 hours a day,  is a Retired Professor of Law based at Hubli, Karnataka. As Founder-President of IRTUC– Indian Revolutionary Trade Union Confederation, he  has been a leader of working class for over 45 years now, focused on unorganized labor, and as Founder-President of Karnataka State Govt. Dailywage Employees Federation, successfully organized one lakh dailywagers of Govt of Karnataka who got regularized after 30 years of struggle that included street battles and legal battles going upto the Supreme Court. As Chairman of JAC of  RTC Workers of Karnataka, he had led two successful strikes for the just demands of   the public sector RTC workers and Employees numbering one lakh. He is a great scholar,  teacher, poet, writer, dramatist, literary critic, columnist, publisher, orator, and an activist-social scientist who was a President of ISSA , Indian Social Science Academy, for some time. Post-retirement, he did his doctorate on Indian State : From Marxian Perspective. He is the Founder President of a group of Institutions including an ITI, Institute of Naturopathy and Yoga, Dr. Da Ra Bendre (Jnana Peeth Awardee) Research Institute ( which edited and published about 150 books by Bendre), Indian Institute of Marxist Theory and Practice, FMRRC- Fluorosis Mitigation Research and Resource Centre all located in Vishwa Shrama Chetana campus, Hubli.His has been a contributor to countercurrents.org.  He may be contacted at : [email protected])

Read Part I

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