Bharat’s democracy is at a decisive stage of a long-distance race. After lagging behind in the initial stretch, it has staged a spectacular comeback.
But as she approaches the crucial final laps, will she be tempted to look back, lose speed, and fall behind again?
This is not an ordinary general election. There are extremely important things at stake; advantages that India rather not fritter away.
Let us take a quick look at five invaluable head starts which India currently enjoys under Narendra Modi but may lose if it decides to flip the channel on a whim.
First, a stable government. The biggest reason why foreign direct investment nearly doubled from USD 45.15 billion in 2013-14 to USD 83.57 billion in 2022-23 is because of that stability, besides sweeping reforms. Militarily, it has stood up to China and flew warplanes into Pakistan and bombed its terror camps.
If we choose to regress back to the coalition era, policy paralysis, weak and chaotic governance and frequent change of government is certain.
Add to it dictatorial and vengeful impulses of Congress and regional leaders like Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, and Uddhav Thackeray.
Second, the economic roadmap will be torn to shreds. A glimpse of what can be is Rahul Gandhi’s desperate and dangerous promises like paying the poor Rs 1 lakh a year. With 30 crore below poverty line families, that figure would be Rs 30 lakh crore a year. India’s 2023-24 Budget was Rs 45 lakh crore. So, if the Congress comes to power and decides to honour its promise, it would bankrupt the country with alarming efficiency and swiftness.
From the distinct possibility of becoming the third largest economy by 2027-28, India may quickly unravel into a basket case if the current Opposition swears in this June.
Third, India’s civilisational revival under Modi will stop, if not carefully dismantled by an I.N.D.I. Alliance hotchpotch. From boycotting Ayodhya Ram Mandir pran pratistha to mocking PM Modi’s undersea tribute to Lord Krishna’s now-submerged Dwarka city, the Congress and Gandhis have shown great disdain for the Hindu faith and Bharat’s glorious heritage. Karnataka is a prime example of how as soon as the Congress got back power, it mulled striking down the hijab ban in schools, booked the shopkeeper who faced of Islamist violence for merely playing Hanuman Chalisa, and tried to cover-up for love jihad cases like the murder of Neha Hiremath by Mohammed Fayaz. West Bengal’s many Islamist tyrannies under Mamata Banerjee, killing of Palghar sadhus under Uddhav Thackeray and wanton missionary conversions under MK Stalin, Bhagwant Mann or Jagan Reddy are pointers to what the future might hold in the alliance manages to cobble up a government at the Centre.
Fourth is foreign policy. In private conversations, even some hardcore Communists in Kolkata, for instance, admit that there is none better than the trio of Narendra Modi, S Jaishankar, and Ajit Doval to navigate the murky swamps of a conflict-torn and messy multipolar world.
From vaccine diplomacy during Covid to rescue missions in the Gulf and from leading G-20 to becoming the voice of the Global South, India’s tremendous achievements in foreign policy would likely crumble if a coalition government with various pulls took over.
Fifth and finally, the many checks on corruption that Narendra Modi placed through tax reforms, digital payments, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, or real estate regulations would most likely be undone by a fragile alliance which has a limited time to fill up its coffers and most of whom have been habitually corrupt.
The mere possibility, albeit a very remote one, of I.N.D.I. Alliance ruling India is frightful. It will definitely push Bharat back, if not cripple it for decades again. Which is why the value of each vote goes way beyond a bottle of whisky, a wad of notes, or a bout of wokeness.
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