The results of the elections to the 18th Lok Sabha show that people of India asserted their prowess to defend the Constitution and the secular democratic character of the republic. The vast electorate brought down the earlier strength of the ruling BJP from 303 to 240. The BJP is now 32 seats short of a majority on its own. However, its NDA allies added 52 seats to the BJP tally. Thus, the NDA got 292 seats, which is 20 more than the required majority. Now the Modi-3.0 government as NDA coalition is set to govern India from 2024.
The INDIA bloc parties have together won 234 seats, 38 seats short of a majority. ECI data shows that all the constituencies of the NDA put together got 43.31 per cent of the votes polled. The constituents of the INDIA bloc got 41.69 per cent. The difference of vote share between both the combinations is less than 2 per cent.
Debates are abuzz after the formation of Modi-3.0 government on June 9, 2024: Will the coalition government led by an authoritarian leadership survive? Some small Youtube channels predict that the government formed as a coalition of varied ideologies and interests cannot survive for more than six months. They feel that Modi’s Party i.e. the BJP does not have a sustainable majority of its own. The constituent parties may withdraw support any time when they feel uneasy with the authoritarian style of functioning of the PM. Moreover, Mr. Modi has no experience of running a coalition government.
People should keep in mind that Mr. Modi has been a faithful cadre of the RSS, a right-wing organization that aims at converting India into a fascistic ‘Hindu Rashtra’. Every day in the morning/evening/night, the RSS organizes its Shakhas in public places all over India and repeats its resolve openly to convert India into the ‘Hindu Rashtra’. Its prayer in Sanskrit contains a couplet to show that resolve.
‘प्रभो शक्तिमन् हिंदुराष्ट्रांगभूता, इमे सादरं त्वां नमामो वयम्
त्वदीयाय कार्याय बध्दा कटीयं, शुभामाशिषं देहि तत्पूर्तये।’
This resolve attacks the very foundation of India built with a modern Constitution. The INDIA group of political parties was right to foresee this danger. The constituent parties made this an issue during their poll campaign. They tried to awaken the masses to stand up and resist this communal move by the BJP-RSS that may disintegrate our social fabric and may even result in a kind of a civil war. If anyone closely watches the functioning of the Modi government since 2014, the analyst will find that every move was enhancing the RSS agenda based on hatred for minorities, oppressed sections of population, farmers and working class. The issue of land bill, farm bills, labour code, triple talaq, CAA and NRC, abrogation of article 370, imposition of UCC, new Cr. P C are some examples of the intent of the Modi government. Every official function was clearly visible as a celebration of Hindu rituals performed by Brahmins as if India were already a Hindu Rashtra. The ‘untouchables’, even President and ex-President were not invited to attend those functions. The Modi government gradually isolated minorities in general and Muslims in particular as if they were the second-class citizens. The election campaign by Mr. Modi openly spread hatred against Muslims by telling lies in his speech after speech. There is no Muslim minister in the new government.
The fascist organisations in the whole world are slaves to the international finance capital that has established its hegemony over the globe. A new world order has been imposed on all countries that are under debt and are obliged to follow the diktat of World Bank, IMF and WTO, the arms of the international finance capital. A Russian writer, Boris Kagarlitsky in his book, The Twilight of Globalisation wrote that the decisions of appointment of MD of coalmines and Banks in Russia are taken by the managers of the World Bank or IMF. In India too, the appointments of RBI governors, finance ministers, and even the choice of the prime minister has been on the wishes of the international finance capital. It is because India too is under heavy foreign debt. Almost all the countries that are sub-servient to the finance capital are witnessing this phenomenon of the rise of neo-fascism. It is not only India, but also many countries and even the European Union are going to be governed by the Far Right i.e. neo-fascistic political formations.
This scenario on the world map clearly shows that the functioning of the Modi-3.0 will continue to be the same. India will see the same oppressive state machinery, the same authoritarian rule and the same moves of fascistic behavior in imposing new barbaric Cr. PC from July 2024, passing new ‘labour code’ and enactments of laws imposing heavy burden on people for serving the interests of big corporate houses and international finance capital. The government has already allowed the increase in the price of milk, import of wheat, export of onion under the pressure of the WTO. It will take ‘hard decisions’ to pass on the burden of debt servicing (paying interest of foreign debt) on common people. More public sector undertakings will be handed over to the crony capitalists and more concessions will be given to the corporate houses. India, during the coming days, will have to witness more anti-people policies and laws under the neo-fascistic regime. The humpty-dumpty set on the wall of the NDA will remain powerless and keep their mouth shut. All this will be done in the name of ‘more reforms’ to please the international finance capital. However, they will not have a fall as expected by many naïve political analysts. The Modi-3.0 regime with the support of the international finance capital will complete its full term of five years.
Chanchal Chauhan is a retired associate Professor, writer and executive president of Janwadi Lekhak Sangh, an all-India association of Hindi-Urdu writers.
