Modi’s 7-year premiership spans nationalism to national crisis

New Delhi(Ramakant Chaudhary): The nation has followed the mantra of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' radio address that was timed to coincide with the occasion of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s seventh anniversary. As the mood of the nation is somber as well as the emotion of countrymen is badly bruised owing to losing their loved ones in the face of second coming of monstrous Corona waves, the NDA government under the premiership of Narendra Modi has to work hard to care their feelings making them smile again and enabling them to be in the chorus of “Sabka Vishwas”.
With its landslide victory having 336 seats in 2014 and 353 in 2019, the BJP-led NDA government has indeed enjoyed “Sabka Saath SabkaVishwas”. If India had not been flabbergasted by killer Corona second waves, the occasion of the NDA government’s seventh anniversary would have written PM Modi’s report card with chest-thumping triumphalism. The Covid pandemic has undoubtedly upended India as well as countries around the world.
If the clock is turned back to assess the NDA government’s seven-year journey, having milestones of bold decisions to make new India with the spirit of reforms and performs, it could be fairly assumed that the Modi government could survive the prime ministerial seven-year itch syndrome unlike his predecessors: Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.
Narendra Modi is the fourth Indian PM to have completed seven years in the office. The first, Jawaharlal Nehru was at the pinnacle of power and popularity during his first term but his political graph plummeted after seven years as the country faced border aggression with China. After seven years into her term as PM, Indira Gandhi confronted a wide range of odds from price rise to political unrest during 1973-74 and ended up with dark hours of the Emergency. After becoming Prime Minister in 2004,

Manmohan Singh went through a rough patch in 2011 when the Congress-led UPA government faced high tides of corruption charges coupled with the Anna movement. The formation of the BJP government at the Centre under the stewardship of Narendra Modi was momentous as it was the first time in three decades that the saffron party won the sweeping victory with staggering 282 seats. This was the highest number of seats won by any party on its own since the 1984 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Rajiv
Gandhi. Being a powerful Prime Minister enjoying the majority in both Houses of the Parliament and carrying high public expectations, Narendra Modi authored some audacious decisions that proved to be watershed in the history of Indian governance. These include revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370, leading groundbreaking ceremony of laying foundation stone of Ram temple in Ayodhya, and abolition of triple Talaq among others.
On the nationalist front, the Modi government has squarely spelt out a message that India has zero tolerance for terror attacks and could give befitting reply in the face of border aggression. Surgical strikes against the Uri terror attack and eliminating perpetrators hiding in the thick forests of Myanmar gave out a strong message that India could demolish any sinister designs that could pose threat to its security. In response to the Pulwama terror attack, the unprecedented airstrike in Balakot is still fresh in people’s minds that boosts the sense of nationalism. Tackling border challenges of China successfully, including the bravery of Indian army in the Galwan Valley clashes, boosted the image of PM Modi and it added
spin to the BJP’s narrative of nationalism.
Most of the Modi government’s flagship welfare schemes such as Jan Dhan, PM Kisan, Ujjwala, PM Awas Yojana, Saubhagya (electricity connection to all households), Swachh Bharat Mission (toilets for
households), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, PM CARES for Children (orphaned due to Covid) have kept their momentum to bring changes in people’s lives effectively. Narendra Modi is the first Prime Minister to have successfully conveyed the message that cleanliness has a direct relation with health and economic well-being. The rollout of Goods and Services Tax remains a major highlight of the Modi government. The enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) law in 2016 is described as the silver bullet to tackle banks' lingering problem of non-performing assets. Banks have successfully started recovering debts.

The big challenges the Modi government facing are economic slowdown and colossal numbers of unemployment as he stormed into the power in 2014 on the promise of “Achchhe Din”. The despair and despondency among youths, considered to be strong pillar of Modi’s popularity, owing to lack of jobs must be addressed on priority basis. The economic slowdown turned into the first contraction in several decades due to the Covid pandemic. The broken healthcare system, flip- flop on vaccine policy, poor handling of the Corona second waves, lack of coordination between government and opposition, and strained federal fibers between Centre and states are highlighted bullet points that could cause biggest headache for the ongoing election winning spree of the Modi government which has had a roller-coaster ride of nationalism and national health crisis.
Needless to say that the Covid has badly battered the State-systems putting things at sixes and sevens and people are talking whether the Modi-led NDA government could get over the seven-year itch syndrome. The Modi government has still three years to go, so it must gird up its lions to bring “Achchhe Din” to be in seventh heaven in 2024 general elections.

(Ramakant Chaudhary is a journalist and political commentator. The views expressed are personal.)