“Ab ki baar 400 paar”,
Every time I hear the above mindless and overly optimistic rant from the pro-BJP frantic, who talk Modi, walk Modi, and laugh Modi…my heart goes out to their skewed thinking.
Little do they know that a hyper majority govt, i.e. a 400+ seats BJP government in a house of 543 will empower the ruling party to carry out their not so democracy-friendly iron-fist policies in an even more thumping manner.
I won’t deny the fact that the ruling party in the centre has done some phenomenal work in multiple domains. From geopolitical wonders, to impressive feats in defence; from alleviating the day-to-day misery of the common man; to the mind-boggling developments in the fintech industries; from the metro cities matching pace with their sister cities abroad, to the startups and unicorns thriving in almost every nook and corner of the country; from the notorious border countries Pakistan and China finding their belligerent intentions restrained, to the bureaucrats, business barons and political executives getting lesser indulged in the menace of corruption and other unethical practises; from bringing terrorist activities much under control, to exploring the Moon and other world like never before - the Lotus Govt has certainly done some impeccable works that must be accoladed with open hearts.
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| Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash |
However, in a country of over 1.4 billion people, over eight-ten positive factors alone don’t give the ruling party a license to win the elections by a dominating victory and subjugate the opposition to an absolute nil. Noble efforts must be consistently put in by the govt to remain in power. Negatives must be gradually eradicated, loopholes and lacunae must be filled, and the ill-practises must be brought to a complete halt.
If I’ll start enumerating the downs of the government, the list will definitely go equally long, if not longer. From failing to develop a positive relationship with important countries including Canada, Turkiye and Maldives (China, Pakistan altogether a different case), to still relying on France, the US, and Israel for importing a heavy bunch of weaponries; from the middle class and poor going poorer, to the fintech developments not reaching the last mile (reason being the receiver’s intellectual and technological incompetence); from metro cities languishing with real problems like traffic, air pollution, and scarcity of water, to thousands of startups failing to see the light of the day; from Pakistan and China developing an all-weather relationship and posing herculean challenges every now and then, to the menace of corruption still sabotaging almost all rungs of society; from democracy in tatters in Chandigarh, to activists speaking all sense finding themselves behind the bars; from anti-govt media and opposite wing influencers and YouTubers getting their wings clipped, to extremists especially the pro-Khalistani fringe elements denigrating the sovereignty of the nation; from the law n order going all haywire amid heinous crime in Hathras and Unnao, to the UT of Delhi being snatched with almost all the legislative and executive powers through various ordinances– the Lotus govt no doubt is still there in the dirty waters. This certainly gives them a conducive ambience to flourish, but at the same time splashes much dirt in the form of insecurity, poverty, illiteracy, cost and quality of living, and unemployment in the lives of crores of people.
I won’t be saying a word about who one needs to vote in the upcoming six phases of elections (one being already completed). But I would certainly persuade the mature, intellectual, and literate voters (won’t waste efforts on the ones I mentioned in the first paragrah), to pay attention to the fact that an overly powerful/hyper majority government will no doubt add on to their positives but at the same time might make the negatives more severe, and further deteriorate the compromised state of democracy in the country.
Winning elections and the seats that you deserve are excellent and you should. However, your intention should not be to win the seats that you don’t have a strong hold on by indulging in crooked measures including prosecuting the entire opposition, weaponizing the central agencies, playing the religion card, making the innocent suffer, unjustly favouring the powerful, and selectively targeting the critics.
Keeping all the aspects into consideration and brainstorming over a litany of things, I have finally come to the conclusion that this govt do deserve to win the elections, but, certainly not a whopping 400+ seats. A robust opposition always plays an integral role in a flourishing democracy. {Not to mention that the present opposition (the INDI Alliance) not doing its part well, in fact doing it bad}. Hence, the ruling party winning the 2024 LS elections is absolutely fine and will do good for the country in the long run. But, a 400+ for them is a nay-nay.