Catch-22 - Eastern Mirror
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Editorial

Catch-22

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By The Editorial Team Updated: Mar 20, 2018 9:57 pm

Clearly the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on the decline. The country is still waiting for the much-touted Acche Din (Good Days). Corruption level is as high as it was during the previous regime. Security scenario, both external and internal, is pathetic to say the least. Shelling in border areas has become a regular affair. Kashmir is still burning. Naxal-affected areas of the country are still bleeding. Atrocities on Dalits, minorities and women are going unabated. Prices of essential commodities have touched the sky. Common people are finding it difficult to meet both ends meet. Healthcare is becoming expensive with every passing day. Educational institutions are more in the news for agitation and controversies rather than academic excellence. People of India are becoming more and more pessimistic. There is no trace of vibrant India.

Failures of the present regime have presented a fresh ray of hope to the opposition parties. Till some time back, the political parties who were fighting for existence are now back with all its armoury to dislodge the Modi government from power. The recent poll results in BJP’s so called citadel Gorakhpur and Phulpur have made them so ambitious that one fringe leader of Maharashtra politics Raj Thackeray has issued a call to make India Modi Mukt (free of Modi). We have not heard such rhetoric since Narendra Modi came to power. Rather in all these four years we have nourished the dream that Modi is the right person to clean India from this current mess. But the dream is quickly turning in to a nightmare.

For such a situation, Mr. Modi himself is to be blamed. His biggest mistake was not respecting the plurality of India. Growing intolerance has taken away the shine of the present regime. People have started fearing for their lives. Forget about being a Dalit or a minority. Even the critics of Modi government from majority community are not being spared. Rational thinkers are brutally murdered. Patriotism has earned a new definition in Modi’s India. It is being used to attack the political and social opponents. Patriotism is no longer a uniting force. It has become a tool in the hands of those who want India to be fragmented. The job of the government was to curb these forces. But for reasons best known to them, the party in power are completely mum and virtually taken no action against those who are attacking the very ethos India.

Considering all these developments if the opposition parties think that they will be able to dislodge the present regime quite easily in the 2019 general elections, they are simply living in a fool’s paradise. Firstly, their track records while in power are no different from the present regime. Secondly, the opposition parties will have to provide a viable alternative. Simply on the basis of anti-Modi stance, the political parties should not expect the support of the electorate. If they are coming together, they will have to explain to the people of the country what brought them together. Only the so called Modi adhesive is not enough to catch the attention of the electorate. Beyond doubt Modi government has failed to deliver after making tall promises. This is not happening in India for the first time. Earlier, when the present opposition parties were in power, they also did the same. So, only by coming together they will not be able to defeat the present regime. To achieve the feat, they first will have to re-establish their credentials.

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By The Editorial Team Updated: Mar 20, 2018 9:57:15 pm
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