Gujarat Elections: Why there is so much more at stake for PM Modi this time

By Chaitanya Kalbag Those who make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire Absurdity was piled atop absurdity as seven weeks of vitriol ended in a splash on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking a seaplane ride. When this prime minister arguably the most powerful mass leader we have had in a generation breaks security rules his loyal ministers fall over themselves to promise a review. He sets the rules. Our politicians have plumbed new depths in slander and abuse. This is a bottomless pit: with social media amplifying every word and gesture we have heard enough about everything from imported mushrooms to Allauddin Khilji s offspring. Although Modi has only seven million fewer followers than Donald Trump s 44 million on Twitter he has to work much harder making speech after stump speech. He cannot take anything for granted least of all the seven million Gujaratis between 18 and 25 who were eligible to vote in the 2017 election - which is why hopping from river to dam reservoir in a single-engined aircraft makes for such good visuals. Followers aside Trump and Modi have been brushed by an eerie confluence of events. Modi announced demonetisation on the day Trump was elected; Trump bowed to Jewish cultural nationalism by recognising Jerusalem as Israel s capital on December 6 the anniversary of the Babri masjid demolition. The Bharatiya Janata Party s general secretary Ram Madhav described the Ram Janmabhoomi movement as the ideological sheet-anchor of the nationalist movement and said the mantra of good governance and development propelled the BJP to power in 2014. The tragedy is that the principal Opposition party is still stuck in identity politics Madhav wrote unself-consciously in The Indian Express on the anniversary. But of course it is all about identity politics. When Modi inaugurated the Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi the following day the prime minister dominated the occasion putting even two big statues of our first law minister in the shade. Rahul Gandhi has just been elected unopposed as Congress president. You cannot get more dynastic than to see a political post becoming a fifth-generation hereditary fiefdom. But was there a contest for the post of BJP president when Amit Shah was unanimously appointed to that post by the party s parliamentary board in 2014 and re-elected to a three-year term in 2016? The same day as the Babri anniversary and the Jerusalem news a video went viral of a migrant Muslim worker hacked to death and his body burnt by his attacker in Rajasthan. Such atrocities are becoming commonplace. Not a single senior BJP leader has spoken out against the savagery. When our political discourse is suffused with anger and prejudice (and this applies to all our parties) you can be excused for being cynical if you peer through jaundiced eyes at the combatants trooping into Parliament on Friday for a winter session that has been slashed to only 14 working days because well law-making is less exciting than law-breaking. We have to take a cleaver to the overgrowth of rhetoric to be able to see more clearly. Gujarat was a good opportunity to talk about development and about how good economics can subsume caste and religious animosities - it was the test-tube in which Modi created the formula for national domination - but the opportunity has been lost. By evening of the day this column appears you will be inundated by exit polls on who is likely to emerge victorious - Modi or the newly-crowned Rahul Gandhi. Gujarat is the BJP s to lose. From 2002 when Modi fought his first election as Gujarat chief minister the BJP s vote share has remained in the 47-49 percent range while Congress has been stuck around 38 percent and won less than one-third of the assembly seats. There has to be a huge swing to reverse this even if you take into account the reported discontent among the KHAM (Kshatriya Harijan Adivasi and Muslim) voters and the Hardik Patel-led Patidar revolt. Modi was easily the colossus bestriding the Gujarat stage. Yet he resorted to devices like alleging that Pakistan was trying to topple the BJP in Gujarat (and by extension himself). Being at the apogee of popularity does not seem to confer security. In early March 1976 when she was seemingly at the height of her power with the Emergency in force and her opponents in prison Indira Gandhi complained that a foreign hand was trying to destabilise her when she was taking strong steps to unite the nation. One year later she was tasting the ashes of defeat. Modi on the other hand is likely to be a shoo-in in 2019 if he sticks to his economic knitting. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad set out the extent of Modi s power in a recent speech when he ticked off the senior judiciary for not letting the executive play a bigger role in the appointment of judges. The prime minister is the principal player in the appointment of the president of India; in the vice-president of India; in the speaker of the Lok Sabha; in the three armed forces chiefs...the chief election commissioner...a whole range of other constitutional bodies Prasad said. The prime minister possesses the nuclear button; that is how much the people of the country trust him. Such power needs delegation. Back in May 2014 a few days after he took power Modi listed his Ten Commandments. No.1 said Build confidence in bureaucracy. No.2 read Welcome innovative ideas and give freedom to bureaucrats to work. The prime minister has held regular meetings with top bureaucrats. But recent conversations with