[Continued from yesterday]

Today the fact remains that Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is a mission unaccomplished. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accomplished only a part of the Kashmir mission democratically under the Constitution of India. It is yet an unfinished job.

If and when India becomes a third or fourth global military power, the Kashmir job may be accomplished — PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) will cease to exist and Kashmiri people will unite like Germans united with the breaking down of the Berlin Wall. If it does not happen during Modi’s time, let us bide our time for a leader who will deliver — Kalki Avatar, so to say!

Having said this, let us look at the pending jobs Prime Minister Modi is supposed to complete. First he must focus on the middle class people. These are the people who do not belong to the rich class nor to the poor class. They are sandwiched between these two. The rich fend for themselves and the poor are taken care of by the government under its welfare schemes — food coupons, common shelters, doles, affirmative actions, etc.

In India, Modi is already giving free rice, subsidised cooking gas, free medicare (Jan Aushadhi) and many more. In Karnataka itself, we have Siddaramaiah Government that won the election with an absolute majority of 136 seats out of 224 by promising Five Guarantees and is straining to deliver the promises with many defaults. But all the  same, the poor are in Siddaramaiah’s thoughts.

Now the question is: Who is taking care of the middle class? Middle class comprises government employees (excluding top-end officers), the corporate and private factory workers, white collar employees, the small time traders, shop-keepers and the like.

In India’s political ecosystem, it is found that during the election the Congress is supported by its vote-bank which is the fulcrum that tilts the balance in its favour. Similarly, the regional parties have their caste-based voters who tilt the balance in their favour. And as for BJP, it has its own vote-bank, the Hindu urban middle class. Which is why it used to be called the shop-keeper’s party, just as Napoleon called England a nation of shop-keepers.

However, Modi has changed this perception and expanded its vote base to include Hindus of all classes and also a sprinkling of minorities and those below poverty line. This was possible because of Modi’s power of public speech and charisma which eclipsed the leaders of the Congress and the regional parties across the country. And the result was there before us in the 2014 Parliamentary election and the subsequent two elections. 

Now in its third term in office, we are seeing fatigue among those who passionately worked for BJP despite divisive dissenters. But Modi is a strong leader, with his own mind when it comes to upholding the Sanatana Dharma and the interest of the country, Bharat.

A leader becomes strong only when he has a strong team of meritorious individuals. Nehru realised this when he formed his first Cabinet. There were Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, C. Rajagopalachari, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, John Matthai (Finance), Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad to name some. The same could be seen in Modi’s choice of Cabinet Ministers. Merit was the primary consideration in their choice. Every other claim to be a Minister is secondary. Like Nehru, Modi has opted for many non-politician Ministers.

No wonder, Dr. U.R. Ananthamurthy, Jnanpith awardee, had misjudged Modi and derisively remarked during the 2014 Parliamentary election thus: “I won’t live in a country ruled by Narendra Modi. If Modi becomes the PM, it will be a big shock to me. I won’t live.” I am quoting from historian Ramachandra Guha’s book ‘Democrats and Dissenters.’ Of course, it was expected of a man who was a member of the Lutyens’ Club, despite the rot therein, to say this. Servitude would make any man, intellectual or a commoner, to utter these words to please his benefactors.

In case of Dr. Ananthamurthy, he took a somersault when Modi won the election. Ramachandra Guha writes, “But he (Dr. Ananthamurthy) yet had reservation about what Narendra Modi stood for. Modi wanted ‘a strong nation,’ while he himself wished for ‘a supple nation.’” Probably, the intellectual Dr. Ananthamurthy did not realise that a shift from ‘a supple nation’ to ‘a soft nation’ is a natural process in politics endangering the country’s security and economy.

History is replete with examples where only strong nations survived while the weak nations became the playground for the strong nations. Even today we are witnessing this phenomenon — in Western Europe and West-Asia. Therefore, with Modi becoming the PM, India was saved from becoming the playground of the mighty countries of the world.

To revert to Modi’s gambit in his third term in office, it is in everybody’s mind: What would Modi do next? Will he deliver all that he promised in his 2024 election manifesto and speeches? My prediction is he will, somehow. After all, this time round, his decision will not be that of a Politician but of a Statesman. It will not be focussed on the next 2029 election but on the safety, security and future of the next generation cutting across the evils of minority, majority, caste, creed, region and religion. Nation first. He would want to leave behind a legacy of a strong, united India.

Will Modi succeed? Some think, he will if he meets the aspirations of the middle class — low cost quality education, low cost medical care, employment without long waiting period, old age homes to the old and the ‘left alone’ and more.

Since middle class is BJP’s core constituency, Modi must  pay special attention to solving their day-to-day problems because, as Leo Tolstoy said, while “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” If it is so, the law-makers, government servants and the BJP party activists have a role to play in ameliorating the sufferings of these unhappy families.

Another middle class concern is Tax. They are sensitive to paying tax in its direct and indirect forms. Congress Governments were conscious of this sentiment of the middle class, but NOT Modi’s BJP.

This has also made the middle class think about its choice when time comes. Disenchantment has already begun. We saw it in 2024 election. Merely offering the arati, prasad and temples to this highly religious middle class, in addition to communal negativity, will not help the middle class at the existential level. Middle class can live in dignity only if they are enabled to save money and gold and the ‘middle class’ morality. Modi must help the middle class to save gold and money (for the rainy day) and help end the present ‘rape culture.’ But gold is costly, tax is all-pervasive and sexual assault everywhere.

It is the middle class who form the bulk of the foot-soldiers in the army and it is the middle class that runs the government administration.

[Concluded]

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