In just less than three months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be completing his first year of the second term in office after he won a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha polls held in 2019. Modi’s aides and ruling party members do not deny that this period has thrown up such huge challenges for his leadership that some critics even question whether he retains his old popularity. In a sort of requiem for the present times, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chose to pen an edit-page piece “with a very heavy heart.” He listed three areas of deep concern — the trinity of social disharmony, economic slowdown and a global health epidemic caused by COVID-19 disease. Even BJP leaders acknowledge that, as the ex-PM pointed out, this “combination of risks hurts the soul of India and also diminishes our global standing as an economic and democratic power in the world.”
Modi, who closely follows his predecessor’s pronouncements, may not entirely disagree with his prognosis, but differ in the final conclusion about his government’s capabilities to weather the challenges. But where Modi and his party aides would certainly differ is in identifying the genesis of these problems and the solutions therein for a final resolution. Unwilling to be caught in a senseless blame game before riot-hit North-East Delhi’s return to normalcy, Modi has so far wanted Parliament to avoid vitriolic debate on the violence that has claimed 50-plus lives and left scores with gunshot wounds, besides leaving several houses, shops and vehicles gutted.
The horrible cycle of events started with protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act turning violent near the Jamia Millia Islamia in mid-December and ultimately ended up with showing the ugly side of the inter-community relations in times of Islamophobia — in areas known for criminal gangs, outsider-immigrant clash of interests and presence of terrorist sleeper cells. A lot of reportage in the western media, which have gone by coverage done by virulent anti-Modi outlets, have described the incidents as a “pogrom” against the Muslims, which have deeply upset the Modi government. Authorities have not minced words in describing the reports appearing in foreign papers as “highly one-sided” in a bid to show one community as perpetrators of the riots when available facts have indicated otherwise.
The mob attacks on police officials, causing death of a head constable and an Intelligence Bureau (IB) employee, and grievous assault on a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) are pointers to other narratives of the violence. The discovery of acid cans stored on roof-tops in some localities and launchers for molotov cocktails are cited by them as further indications of a well-prepared plan by groups, which later bore the brunt of a counter-offensive.What has shocked many is the extensive use of country-made firearms in the riots and instances where “outsiders” led the mobsters and some policemen were said to be not acting in time. However, with a new Delhi Police Commissioner finally in charge, there is a sense of urgency to restore order and getting down to tracking the actual perpetuators who unleashed savage violence on numerous families.
Of course, Amit Shah finds his track record of handling challenges since the annulment of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir coming under intense scrutiny. There is speculation over why the PM asked high-ranking National Security Adviser Ajith Doval to visit Delhi’s North-East areas to restore confidence among the communities and police personnel. On the other hand, the Opposition sees time running out to pin down Shah if the situation returns to normalcy in Delhi’s troubled localities too soon. Hence, the Congress MPs are more aggressive than ever before in the Lok Sabha where Speaker Om Birla has not taken kindly to their acts of carrying placards, rushing to the well, surrounding his desk and tearing up and throwing up papers at the chair.
Consequently, the treasury benches are restive too, and blame the Congress, Left and AAP leaders for inciting the anti-CAA protesters to get violent and even disrupt US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Capital. In the meantime, the Delhi government of the re-elected Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has realised the magnitude of the onerous task of getting riot-hit colonies back on their feet. Kejriwal walks on the razor’s edge under attack from his one-time admirers who see his balancing acts, including silence, as pandering to pro-Hindu voters. It is the handling of the corona contagion that engages Modi’s full attention. Not willing to be caught unprepared on this score, Modi has led a team of officials to act fast on detecting contacts, containing them and preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Once well known in Delhi as the State Health Minister who popularised Pulse Polio campaign in mid-90s, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan’s moment of reckoning is back again as the Centre’s pointsman for determining how well India handles COVID-19. His first tenure as Modi’s health minister lasted only for five months in 2014 when he was surprisingly replaced by J P Nadda. It was in the backdrop of a row over the AIIMS chief vigilance officer. Modi brought Vardhan back as health minister after the 2019 polls.
Shekhar Iyer
The writer is a senior journalist. This column will appear every fortnight