Dear Modi, you will be the biggest loser if Parliament turns into akhara for ego-tussles

Expecting the Congress to let Parliament function and the government pass key reforms is political naiveté. What does the Congress gain if the government succeeds in bringing economy back on the track, attracting foreign investment, rebooting growth and generating jobs? Nada. At the end of the day, every step the Narendra Modi government takes for the benefit of the economy pushes the Congress two steps closer to its extinction. The Congress is completely discredited; it lacks charismatic leadership at the Centre, mass leaders in states and committed workers on the ground. The party’s only hope of revival lies in Modi’s failure; in the metamorphosis of the achche din slogan into a comic interlude between two polls. Those who are making emotional appeals to the Congress to let Parliament enact laws are wasting their tears. In Indian politics, as the BJP’s behaviour in the previous Lok Sabha suggests, there are no trophies for fair play. Nice guys lose their deposits in polls and voice in Parliament. The Congress has got its revenge, it has jammed the brakes on reforms. After a month of monsoon session of Parliament, it has yanked us back into 2013; we are once again stuck with an unfortunate GST Bill and are debating yet another land acquisition law. Since the Congress wants to keep India tethered to the past for the future of its dynasty, the onus of running Parliament, batting for reforms is completely Modi’s. Unfortunately, Modi is behaving like a batsman stuck on the crease because of some nasty sledging and sharp fielding. He should know the spectators are running out of patience and if he continues to plod, chants of ‘Modi Hai Hai’ are not too many dot balls away. [caption id=“attachment_2389766” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] Modi will have to change his strategy. He will have to break the gridlock of antagonism, hubris and confrontation that marks the current brand of BJP politics. He will have to ensure that Parliament doesn’t turn into an akhara for ego-tussles and personality clashes. Otherwise, the Congress will continue to have its way. How can he do it? The answer is simple: he will have to prove that he is the metaphorical 56-inch chest. He will have to show bravado, magnanimity and leadership–the hallmarks of large-heartedness. No government can succeed if its leader prefers to sit on his high horse and let a battle rage when a conciliatory gesture can bring an end to the conflict. Indian politics works in mysterious ways; backroom deals, inter-party confabulations and secret liaisons often work better than heft and hubris. One example would suffice. In 1990-91, the Saffron Parivar was threatening to start another round of kar seva for Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The then Prime Minister was wary of the fallout since the country was yet to come to terms with the violence in the aftermath of LK Advani’s rath yatra and his subsequent arrest. So, the PM asked former V-P Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who was then the chief minister of Rajasthan, to intervene. Because of Shekhawat’s efforts, the agitation was deferred. The Opposition strategy in the monsoon session suggests Modi doesn’t have anybody in the opposition camp to take his olive branch to rivals. This is as much a strategic failure as a flaw in the PM’s personality. If he wants consensus on key issues, Modi will have to find friends outside his core team of Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley. So, lesson number one from the monsoon washout: Modi will have to reach out to opponents; he will have to treat them as collaborators, not enemies who have to be vanquished. He shouldn’t forget the battle got over on May 16. Writing for the Indian Express, Pratap Bhanu Mehta (LINK) argues there is no sign of a brave, bold PM who has the confidence to take risks. He has been replaced by a meek_, maun_ Modi, who is just a caricature of the man we saw in the 2014 campaign. The momentum is gone, the shine, as Rahul Bajaj said, is going. Modi’s slogans like Swacch Bharat are a joke; the social initiatives from his first year are foggy memories and his report card on reforms isn’t too impressive. A strange stupor has gripped the government. The Congress has been able to block Parliament because the common man isn’t too bothered about things like GST–people know it has been stuck for more than five years and yet the skies haven’t fallen–or crafty campaigns like ‘Make in India.’ The aam aadmi doesn’t care less if Parliament debates these laws or wastes its time shouting and screaming. The government could have countered the Congress by pushing policy initiatives that affect the daily life of Indians. For instance, it could have punctured the Congress by bringing in the one rank, one pension rule and discussing the issue in Parliament. The Congress wouldn’t have dared to block it or disrupt the House for fear of a backlash. But, Modi failed to take a brave step forward. Lesson number two, Modi needs a brave, bold, people-centric strategy to counter the Congress. And finally, Modi needs some luck. If the BJP loses Bihar, the opposition would return to Parliament with renewed vigour, claiming greater political legitimacy and moral high ground. Once that happens, Parliament will remain stuck in 2013 till the next election. And the Congress will win, in spite of getting wiped out in 2014.