senior civil servants reveal that there is a fair bit of angst and demoralisation. The reasons seem to be a combination of the empanelment that lists senior bureaucrats for Secretary-level appointments (and punishes those not in favour) an opaque 360-degree appraisal system and frequent changes at the top levels of key ministries. Here is a sampling of Secretary-level personnel changes in important departments since May 2014: - Five Secretaries in Chemicals & Petrochemicals - Five Secretaries in Department of Fertilisers - Four Secretaries in the Ministry of Coal - Three Secretaries in the Department of Commerce - Five Secretaries in the Department of Posts - Three Secretaries in Telecommunications - Five Secretaries in Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region - Six Secretaries in Electronics and Information Technology - Four Secretaries in the Department of Economic Affairs - Four Secretaries in the Department of Higher Education - Five Secretaries in School Education & Literacy - Four Secretaries in Micro Small and Medium Enterprises - Five Secretaries in Minority Affairs - Five Secretaries in New & Renewable Energy - Five Secretaries in Rural Development - Four Secretaries in the Ministry of Textiles - Five Secretaries in Urban Development Getting our administrative machinery into top gear is just one urgent priority. Several forecasts now see India s gross domestic product growing at a middling 6.7 percent in 2017-18. Core inflation is at a 15-month high and industrial production is limping. Hopefully the Modi government will move past Gujarat GST and demonetisation to focus on making sure our economy vaults over the New India bar. New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday petitioned the Election Commission for action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for addressing an event organised by an industry body on the eve of the final phase of the Gujarat polls where he attacked the main Opposition party.The Congress s complaint came soon after the Election Commission issued a show cause notice to Rahul Gandhi for prima facie violating the model code by giving interviews to Gujarati TV channels and asked him to reply by 18 December failing which it will decide the matter without any reference to him.Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. AFPA delegation of Congress leaders comprising Ashok Gehlot Anand Sharma and Randeep Surjewala handed over a memorandum to the poll body demanding strong action against Modi and other BJP leaders for addressing press conferences and events on the eve of last phase of polling in Gujarat. We are going to the Election Commission with a memorandum demanding action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi BJP chief Amit Shah Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal and others for violating the model code Anand Sharma told reporters before meeting the poll panel.He said the Election Commission should remain non-partisan.Earlier in the day Modi launched a blistering attack on the Congress saying that banks were pressured under its rule to give loans worth thousands of crore to select industrialists and termed it as the UPA government s biggest scam.A day before his home state Gujarat goes to the final phase of polling Modi attacked economists in the UPA for handing him a liability of non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans while hard-selling his central government s pro-poor schemes.Surjewala said the Election Commission on Wednesday acted against news channels for airing the interview of Rahul Gandhi which was against the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution.The Congress memorandum said: The Election Commission is duty bound to be fair and impartial. We have to regrettably state the apparent discrimination and an apparent advantage being given to the ruling party miltates against this notion. It also requested the poll body to immediately withdraw its order directing registration of an FIR against news channels for telecasting the interview of Gandhi. In case the yardstick of violation of model code of conduct is to be applied as is being done by EC order register an FIR against prime minister Narendra Modi BJP chief Amit Shah Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Union minister Pyush Goyal BJP state president Jeetu Vaghani and other BJP leaders for flouting the model code of conduct the memorandum said.It also demanded that Election Commission give directions to all print and electronic media outlets not to carry any news item with regard to elections and not to live telecast pictures of leaders casting votes.Surjewala alleged the Election Commission order is an attempt to suppress the media and claimed the BJP was exerting pressure on the poll panel for it.He said Modi had given interviews ahead of 2014 general elections but no case was registered then. These double standards will not be allowed he said. New norms for justice by ECI-: FM BJP leaders hold a PC in Ahmedabad and release Manifesto on December 8 - No FIR. Modiji does 4 public meetings in december 9 - No FIR. Amit Shahji does a PC at Ahemdabad today - No FIR. Piyush Goyalji does 2 PC s today - No FIR. Rahulji s interview - FIR. Jai Ho! Surjewala tweeted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has commissioned scorpene-class submarine INS Kalvari into the Indian Navy in Mumbai today. This is a fine example of the fast growing strategic partnership between India and France said PM Modi while dedicating the submarine to the nation. Named after the first Foxtort-class submarine INS Kalvari was inducted into the Navy on December 8 