Modi govt needs more than mere words

Some exaggerated self-congratulatory rhetoric is normal at a function to mark a milestone. In that respect, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in New Delhi on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of the establishment of his government did not disappoint. The event, Ek Nayi Subah, was telecast live on Doordarshan. But this is just where the government might benefit from exercising greater caution. With lakhs watching on television, word play and attacks on the Opposition — and the media — are likely to come up short when the governmental record in meeting expectations is basically thin.

Mr Modi began talking about corruption under the rule of the Congress-led UPA in the Lok Sabha election campaign of 2014 and has persisted with the theme in the past two years at nearly every forum he has commanded. Saturday was no different. To those looking for results, this could seem like diversionary defensiveness.

In the two years of Modi raj, there has been much talk of change and development, but nearer the bone the truth is that employment has not looked up, prices of essentials are high, private investment doggedly refuses to move up, manufacturing and exports are down, and the common man faces no less corruption than he did before. In sum, there is not much to excite him. If the BJP won the Assam election, it was fundamentally because the Congress government it succeeds had been in office for 15 long years.

The Prime Minister said that the people had to choose between “vikaswad” and “virodhwad”, or development versus obstructionism. The implication is that his government’s development gambit was being obstructed by the Opposition. But how so? True, the Congress staunchly opposed in the Rajya Sabha the government’s move to overhaul the land acquisition law brought by the UPA just a year prior on the ground that the changes being sought to be introduced by the Modi regime were anti-farmer. Nearly every party backed the Congress on this, including those in the ruling coalition. Keeping in mind that particular instance, which became the landmark case of the Congress’ opposition to a government measure, the development versus obstruction rhetoric falls flat.

The Congress also opposed the Modi government’s version of the Goods and Services Tax legislation — aimed at making the country a common market — and demanded certain changes. But lacking skill for negotiation, the government refused to budge and the important measure, which had first been sought to be brought by the UPA, still lies on the shelf. In the remaining three years, the government might do well to switch from talk to action.