Modi’s ideological blinders off?

Rajesh Ramachandran

The catchy coinage, Modi 2.0, seems to have some merit to it. But it is too early to call the re-elected Narendra Modi government an improved version, though it surely is a newer version of the previous government. The biggest proof of the difference, or even improvement in one specific case, is the induction of former Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar into the Union Cabinet as the External Affairs Minister. This is something breathtakingly new at three levels: first of all, Jaishankar was not a part of any RSS think tank or the Vivekananda Foundation. In fact, he was not even a BJP member.

So, his appointment is a complete break with the past and it is indeed a lateral entry in the truest sense. After retirement Jaishankar was working for the private sector, which is normally anathema to Indian governments, which shy away from recruiting talent from outside the politico-bureaucratic circles. And as someone who has closely worked with the US establishment to iron out the Indo-US nuclear deal and later as India’s ambassador to the US, the choice of Jaishankar as a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security also signals Modi’s intent to strengthen India’s ties with the US. All these three factors defining the appointment of Jaishankar can be encapsulated into one idea: Modi’s attempt to take away his old ideological blinders and seek new opportunities with a peripheral vision.

On May 26, after the massive election victory, Modi probably for the first time referred to the minorities and the need to make them feel secure, to educate them and to offer them healthcare. This did not sound like the PM who sought votes for muscular Hindu nationalism. This sounded more like a leader who wanted to take his detractors along with him. It is true that Modi does not inspire confidence among the minorities, but it is also true that he has demolished the politics of minority consolidation for the time being. After all, it would be a huge bonus for the minorities if Modi keeps his word because they did not vote for him, nor did they harbour any hopes of him. Then, if he really offers security to them, he could well turn out to be a better administrator than the regular vote contractors of UP who let riots happen to make the Muslims live in fear and to herd them into the voting booths. However, Modi’s words are just that, mere words, which did not deter Hindutva goons from attacking Muslims after the polls in the name of the cow or the skull cap in MP, Gurugram and elsewhere.

The Cabinet committees are the third novelty. While the UPA-II government was accused of policy paralysis with its overdependence on 21 Group of Ministers and nine Empowered Group of Ministers, the first Modi government had firmly established the primacy of the Prime Minister’s Office. Many of the ministers were underperformers who relied largely on diktats from the PMO. The ‘alternative mechanisms’ that were set up by the last government for the stake sale of Central Public Sector Enterprises and the merger of PSU banks cannot be considered delegation of powers because those pertained to the Finance Ministry and were headed by the Finance Minister. But the two proposed Cabinet committees for job creation and investment are a step in a new direction of delegation and power-sharing in the real spirit of the Cabinet structure of the government.

All these changes read together can mean that Modi is listening to his critics. Minority-bashing, centralisation of power, reluctance to have lateral entrants at the high table; these were all blamed on Modi’s recalcitrance or reliance on his old ideas. The new liberalism that he seems to have gained could well make him think out of the box on Pakistan. The MEA has vigorously denied the possibility of a Modi-Imran Khan meeting at Bishkek next week during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, but the curious private visit by Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mehmood, soon after Modi’s swearing-in and on the eve of the SCO meeting, opens up possibilities that did not exist earlier.

So, is Modi 2.0 a markedly progressive version? Well, his government’s first initiative in J&K was to float the idea of delimitation of Assembly constituencies, which has the potential to escalate tension and further push the people of the Valley irretrievably into the radical corner. Here the Hindutva majoritarian agenda is fully on display and it is ideology, and not wisdom, that is at play. No PM can renege on the promises made by the Government of India to a section of the population for over 70 years to score some brownie points or to please an ill-informed constituency, which needs to be educated on the strategic necessity in peacefully retaining J&K as an integral part of the nation. Modi has to shed his blinkers to arrive at a practical, feasible, Vajpayee-like posture, which offers an opportunity for de-radicalisation, normalisation and peace.

The appointment of Ramesh Pokhriyal as HRD Minister sticks out as an oddity, unless Pokhriyal belies his reputation. Modi could have chosen an academic of merit to handle this crucial portfolio, just as he invited Jaishankar into the Cabinet. Like last time when Modi handed over HRD to Smriti Irani, this time too he did not seem to have attached much importance to this department, which was once run by very senior Cabinet members: Murli Manohar Joshi and Arjun Singh are recent examples.

No politician completely undoes oneself. Successful administrators learn from their mistakes, try hard to discard their shibboleths and make a genuine attempt to reinvent themselves. Modi has come a long way from Gandhinagar to Raisina Hill. From bowing down at the steps of Parliament in 2014 to bowing down before the Constitution in 2019, his political messaging and symbolism are constantly evolving, while the core ideology remains the same. This term seems to be time for a major makeover.