1967. The commissioning of its indigenous version comes days after the force observed the golden jubilee of its submarine wing. The Scorpenes are being built by the Mazagaon Dockyard Ltd here under Project 75 with transfer of technology from a foreign collaborator -- DCNS of France. The state-of-the-art features of the Scorpenes include superior stealth and ability to launch crippling attacks with precision-guided weapons. The attacks can be carried out with torpedoes both while submerged or on the surface -- in all war theatres including the tropics giving it an unmatched invulnerability. The second Scorpene submarine INS Khanderi is currently undergoing trials and is likely to be inducted into the Navy soon. The boot together of the submarine wherein the five separate sections were welded into one was completed on July 30 2014. Kalvari is the first Indian naval vessel to be built using this modular approach of construction. First put to sea on May 1 2016 Kalvari has since undergone a comprehensive trial schedule to validate her capability to float move and fight. The submarine has an overall length of 67.5 metre and a height of about 12.3 metres. The hull form fin and hydroplanes are specifically designed to produce minimum underwater resistance. The boat has 360 battery cells each weighing 750 kg to power the extremely silent Permanently Magnetised Propulsion Motor. The stealth of the boat is further enhanced through the mounting of equipment inside the pressure hull on shock absorbing cradles. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba and Vice Admiral Girish Luthra Flag Officer Commanding of the Western Naval Command were also present at the occasion. The first of the indigenous Scorpene-class submarines INS Kalvari was commissioned in the Indian Navy on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries. Commissioning of the submarine named after the first Foxtort-class submarine INS Kalvari comes just days after the navy observed the golden jubilee of its submarine wing.INS Kalvari is the first of the six Scorpene-class submarines built by shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Limited. The submarines designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS are being built in Mumbai as part of Project-75 of the Indian Navy.It s after a gap of 17 years that a submarine that was built indigenously in India was being commissioned in the Indian Navy. It would be the 16th submarine as part of India s fleet a figure that has long been in dire need of upgradation. To put this in perspective China has 68 submarines while the US has 70. North Korea is the world leader with 78 submarines.INS Kalvari being escorted by tugboats at Mazagon Docks in October 2015. ReutersWhy is INS Kalvari so important for IndiaThe navy is betting on INS Kalvari to sharpen its underwater attack capabilities. It was part of Project-75 of the navy which involves a collaboration with French defence firm DCNS at a cost of Rs 3.5 billion. Its construction started in May 2009 and two submarines were supposed to be commissioned this year but the project has fallen behind schedule.The first four submarines will be conventional while the last two are to be equipped with the Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system which will enable the vessel to stay underwater for longer duration.All six diesel-electric attack submarines will be equipped with an anti-ship missile which has a proven record in combat besides other weapon systems. In May this year the navy successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile from INS Kalvari.A second Scorpene submarine INS Khanderi is also undergoing trials and is likely to be inducted shortly.Salient featuresThe Scorpene submarine is designed to operate in all theatres of war including the tropics. It is capable of handling various missions such as anti-surface warfare (attacking surface ships) anti-submarine warfare (destroying submarines) intelligence gathering mine-laying and area surveillance. The Kalvari was built with a special kind of high-tensile steel that is capable of withstanding high yield stress. This feature allows it to withstand pressure exerted by water and hydrostatic force while diving deeper to enhance stealth. It is also capable of carrying weapons that can be easily reloaded at sea a report on Hindustan Times said.Measuring 67.5 metres in length and 12.3 metres in height it can carry 18 torpedoes and travel upto 1 020 kilometres underwater. It can also dive to depths of upto 300 metres. And given the silent diesel electric motor it is equipped with it can also be stealthy and avoid detection.A report on NDTV said the heart of the Kalvari s weapons system is a SUBTICS (Submarine Tactical Integrated Combat System) suite which processes information from the sonars onboard the submarine in detecting targets which can then be engaged with torpedoes or missiles. It has an attack and search periscope equipped with Infrared/Low Light Level cameras and Laser Range finders to spot targets on the surface of the sea. Reincarnation of the original INS KalvariIn keeping with the India s mythologies and naval tradition the Kalvari is a reincarnation of the first Indian submarine to be commissioned into the Indian Navy on 8 December 1967 the Hindustan Times report added.The previous Kalvari served for nearly three decades before being decommissioned in May 1996. In true nautical tradition she will now be reincarnated by Mazagon Dock once again a powerful predator of the deep guarding the vast maritime interests of our nation the navy was quoted as saying in the report.With inputs from PTI Prime minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over bad loans calling it the biggest scam of the previous administration and blaming it for putting pressure on banks to lend to select corporates. He also scotched speculation about the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill putting depositors at risk saying that the government was working in the interest of consumers. Commonwealth 2G coal this is a bigger scam Modi said referring to the bad debt at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) annual general meeting a day before the final phase of polling in Gujarat election as he championed his government s pro-poor policies. This was in a way loot of public The chamber calls itself the industry s voice for change (but) I am not aware if Ficci has done any survey on the way the previous government s policies have hurt the banking sector he said. I am also interested in knowing that when people in the government were putting pressure on banks to give loans to select businessmen what were institutions like Ficci doing. The previous government banks businesses markets everyone knew this was wrong he said blaming economists in the UPA for landing him with a liability of non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans. The NPAs of banks is the biggest liability handed down by the economists sitting in the previous government he said without naming anyone. The UPA government was headed by Manmohan Singh an economist. India s banks are struggling with more than . 7 lakh crore of non-performing loans that have pushed them into losses and stalled lending which is essential to drive investment to revive the economy and create jobs. The government has enacted an insolvency law to resolve bad loans in a time-bound manner among 87 important reforms in 21 sectors in the last three years. As a result of these measures India has climbed from 142nd position to 100 on the World Bank s Ease of Doing Business rankings he said. Modi said the government is taking steps to strengthen the banking system calling on industry to raise awareness against rumours that are misleading people. He also spoke of restaurants not passing on the benefits of lower goods and services tax (GST) to consumers. He asked whether Ficci had tried to raise awareness about the tax cuts among people and traders. Modi also questioned why the UPA government did not think of legislation like the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 (RERA) to protect the interests of homebuyers and to enhance transparency in the sector. He said the government is making efforts to bring more businesses under GST not to earn more money or tax but to create a more formal and transparent system that will benefit the poor. This will enable easier availability of bank credit improved raw material quality and reduced logistics costs thereby enhancing competitiveness of businesses. Modi said free cooking gas connections have been given to more than 30 million women while 300 million bank accounts have been opened as part of financial inclusion. More than . 4 lakh crore has been given in loans to about 975 000 youth for business without guarantees under the Mudra Yojana while 50 million toilets have been built and affordable housing for the rural poor launched he said listing the pro-poor work done by the government. The government is trying to end the need for the poor to fight the system. We are trying to put in place a system that is not only transparent but also sensitive. A system that understands people s needs he said pointing to the success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme. He called on big companies to not hold up the dues of small enterprises. NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the previous UPA regime of pressuring banks into giving loans to a few industrialists at the cost of the banking system and economy. Banks were pressured to give loans to only a select few industrialists... This was the biggest of UPA s scams bigger than coal and 2G. It was loot of people s hard-earned money through industrialists the PM said addressing the 90th annual general meeting of industry chamber Ficci. The PM s remarks alleging crony capitalism under UPA came a day before the final round of polling in Gujarat and marked a sharp riposte to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi s charge that the Modi government was partial to select industrial houses. The voice around nonperforming assets that we hear is basically a liability that has been handed out to us by economists of the previous government. In a way the people sitting in the previous government looted the hard-earned money of the public through the medium of such industrialists Modi back from extensive political campaigning in Gujarat said. He defended the controversial GST tax regime a wedge issue during the Gujarat polls saying the reform was not aimed at unduly boosting tax collections at the cost of traders but rather bringing more businesses into the formal economy for the benefit of the common man. Modi also took up cudgels for medium and small businesses saying they were inconvenienced because of delayed payment of their dues by big industrial houses. On banks being allegedly pressured under Congress-led UPA to favour handpicked industrial houses the PM faulted industry groups for their silence over the loot . People in the previous government knew that something was wrong businessmen knew about it the banks were aware of it and so were those who are related to the markets. I am not sure whether Ficci had carried out a survey at that time around the vagaries of the banking system. Did any survey