On Monday (January 5), Prime Minister Narendra Modi blew the election trumpet by delivering a 90-minute speech in the Lok Sabha. Prime Minister Modi was speaking during the vote of thanks on the President's address. This was Modi's first big speech before the Lok Sabha elections.
As per the parliamentary tradition, the Prime Minister was expected to present the mark sheet of his work so far in this speech. But Modi spent more than 80 percent of his speech on Congress, Rahul Gandhi, Nehru, Indira Gandhi, dynasticism.
The Congress, however, called Prime Minister Modi's claim 'arrogant' and said that he had ignored the real problems of the people. Congress also said that to cover all the mistakes of its own government, BJP is pointing fingers at Nehru in history and getting rid of itself.
This speech made by Modi will be recorded in history. Many people will also analyze this speech. Let us understand the meaning of 3 salient points of Modi's speech.
Where did the confidence of 'abaki bar 400 par' come from?
According to him, the BJP-led NDA will get more than 400 seats. Briefing about the work of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Now the third term of our government is not far. Maximum 125 days are left." And saying 'ab ki bar'... PM Modi stopped and BJP MP replied '400 par'.
In 2019, BJP had won a total of 303 seats. At that time, they had given candidates on 437 seats. Even if BJP wants to win at least 370 seats, it is a challenging task. So where did Modi get such confidence before the election?
Delhi-based Center for Policy Research Fellow Dr. Rahul Verma says. They are 1) grand opening of Ram temple 2) weakened INDIA alliance. 3) BJP's victory in assembly elections in 2023.
“Ram Mandir and other Hindutva policies have made Modi image himself as the Hindu King. Nitish Kumar's move to BJP, Mamata's rigid stance, Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party's warning, Modi has succeeded in destroying the strength of INDIA Alliance. Along with this, the BJP has also achieved great success in the assembly elections in 2023. All these three things have boosted BJP's confidence," says Dr. Rahul Verma.
In the year 2018, when the BJP was hit in the then assembly elections. Even then, the opposition could not stop Modi's tsunami wave. But in reality it is difficult for the BJP to win 370 seats and the NDA alliance to win more than 400 seats, says political analyst Kidwai.
BJP contested elections on 437 seats in 2019 . Out of them they managed to win 303 seats. But this time BJP will have to share seats with Nitish Kumar, Ajit Pawar, Eknath Shinde and more NDA elements. So will the BJP win 370 out of 400 seats? Kidwai says this is an important question.
Also, BJP's position is not good in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana. Kidwai said that Modi is playing this psychological game only to scare the opposition.
In the meantime, it is possible to stop BJP's winning streak. But for that, the INDIA front needs to be strengthened, says Sanjay Kumar, professor of the Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).
If the INDIA alliance comes together and puts up a single candidate against the BJP, the sand may slip from under Modi's feet. But this does not seem far-fetched in the current situation. On the contrary, India's grip is getting looser.
'Attaki, Bhatki aur Latki' Congress
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a strong attack on the main opposition party Congress. If it is seen that way, the Congress cannot hold its own against the BJP at the present moment in the election arena. In fact, in 2019, where there was a direct fight between BJP and Congress, BJP has won the most .
That being the case, why did Modi spend most of his speech attacking the Congress? He criticized the Congress sharply and in great detail. The reason for this lies in the historical politics of Congress after the independence of India. At present, even though their electoral strength is waning, the Congress is the only party that can challenge the BJP at the national level.
No matter how much other regional parties do, they cannot support Modi at the national level. Apart from this, Rashid Kidwai says that BJP has formed an alliance with many parties or Modi can negotiate with them for an alliance.
Prime Minister Modi alleged, “The country has suffered a lot due to the mentality of the Congress. Congress never believed in the country's potential. He continued to think of himself as a ruler and underestimated the people.”
Kidwai also says that Modi is targeting the tenure of Congress to increase his credibility through such criticism. He continues, “Congress has run a single-handed government for more than 4 decades. Their work is glass half full and half empty. Modi never mentions the good work done by Congress. From this to 2014, no progress was made in the country. They are trying to boost their credibility by saying that the country's progress has increased since they came to power.”
In Modi's speech, he referred to the 'atki, bhatki aur latki' Congress. Arrests paralyze the policies of the UPA government. There was a lack of concrete policies during the UPA era. Bhatki is a directionless Congress, which has no goal of its own. Latki means - leaders who fail to take decisions within the party. Modi claimed that the leading INDIA parties were also affected by it.
After this, without taking Rahul Gandhi's name, Modi said that the Congress shop is closing due to the same product being brought to the market again and again. Modi mentioned that Congress is a shop. Because, Rahul Gandhi often said, 'Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki shop'. Modi replied like this.
In fact, Rahul Gandhi had to pick a safe constituency in Kerala to get elected in 2019. They cannot challenge Modi in the election arena. Still, Modi does not stop targeting Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Verma says on this issue, "Rahul Gandhi's face has reached every corner of the country. Rahul Gandhi attacks Modi and BJP very directly. Of course, Modi is also expected to respond to them."
Another reason is that it is more convenient for the BJP if the Lok Sabha election is fought like 'Modi vs Rahul Gandhi'. It is easy for BJP to project Narendra Modi as a strong leader in front of Rahul Gandhi. On the other hand, Sanjay Kumar feels that if the Lok Sabha elections are BJP vs INDIA, it can be a tough test for Modi.
Criticism of Indira - Nehru and ideological battle of Modi
In his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also targeted India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He read out selected excerpts from the speeches of both the former Prime Ministers. Nehru called Indian people lazy. Modi concluded that Indira Gandhi raised questions on people's ability.
Criticisms of Nehru and Indira Gandhi are not personal but Modi constantly targets their policies. Because, says Sanjay Kumar, Modi wants to oppose Congress on an ideological level.
Savarkar was also criticized by the Congress. There was criticism of the Rashtriya Swayasangh. BJP's Hindutva politics were criticized. Therefore, while criticizing Congress ideology from Modi and BJP, Nehru-Gandhi ideology is criticized.
Dr Rahul Verma also feels that criticizing Nehru-Gandhi is an ideological battle of Modi.
Ever since Narendra Modi's government came to power at the Centre, Pandit Nehru has been in the news. Be it BJP's top leadership or even activists and supporters on social media, all of them have criticized Pandit Nehru.
Nehru was held responsible for decisions or events in history by many right-wing thinkers, not just critics. On the other hand, it has also been said that Nehru and his ideological and political policies have had such a profound impact on the present day India that even today he cannot move beyond his political opponents.
Only if that political culture goes away, a different political thought can sustain itself for a long time. Nehru's socialism had such an influence on Indian politics, society and economy that left-communist ideology or right-wing Hindutva ideology or other forms of socialism could not sustain or expand for a long time.
After 2014, a new wave of right-wing Hindutva politics came to the country, but the challenge of the Nehru-style system is still in front of it, so this criticism is seen and heard against them today, says Kidwai.
The third issue is nepotism. While criticizing Congress in Modi's speeches, he talks about dynasticism. BJP is a party of workers, leaders are made from them. But pointing fingers at the Nehru-Gandhi family, Modi continuously alleges that the Congress is a party run by a family.
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