ProModis and AntiModis (प्रोमोदी और अंतिमोदी)

Today's world is divided into two camps.  One belongs to ProModis and the other to AntiModis.  You are either for NaMo or against him.  There is a minuscule third group which is probably shunned by both.  Today I am camping in this Neither For Nor Against Modi (NeFnAMo) group and writing this post from there.

Modi deserves credit for ridding this country of Congress which had turned moribund, arrogant and corrupt to the core.  He deserves credit for conclusively demonstrating that a person from the so called OBCs can indeed make a better leader than many from the so called upper castes.  This would not be the case had one of the other OBC leaders somehow made it to the top post.  He deserves credit for lifting the country from collective gloom and desperation.  He deserves credit for demonstrating that you need not be an English speaking elite to rise to the top.  He deserves credit for demonstrating to Indians that we can be assertive and decisive.  And I am sure that ProModis can make many additions to this list.

And yet let us not forget what agitated the collective Indian conscience most before the last parliamentary elections.  People felt thoroughly disgusted with the stubborn corruption, a rotten bureaucracy that is not only corrupt and devoid of all sensitivity but also heavily protected against any action.  People were fed up with rampant criminalization of politics.  They wanted changes in the electoral process so that high entry barriers were removed and the stranglehold of existing coterie of politicians broken.  They wanted changes in the Representation of People's Act to ensure that vile and undeserving candidates could not make it to the Parliament by garnering less than 20% of the votes.

Have things changed on any of these fronts?  Modi touched his forehead to the steps of the Parliament to show that it was at par with a temple.  People thought here is a person who wouldn't let this temple be desecrated by allowing tainted people inside.  The hopes have been belied.  Just look at the number of tainted ministers in his cabinet.  Has Modi even once spoken on the need to make changes in the Representation of Peoples Act to ensure that people facing criminal charges are not allowed to contest election.  And I would like to add this - to hell with the argument that even innocent people well get debarred as clever opponents trap them into false charges.  I hate saying so but Rajiv Gandhi performed better on this front when he tore up the bill defending parliamentarians facing criminal charges.

It cannot be gainsaid that Modi with all the extravaganza of his poll campaign has raised the entry barriers to politics to an all time high.  He is not even talking of electoral reforms.

Bureaucracy in this country is worse than Kafkaesque.  They have literally covered the administrative landscape with shit.  Modi does not have a word of caution for them; only praises!  He would rather have the suffering public clean the shit.  Modi is absolutely silent on the issue of LokPal.  Was it not one of the burning issues when the election was fought.  Again I hate to say this but Congress was more responsive to public sentiments when they got the LokPal bill passed.

Modi kept silent on the issue of black money and spoke up only he sensed the public outrage welling up again.  He is now making appropriate noises but his sincerity is no more beyond doubt.

Did anyone of us expect a government under Modi to play games that the Yadav regime plays in UP?  We are talking of providing Z security and other paraphernalia that make its recipient a VIP.  Why does Ramdeo require Z security?  Doesn't he have more than adequate resources to arrange his own security?

Was Modi being sincere when he bowed down to a protest by a handful of students in UP for excluding English from civil services examination?  He almost reopened the Pandora's box of lingual conflicts that were thought to be a thing of the past.  Is it okay to weaken institutions and the framework of good rules to bring in an officer of his choice?  Shouldn't judiciary's voice be heard when making changes to a system of selection of judges?  Does this not remind one of how Indira Gandhi weakened the institutional framework of the country?

All the issues that agitated the collective mind of Indian people immediately before elections have been cold shouldered.  And yet Modi persists in his efforts to generate euphoria by making grand appearances before NRI crowds abroad.

Inflation continues to rage.  If fuel prices have come down it is only fortuitous and not the result of any conscious efforts by the government.  One doubts whether data is being manipulated to show a lower inflation.  We are all aware of how a regulatory body in Delhi recently admitted to calculation mistake (read manipulation) in recommending higher electricity prices.

I will stop here lest the post becomes too long to read.

I am already feeling a little disappointed.  AntiModis may be feeling more so.