point this out or express concern about it or warn people? he asked adding that organisations like Ficci should play a pro-active role in highlighting such scams whenever they get noticed. Modi said his government had been taking steps and policy decisions to benefit the youth in direct contrast to the decisions undertaken by the previous Manmohan Singh-led Congress government. He said his government had initiated a number of steps to ensure that there was inclusive growth and concerns of the common people and small businesses were taken into account during formulation of policies. We all have our moments when someone sees fit to invite us to dinner. Whether we say yes or no it is utterly crass to imagine asking for the guest list before giving an answer.File image of Manmohan Singh. PTIAlso if you do find someone at the party you would rather avoid you do just that you nod politely and you avoid that person. We ve all done it. People we dislike people who were once friends people who have let us down people to whom we owe money a litany of reasons.We can question the host for not exercising discretion in bringing disparate people under one roof. We can leave if we re uncomfortable. We ve all done it (with leaving being the last resort and a coward s way out). So why should a former Indian prime minister be intimidated on his own turf if the Pakistani ambassador is present? They are not equals so why skedaddle off and make an issue. It was only dinner. And it was in Delhi not Islamabad.Modi and his team picked up on this dinner with great outrage and expect us to believe that Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh conspired over the first course with Pakistanis to sabotage the BJP s chances at the hustings in Gujarat. So much for unjust desserts.For one is the BJP that fragile a party that it worries over a dinner? As for fraternising with the enemy if it is such an indictment then let s break off diplomatic relations with Islamabad and be honest about it. You cannot have one prime minister saying surprrrrrise look who s here when he spontaneously arrives at the home of Nawaz Sharif for tea and the wedding of Sharif s grand-daughter and finding virtue in it and a former prime minister being accused of anti-national activities over a lousy dinner.It is a very serious accusation to make and I think it has woken up the lion in Singh. There is one last roar in the man and his strident and almost emotional demand for an apology from Modi is more likely to hurt Modi than anything that Rahul can do.Singh must really have been cut to the quick. Look what he says: I am deeply pained and anguished by the falsehoods and canards being spread to score political points in a lost cause by none less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.... Sadly and regrettably Modi is setting a dangerous precedent by his insatiable desire to tarnish every constitutional office including that of a former prime minister. It is a relevant question and one which demands an answer. Is the office of prime minister being dishonoured not just by such rash and wild statements but also by the use of intemperate language which has now become the hallmark of Modi s public declamations?Arun Jaitley then picks up the ball and kicks it further by asking if permission was taken from the foreign office before meeting or entertaining Pakistanis. Last I heard India was still a democracy. And if they are on our soil and given the rights granted to diplomats under the Vienna Convention of 1961 then so be it.When credibility is stretched to the point of absurdity and one is asked to accept absurd scenarios just because something can be made out of nothing you have to ask: What exactly is going on in the corridors of power? What a disservice to India to give Pakistan the impression that they can intrigue to this high-level in a house of non-entity to topple state governments. They must be loving it.Just to see an angry Singh indicates how far down the road our political entities have gone and are now swimming in the muck they rake.A simple question: Would Singh and Rahul need a retired Pakistani diplomat or two to plot some devious and Machiavellian scheme against the incumbent?Tread lightly prime minister. Singh may just be more of a nemesis than the young lad you all find so fascinating.Click here for detailed coverage of Gujarat Assembly Election 2017 Two government school teachers in Jaipur have been suspended after the question paper framed for the Class 10 half-yearly exams that included a section on Prime Minister Narendra Modi was found replete with errors. Speaking to IANS Ratan Singh Yadav District Education Officer said the teachers who framed the question paper have been suspended with immediate effect. The teachers suspended are Sarita Yadav and Ritu Bhargav. He said action has also been taken against the firm which printed the question paper. All the terms and conditions mentioned in the contract will be looked into and suitable action will be taken against the firm said Yadav. Students were in for a shock when they saw the question paper full of spelling and factual errors. In the examination paper on Monday there was a passage on the life sketch of Prime Minister Modi which described him as a croad puller instead of crowd puller. He is also described as a spoker instead of speaker while defining his characteristics. It also called him the most sovy political leader of India instead savvy. Gujarat was spelt as Gujrat. The next passage on little boy had spelling errors. It had the question: What kind of the boy was? In the passage obese was spelt as obessed and violence as voilence .