Even as the Congress camp is filled with jubilation over the defeat of BJP in the three heartland states viz. Madhya Pradesh [MP], Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, there is a pall of gloom among all the right thinking citizens of India.
They are visibly upset over the consequences of the reins of powers in these three important states going into the hands of those who plundered the scarce national resources – epitomized by a spate of scams during 2004-2014 [when UPA led by Congress was in command at the national level] – and pushed the country into a state of ‘policy paralysis’ and shattered the economy. That it would mend ways and deliver good governance in these states is wishful thinking.
There is a greater possibility of the new rulers relegating development and people’s welfare to the backyard. The plethora of welfare schemes launched by Modi – dispensation viz. PM Awas Yojna, Ujjawala, Saubhagya, Ayushman Bharat etc as also projects devoted to building infrastructure especially in rural areas will be jolted. This is because their overarching goal is self-aggrandizement.
In a democracy, while it is the right of any political party to participate in elections and highlight the shortcomings of the ruling establishment, but, to take recourse to misrepresentation of facts, fabricated lies, baseless allegations and hollow promises is something totally unconscionable and unpardonable.
Unfortunately, this is precisely what Congress seems to have done with the sole intent of capturing power. Here are some glaring examples of how it has hoodwinked and played with the emotions of the millions across all sections of the society.
Agrarian distress is an age-old problem due to persistent neglect of farmers for decades on multiple fronts viz. poor infrastructure, high cost inputs, lack of institutional finance, loans from informal sources at exorbitant rates, lack of marketing support, low price for their produce etc. During the last over 4 years, Modi has addressed these with alacrity including initiatives such as completion of pending 99 irrigation projects, soil health cards [SHCs], neem coated urea [NCU], rural roads, rural markets, e-NAM, hike in MSP etc.
While, some of these such as SHCs, NCU have delivered immediate results, others take time to make a real impact on farmers income. Yet, without taking note of the initiatives, Congress has whipped up their sentiments messaging that the present government is indifferent to their miseries. In the same breath, its President promised loan waiver within 10 days of taking over the reins. This resonated in almost every speech delivered by him during the campaign.
Yet, immediately after winning, in a major reversal, Rahul Gandhi has opined that ‘loan waiver is no solution to farmers problems’. The problems are complex; that the new government will work with them [farmers] to find solutions.
Clearly, the party has no intent of granting loan waiver. The promise was only meant to mesmerize the voters, implant in their mind hatred for the incumbent government and prompt them to vote for itself with an allurement [read: loan waiver]. Having achieved its dubious goal, it lost no time in dumping them.
On the NPAs [non-performing assets] of public sector banks [PSBs], Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly mentioned that Modi has waived loans worth over Rs 300,000 crore extended allegedly to his few industrialists friends. This is a monumental lie, as forget about waiver, the present government has recovered over Rs 300,000 crore from the defaulting borrowers using the rigorous processes under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code [IBC] enacted by it to address the existing NPAs and prevent their recurrence.
Gandhi must not also forget that the NPAs are the offshoot of indiscriminate lending by PSBs during 2008-2014 to the favorites of the then ruling dispensation [read: UPA] without conducting due diligence. This prime minister has acted swiftly to deal with these very NPAs and closed in on the settlement of over Rs 300,000 crore and more recovery is to follow.
On Rafale – the defense deal that Modi has done with France for purchase of 36 fighter aircraft from Dassault under a government-to-government agreement – the party President has alleged corruption and went that far to say that Modi has given Rs 30,000 crore to an industrialist, Anil Ambani. Ambani owes thousands of crore to banks, so Mr Gandhi opines that the money will help him pay back.
This again is a blatant lie. Considering that all the fighter planes are coming from France in fly away condition, there won’t be any manufacturing in India. Hence, there is no question of Modi causing unwarranted gain to an Indian company including Ambani. Meanwhile, far from helping, the latter has been forced to sell his assets to garner money for clearing bank loans, courtesy IBC.
Meanwhile, a verdict delivered by the Supreme Court on December 14, 2018 clearing Modi – government of all the charges in the Rafale deal and rejecting the demand for a probe proves that alleged corruption was just a figment of imagination.
Another charge hurled by Mr Gandhi ad infinitum is that Modi has seriously undermined the autonomy of institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India [RBI], Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] etc. This too is without any basis whatsoever.
In the case of RBI, merely because the union government raised pertinent questions and insisted on consultations under section 7 of the RBI Act when the governor refused to look into some genuine issues such as liquidity squeeze and insufficient credit to micro, small and medium enterprises [MSME], this can’t be considered as infringement on the autonomy of apex bank. The exercise of freedom by RBI cannot be pushed to a point whereby it affects national interest.
There is also no basis to surmise that Modi – dispensation has undermined CBI. If, however, the reference is to the ‘cat fight’ between the number 1 and number 2, this by itself demonstrates that this Government has not interfered in its functioning. If, it were to treat the agency like a ‘caged parrot’ [as under previous dispensation], such a situation would not have arisen.
To sum up, the grand old party has drummed up a mountain of lies to discredit the present government. Their incessant reverberation has even led to electoral reverses of BJP in three crucial heartland states and power going into its hands. This is not good omen as in the event of a coalition of rival/ideologically opposed parties – with Congress at the core – taking over the reins in 2019, India could plunge into a state of economic and social turbulence.
It is for public to nip such a trend in the bud.