The PMs that have brought a wave of change in India

By Deepak Parvatiyar

June 2, 2015

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It is remarkable that Narendra Modi – the fifteenth person to assume the office of the Prime Minister of India – has avoided references to the country’s first prime minister late Jawaharlal Nehru in his public utterances. Ever since becoming the prime minister, Modi mentioned Nehru only twice – on his 125th Birthday on 14th November last year, and thereafter on his death anniversary on 27th May this year.

His tributes to Nehru were, if one may say so, cosmetic, rather a routine affair and could be judged by the content of his tweets which on both the occasions were remarkably the same. Consider them:

“Today we mark the 125th birth anniversary of our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. My tributes to him. We remember Pandit Nehru’s efforts during the freedom struggle and his role as the first Prime Minister of India,” PM Modi tweeted from Brisbane, where he had gone to attend a G-20 summit.

“Tributes to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his Punya Tithi. We remember his contribution as a freedom fighter and as our first Prime Minister,” he tweeted on 27th May.

In his first ever Independence-Day address to the nation from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort too, Modi had refrained from naming Nehru anywhere in his speech even as he named Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and yet another prime minister late Lal Bahadur Shastri for their contribution to the development of India. But the Nehru clan – that comprised of former prime ministers late Indira Gandhi and late Rajiv Gandhi besides Nehru – had no mention in his speech. (Refer to http://www.elections.in/blog/narendra-modis-15th-august-speech-analysis/).

What though is obvious is that present day political considerations made Modi snub the Nehru family at a time when he identifies Rajiv’s widow Sonia and their son Rahul as key political opponents. After all, he did heap praises, that he has done more than once, on another Congress prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri! For that matter, it may be pertinent to recall what he said about yet another Congress stalwart Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel when Modi was still the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He had triggered off a controversy then by saying in a public rally in the presence of the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that “every Indian still regrets that Sardar Patel did not become the first prime minister”.

With regard to Modi’s relations with his immediate predecessor Dr. Singh, a recent meeting between the two says it all. There has been a controversy after the meeting that whether it was a courtesy visit by Dr Singh or was he invited by Modi. In any case, the pun cannot be missed in Modi’s tweet following the meeting: “Very happy to meet Dr Manmohan Singh ji and welcomed him back to 7RCR. We had a great meeting,” Modi tweeted after having hosted the former premiere at his official residence. Mark the words “welcome him back to 7 RCR” (or 7 Race Course Road – the official residence of the Prime Minister of India). Why should Modi reiterate that Singh does not stay there anymore?

Significantly the meeting had taken place on a day when Singh had very uncharacteristically attacked the Modi government in his speech at a convention of the National Students’ Union of India, wherein he claimed: “Institutions of Democracy are under threat. The entire edifice of the welfare state is now being dismantled in the guise of promoting faster economic growth…The past is continually being rewritten to promote a highly biased and communal view… Dissent is being suppressed.”

Singh indeed bided his time before he finally opened up with his scathing attack. Throughout electioneering Modi had missed no opportunity to attack the then PM, Dr. Singh, as a weak, indecisive prime minister who had even “shamed” the country by saying that he was “pained” when the Indo-US nuclear deal was stuck midway. (Modi’s election speech in Dehgam, April 2014).

Yet, Modi and the BJP, who were opposed to the Indo-US nuclear deal, actually conceded it to be a cornerstone of India-US relationship! Just consider that Modi’s visit to the US in September last year also resulted in a major breakthrough on the issues of Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal wherein a Contact Group was set up to explore ways on advancing the implementation of civil nuclear energy cooperation.(http://www.elections.in/blog/narendra-modis-us-visit-indias-arrival-in-the-big-league/)

The tussle between the two prime ministers – one former and another the present – bring the focus on the contributions of the Prime Ministers considering the enormous influence they wield in shaping the destiny of the country.

It goes without saying that Nehru – largely considered the architect of modern India – and his Nehruvian brand of mix-economy guided the destiny of India for over four decades after Independence, till Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao liberalized Indian economy in face of a severe balance of payment crisis.

