One sees some striking resemblances of today’s political scenario with the days of the later Mughals.
The last strong Mughal Emperor was Aurangzeb who died in 1707. The Mughal Emperors thereafter are known as the later Mughals, who ruled till 1857. But they were Emperors only in name, and had lost their Empire to their generals and local governors who declared independence. The Emperors were often installed and deposed by kingmakers like the Syed brothers.
The days of the later Mughals were full,of chaos and turmoil, with Marathas looting and plundering, pindaris and thugs on the loose everywhere, etc
I see a similar situation developing in India after the recent elections. With the BJP seats reduced to 240 ( down from 303 in the previous Lok Sabha, and therefore well below the half way mark of 273 required for a majority ), in effect the BJP can now only move around on the crutches of Nitish Kumar’s JDU and Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP. These latter are known to be hard bargainers and past masters in extracting concessions from big alliance partners. They will demand lucrative portfolios, a say in policy decisions and the budget, and special status for their states ( which means a larger allocation of funds to them by the Central Government ),
The Central Government will now be weak, and even if Modi again becomes the Prime Minister he will only be a shadow and scarecrow of the man he was for the last 10 years, Real power in India will now shift to the regional satraps, the Chief Ministers, who will become kingmakers of the Central Government, like the Syed Brothers. They will make and break Central Governments.
They will have no interest in the people’s welfare but only seek more power and pelf for themselves
I am happy that Modi’s dictatorship has gone, but I have no illusions about the times which are coming in India—poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses will continue and the situation will get worse.
I shudder to think of the days ahead in India.
Justice Markandey Katju is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India
