Top Controversies under Modi Government
June 23, 2015
Published in elections.com (http://www.elections.in/blog/top-controversies-under-modi-government/)
The latest controversy involving ‘fugitive’ business tycoon Lalit Modi, who lives in exile in Britain, and the ‘undue favour’ to him by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and the chief minister of BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, is being considered as the first big credibility test of the one-year-old Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
But this is not a first. Controversies have dogged the Modi government right from day one, when he announced his team of ministers. At least 13 of his cabinet ministers had faced various charges of corruption! One of the ministers, Nihalchand Meghwal, was a rape accused and was named in an FIR lodged by a 24-year-old married woman from Jaipur in 2011!
Modi Government’s Decisions That Sparked Off Controversies
In the last one year, the government has indeed taken many decisions that sparked off controversies, stirred up larger debates and public mobilisation on issues of proprietaries and conventions. Whether it was the decision to replace the governors appointed by the preceding government or to dismantle the Planning Commission of India – Modi showed an undisputed resolve to court controversies.
Induction of Smirit Irani in Union Cabinet: He appointed and persisted with Smriti Irani as the union human resources development (HRD) minister in spite of her educational lapses. (Irani’s information about her educational qualification in her two election affidavits had mismatched – enough to spark off a controversy to be lapped up by the Opposition parties!). Irani’s tenure as union HRD minister saw the IIT-Delhi director Raghunath K Shevgaonkar resigning, reportedly, amid pressure from the HRD ministry to release nearly Rs 70 lakh to former IIT-Delhi faculty and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, as salary dues for the period between 1972 and 1991. Eminent scientist Anil Kakodkar, too, resigned as the chairman of the board of governors of IIT-Bombay over differences with the HRD Ministry regarding the selection of IIT directors. But the very next day, the HRD ministry claimed that Kakodkar had withdrawn his resignation.
Appointment of Giriraj Singh
Modi even went on to appoint Giriraj Singh as his minister in November 2014. In April 2014, he had publicly rebuked Singh for making a controversial statement during the poll campaign that “Muslims unhappy with Modi should go to Pakistan”.
Land Acquisition Bill
Another major controversy was the push by the Modi government to the land acquisition bill, which the opposition labels as ‘anti-farmer’ because of the absence of the ‘consent clause’ for acquiring the land for certain purposes.
Appointment of Judges
Moreover, the government’s move to scrap the collegium system and introduce the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill was resisted by a large section of the legal fraternity, forcing the government to make several changes to the provisions. The new bill was aimed at appointing new judges through six-member Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC). Many in the legal circles considered it as interference by the government in the matters of the judiciary.
Film Censorship
Another controversy was created when the newly-appointed Central Board of Film Certification circulated a list of 28 swear words that it thought were objectionable. The list was later withdrawn.
Controversy over German Language
On international front, a controversy erupted following the government’s decision to drop German as an optional third language in schools. The matter went to the Supreme Court and was also raised with the prime minister by German Chancellor at the G20 summit.
Statements That Whipped Up Controversies in the last one year under Modi Government
The controversial statements by Modi’s ministers, too, generated enough heat in the political circles – the latest being Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar saying that “We have to neutralise terrorists through terrorists only”. The minister of state for Information and Broadcasting, Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore, courted controversy for his remarks following the Indian Army’s covert operation in Myanmar : “I think this message is now very clear to all those who harbour intentions of terror on our country…If there are groups within a country that harbour terror intentions, we will choose a time and place of hitting them”. This invited sharp reactions from Pakistan.
The trend of loud-mouthing had started on the very first day of the Modi government assuming office when minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh claimed that the process to repeal Article 370 — which provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) — had begun. The remark drew sharp reactions with the then J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah saying that Article 370 was the only constitutional link between the state and the rest of India.
Some of Modi’s ministers have not felt any compunction in airing their communal views either, the most famous being the case of minister of state, Niranjan Jyoti, asking the voters in the run up to the Delhi state elections, “Aapko tay karna hai ki Dilli mein sarkar Ramzadon ki banegi ya haramzadon ki… (you have to decide whether Delhi will get a government of those born of Ram or of those born illegitimately).”