Nehru’s positioning of India in the forefront of the non aligned movement in face of a bi-polar world divided between the USA and the erstwhile USSR, his thrust on planned economy and his idea of socialism have either been outdated or have been challenged in recent times. The Modi government, within months after assuming office, junked the Planning Commission – a brainchild of Jawaharlal Nehru – and replaced it with NITI Aayog.

Many also hold Nehru responsible for the partition. (refer to http://www.elections.in/blog/real-story-behind-india-pakistan-partition/). Even his move to approach the United Nations for a plebiscite in Kashmir is seen by his detractors as the root of the Kashmir problem. His Panchsheel treaty with China had proved fruitless as it failed to prevent the only war between the two countries which proved a disaster for India.

Yet, as eminent historian, late Professor Bipan Chandra noted in his chapter on Nehru in “Prime Ministers of India – Bharat Bhagya Vidhata”, his “commitment to democracy and civil liberties was total”. In support, Chandra alludes to Nehru’s statement that the latter made in 1956 while referring to the question of subordinating democracy to planning, economic development and social justice. Nehru had then said: “If the democratic framework is subordinated to something else, it really means that the democratic framework is given up to that extent. I do not see any possibility, nor do I consider it desirable, to give up that democratic framework.”

The disastrous China war had put the morale of the entire county at a low ebb and it was at this juncture that the leadership of Shastri, who had succeeded Nehru after his death, proved crucial. It was under his command that India defeated Pakistan in the 1965 war that resurrected the image of the country and restored its pride. The small demeanour of Shastri betrayed his steely resolve. His slogan – ‘Jai Jawaan Jai Kisaan” – caught the imagination of the people, and re-instilled the confidence of the country in its ability to sustain and defend itself against all hostilities. During his short tenure before he died under mysterious circumstances in the USSR, he had already launched a platform for his successor, Indira, to transform India into a world power. Indira emulated him not just by defeating Pakistan in the 1971 war that resulted in the partition of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh, but also by making India a nuclear power.

Indira ruled the country with an iron fist and even declared a state of emergency when she lost a legal battle over her election to parliament. Many critics link her period with institutionalization of corruption in the country. This was the turning point for democracy. She lost the elections in 1977 but returned with vengeance in 1980. However, her mishandling of the Punjab crisis proved fatal for her and she was gunned down by her Sikh bodyguards. Yet, by the time of her death, she had dominated the public life like no other leader except her father, Nehru.

Given a choice of selecting five most influential prime ministers of the country, obviously Nehru, Shastri, Indira and Rao automatically select themselves for the role they played in shaping the country’s destiny. The fifth could be a toss between Rajiv- who introduced computers to the country that reshaped its destiny and led to the emergence of India as an IT superpower, and Atal Behari Vajpayee- who not just steadied theliberalisation process initiated by the Rao government, but reasserted India’s powerful global presence with a victory against Pakistan in Kargil and the Pokharan explosions. Yet, while Rajiv’s name was dragged into the infamous Bofors kickback scam that saw a humiliating defeat for his party in the 1989 general elections, Vajpayee’s ‘India Shining’ campaign failed to cut much ice with the electorates in 2004 when his government was voted out in the general elections.

Here one may briefly mention the contribution of late VP Singh also. He became the prime minister by brandishing his tag of being an honest politician. He sought to champion the cause of the lower castes and introduced reservation for them. However, he lost the race as he ended up dividing the Indian community on caste basis! He could never resuscitate his political career thereafter.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, who as theFINANCE minister in the Rao government had hogged the limelight for the opening up of Indian economy, though misses the golden opportunity of figuring in this list of top five PMs largely owing to his disastrous second term as PM that was marked with scams and the prime minister had himself confessed to be a prisoner of “coalition politics”. Yet his first term was remarkable in terms of economic growth. He did fashion many schemes for social and financial inclusion, for which he rues now, that Modi is taking all the credit! (refer to http://www.elections.in/blog/has-modi-government-merely-repackaged-former-upa-governments-key-schemes/)

As for Modi, he has just started his journey at the helm
!