Narendra Modi came to power with a lot of goodwill. He promised a new era and and a new beginning , but one year down the line one must ask the question that, has he performed better than the Congress and the previous government headed by ManMohan Singh? I remember ManMohan Singh in an interaction with the press before the elections was asked how will history judge him. He replied that he thought history will judge him better than the media. He further also said without naming Modi, that it would be a disaster if Modi became prime minister of India. At that time one was apt to dismiss the observations of ManMohan Singh. In any case he led the Congress party to its worst electoral defeat in history.
Modi was now the darling of the press and the media and he began to create a image of a superman. But one year down the line a thought is creeping in that perhaps after all is said and done Modi is a man who has legs of clay. Most of his cliches like "Ache Din" and " make in India" have not proceeded furher than the paper on which they are written. The fact is the Media started eulogizing Modi and ManMohan Singh became the favorite whipping boy.
One year later things appear to be changing and the honeymoon period seems to be going. Modi is now being seen for what he has achieved. Frankly I find that their are waves of discomfort over the social media and Industry as well as farmers and the common man. Corporate world is also coming to grips with the fact that nothing much has changed. I will quote Deepak Parekh , one of the respected figures in the world of business. He says there is still a lot of optimism about the Modi government, but nine moths down the line no changes are taking place and one wonders why it is taking so long to implement all that is promised.
We must remember that Modi came to power by promising a change and "Ache Din", however it looks like all this has not materialized. Though inflation is down, yet food inflation is at a height. The " make in India" slogan has resulted in nothing new happening on the industrial front and despite all his efforts the Chinese are investing $ 46 billion in Pakistan and a fraction of that in India. His silence on communal incidents is damming and he failed to realize that all investments have to come from Christian nations and they are not happy with the Modi government reaction to attacks on Christians. The "ghar wapsi" program initiated by the RSS is a tinder box and one wonders what the Modi government is trying to achieve. Can they convert back 25-30 million Christians to Hinduism? After all these people became Christians or Muslims because of inequality in Hindu society. The Christian nations are not happy and Indian industrialist Kirloskar has cautioned the government and Modi on this. He has articulated that Modi must not forget that all the countries from whom he is expecting investment are Christian.
Has life improved under Modi? have the rapes stopped. Have women become or feel more secure ? The answer is a big no, and worse the BJP partner, the Akali Dal is a big culprit. There is disquiet among the farmers and the suicides have not stopped. I wonder where the "ache din' are? or maybe Modi has a different meaning for this word.
The stock market is also in doldrums. after an initial euphoria it has gone down. Industrial production has not peaked and exports are where they were. problems are mounting by the day. Modi has also not honored his promise of One Rank One Pension ( OROP) for the soldiers, which was a slogan he repeated from roof tops. All in all apart from a plethora of foreign trips Modi has nothing to show. These foreign trips are good for media coverage , but what are the tangible benefits and have the "ache Din" come ? one year is a fair amount of time and Modi has not shown that he can execute what he had promised. There are so many things, a uniform Civil Code, abolition of Article 370 on Kashmir and one finds that Modi is no better than the Congress.
Modi must beware that he is squandering the good will of the people. Rahul Gandhi is making a comeback. Modi must remember that the Indian people are now impatient and he better execute what he has promised. He must move forward and lead this great nation to its destiny, otherwise the bell tolls for all and that includes Modi.