Statements on Love Jihaad, Ghar Wapsi by the so called ‘fringe players’ in the BJP, too, kept the communal sentiments alive throughout the year. The beef-ban decision, too, created further uproar not just among the Muslims and Christians but also in certain north eastern states where beef is a staple diet. What added fuel to the fire was union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s assertion that those who wanted to eat beef should migrate to Pakistan.
Lyman Beecher (1775-1863), who was one of the best-known and most influential clergymen of his day in the USA, once said, “No great advance has been made in science, politics, or religion without controversy.” How true! Modi seems to have internalised the saying, as he and controversies remain inseparable.
Modi’s Brush With Controversies
It won’t be any exaggeration to say that Modi actually thrives on controversies.
Remember in 1995, when the then Gujarat BJP strongman Shankarsinh Vaghela (who is now a Congress leader) had revolted against the party, his initial target was Modi – the then general secretary of the party’s state unit!
Modi by then was already branded as a controversial ‘super chief minister’ who wielded considerable influence over CM Keshubhai Patel and Vaghela managed to dislodge him from Gujarat to effect a truce. Modi was shifted to Delhi as one of the national secretaries of the BJP but the truce remained short lived and Vaghela, guided by his ambition, finally split the party in 1996 to form his own Rashtriya Janata Party.
Modi, thereafter, rose from strength to strength to finally become the all powerful national general secretary (organization) of the BJP and thereafter, the chief minister of Gujarat in 2001, and finally the Prime Minister in 2014.
Yet, controversies refused to leave him and the infamous Gujarat riots of 2002 dragged him into long drawn legal battles over his own role in the riots and his administration’s failure to control it. He was even denied a US visa on that count!
Even his canvassing as the prime ministerial candidate raised enough excitement the way Modi broke all campaigning records by covering a phenomenal three lakh kilometres to address an incredible 440 rallies besides 3D holographics, Chai Pe Charcha and other initiatives and an advertising blitzkrieg. Much was questioned then on the amount of money spent on campaigning and whether it breached the limit on poll expenses or not. During campaigning also, he courted enough controversy by favoured inclusion of the then Congress MP Vitthal Radadiya, better known for flaunting a gun at the toll booth when he was asked to pay the toll.
Besides, Modi showed no compunction for taking advantage of archaic poll laws by:
– Releasing the BJP’s poll manifesto on the very first day of the election (7 April 2014)
– Filing his nominations from Vadodara as well as Varanasi on a polling day (9 April and 24 April ), to attract media attention, which, in no uncertain way, influenced the voters.
– Posing for a selfie after casting his vote in Vadodara that showed his ‘voting finger’ while holding the BJP election symbol in hand.
– He also made a public speech that created uproar with the opposition accusing him of influencing voters. While First Information Reports were filed against him, the EC, too, booked him for violating the Representation of the People Act, 1951. However, later, Modi was absolved of all charges since he had made the speech outside the restricted 100-metre radius.
– Releasing a video seeking votes, specifically mentioning Varanasi (the seat from where he sought election), bang in the middle of the final day of polls on 1 May 2014. Yet, he escaped the EC’s action because the law prohibits campaign activity only in poll-bound areas and the video message was uploaded from Ahmedabad. (Refer http://www.elections.in/blog/how-fair-is-the-indian-election-process/ ).
– Filing his nominations from Vadodara as well as Varanasi on a polling day (9 April and 24 April ), to attract media attention, which, in no uncertain way, influenced the voters.
– Posing for a selfie after casting his vote in Vadodara that showed his ‘voting finger’ while holding the BJP election symbol in hand.
– He also made a public speech that created uproar with the opposition accusing him of influencing voters. While First Information Reports were filed against him, the EC, too, booked him for violating the Representation of the People Act, 1951. However, later, Modi was absolved of all charges since he had made the speech outside the restricted 100-metre radius.
– Releasing a video seeking votes, specifically mentioning Varanasi (the seat from where he sought election), bang in the middle of the final day of polls on 1 May 2014. Yet, he escaped the EC’s action because the law prohibits campaign activity only in poll-bound areas and the video message was uploaded from Ahmedabad. (Refer http://www.elections.in/blog/how-fair-is-the-indian-election-process/ ).
How can one describe Modi’s penchant for inviting controversies? The PM has proven organisational skills and abilities to test the limits and take bold decisions. At best, it can be said that he is not afraid of courting controversies. Yet, he sought to avoid one when his government decided to skip Surya Namaskar on International Yoga Day on 21 July
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