Will Modi-Shah model conquer India again?
Having reduced the BJP and the government to a two-man show, governance and democracy have taken a beating
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 68, first met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, 53, in the early 1990s. The partnership between saheb (sir) and his adhyakshiji (chief) began when Modi ensured a ticket for Shah to contest the Gujarat assembly elections in 1996. Shah was only 32 at the time, but ambitious beyond belief. He had wanted to become Gujarat youth BJP president. But Keshubhai Patel, Modi’s sworn enemy, derailed the plan. A furious Modi then engineered a bigger prize for Shah, securing his selection as the secretary-general of the All-India BJP Youth Organisation.
The duo’s alliance endured even when Shah was jailed for his alleged role in encounters and even when he was externed from Gujarat. The two have reduced a once robust cadre-based party, which took pride in its inner party democracy, to a pale shadow of itself. Even Modi’s cabinet is filled with feeble leaders who are unable to exercise any authority.
Every leader in the BJP concedes that Modi and Shah have reduced the party and the government to a two-man show. It was two-and-a-half with Arun Jaitley, the finance minister, until a kidney transplant and the Vijay Mallya controversy rendered him ineffective.
A leader in the BJP’s Margdarshak Mandal, a glorified oldage home, where Modi and Shah ruthlessly consigned all senior leaders who were a threat to Modi, says angrily: “They are partners in crime. Modi needed someone to act with a heavy hand against people such as Pravin Togadia. And Shah provided the thuggish edge.”
Senior leaders say that both Modi and Shah have a sort of provincial attitude that sees any compromise as a defeat. This has ensured a Cabinet filled with people of dubious qualifications because they pose no threat to Modi. The result is a lacklustre performance by the government.
A senior leader with a very important portfolio admits that he has no real powers. He points out that in the history of the BJP, the prime minister and party chief have never been from the same state, but this convention was brushed aside by the duo who have also ensured that all senior IAS officers from Gujarat wield all the power levers of the central government. “Currently, it is Gujarat ruling India. We in the BJP wonder when India will take back control?” says a minister from Uttar Pradesh.
Safety valve
Shah’s recent statement that “if the BJP wins 2019 we will rule for 50 years” shocked even the quiescent in the BJP. Shah virtually put India on notice that if the BJP wins again, even the Constitution of the republic would be up for review.
Modi and Shah are dogmatic, rigid and don’t take well to the niceties of democracy. It took the Supreme Court to point out that “dissent provided a safety valve in a democracy”.
The duo have been together since Modi was Gujarat chief minister. The only source of friction is Shah’s dream of becoming Gujarat chief minister. Shah engineered the removal of Anandiben Patel as chief minister and the incumbent, Vijay Rupani, functions as Shah’s governor to the state. Modi seems to be denying him this prize. So this may eventually undermine the duo’s alliance.
With the economy stalling and tall promises undelivered, they are searching for new enemies to ensure polarisation and another victory. Modi will be remembered for the dodgy demonetisation. Shah and Modi will be remembered for reducing politics to a zero-sum game, destroying democracy in the BJP and unleashing lawless lynchings. They have reduced the BJP and India to their image. Will this new India of lying and lynching last? We will know in 2019.