Rahul Gandhi will lead a ‘Save Farmer March’ in Bargarh district during his two-day visit to Odisha to highlight alleged failure of both the Centre and BJD regime in the state in mitigating the plight of peasants. If Modi Government has allowed to lapse the land acquisition act ordinance then media must give credit to Congress — particularly – Rahul Gandhi. He was the only political leader, who constantly mounted pressure and mobilised national anti-land acquisition sentiments. Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to embark upon a two-day visit to Odisha which he will lead a Chasi Banchao Padyatra in Bargarh district which is witnessing suicide by farmers. In view of drought like situation, mainly in western Odisha where farmers are committing suicide due to crop loss and debt burden, the ‘Save Farmer March’ is being held to emphasise the urgent need to save the distressed peasants. So far, no timely step has been taken to ensure that the farmers who are facing crop loss should be covered in the insurance. After the major defeat in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi has proved to be an aggressive opposition leader and he is very nicely handling the issues of farmers across the country.
BJP won the general election by the huge majority last year. One of the key election promises that brought it to power was transparency and responsibility in governance. People trusted Modi during his election campaigns. Till date, most of the electoral promises made on that front remain on paper.
When the ruling party is having absolute majority, it has to continue in power till completion of five years. Then where is the question of celebration on completion of 100 days or one year like cinema movies. On the contrary, they can celebrate it at the end of their term conveying to people that these were their achievements during their regime. Besides, nowadays people are aware about the steps taken by the government and they can differentiate between right and wrong. Hence, my request is to the PM that he should continue his work without spending time on such flimsy celebrations and plan what should be done next. That will automatically bring honour to the PM’s Team.
Modi has individually shown glimpses of what he can do and think; here the best examples to cites are ‘Clean India Movement’ and ‘Girl Child Develop-ment’. I hope more such exclusive initiatives will be implemented in near future which can transform the nation’s image. In a democracy like India, one needs to be humble enough to accept the sheer scale of expectations. Chest thumping, sloganeering can only take you to some extent but nothing beyond that. Instead of resorting to headlines, he and his team should work for equitable, comprehensive and no melodramatic governance.
Land acquisition is another issue. Farmers are committing suicide but BJP points out at UPA government’s failure in protecting the interest of farmers. UPA has been voted out by the people of this country hoping that Modi would do something good for them, but after one and half years of ruling, BJP government is yet to come out of election campaign mode. They still accuse UPA and divert the crucial issues. Farmers and crusaders are on the street against the Land Acquisition Bill. The government has failed to explain how this bill will benefit them. They should explain to people that how their health would improve if the government destroys the environment. They can’t justify cut in budgets of education, research and development. How it will spur inventions and innovations? Tell them that the current account deficit has come down due to fall in oil prices not because of the steps taken by the government. Tell them, there are plenty of travel and some immature statements by the PM.
PM and his team have made a good beginning by initiating measures for good governance and development. However, the general perception among the middle class is that the delivery system does not keep pace with the promises made by PM last year. There are few examples which support my statement like Clean Ganges plan, Returning of Black Money, Construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya and many more. Nothing could be seen happening here; rather BJP’s national president giving a statement to media saying Black Money was Election ‘Jumla’, a gimmick used for election campaign purpose.
Besides some flaws, Modi has made it clear that his ideas regarding devolution of center’s powers to local governments. He said decentralization brings government closer to people. He wants administrative and technical empowerment of the local institutions to fight poverty by participating in planning and management of local development. He has initiated the financial inclusion program that aims to help provide a bank account for every household in the country, insurance and accident policy for all. His foreign outreach was aimed at industrialists and CEOs to contribute to the ‘Make in India’ program of his government; he has made efforts to engage with neighbours. He wants social justice and development of the poor as a part of national commitment. However, this entire year look like lip services by Modi. He failed to bring down inflation, dollars are going up whereas rupee is weakening, petrol and diesel prices are shooting up. Unemployment issue is on the rise. Plight of farmer and Jawans are still the same. There has been a rise in rape cases.
Modi and BJP had shown dreams to people but they are yet to fulfill the expectations of the citizens of this country. On the contrary, attacks on churches, reconversion, hate against minority, irresponsible statements by BJP leaders added fuel to the fire. Delhi elections and Patel’s agitation already indicated that people have started disowning Modi slowly and Bihar elections furthermore will give us the confirmation.
