Topic - 2014 to 2016
BJP is yet to fully make the journey from a party aggressively staking claim to power to one that is astutely wielding it.
As the Narendra Modi government completes two years in a few days’ time, it could well be asked: Has it been two years since the BJP stopped campaigning and started governing — really? It’s not a rhetorical [शब्दाडंबरपूर्ण] question. Take a look at the images of the last few days, in the run-up to the two-year anniversary. The prime minister, deep in the heat and grime[जमी हुई कीट] of assembly poll battle, comparing Kerala to Somalia, provoking a reaction much like the one he did last year in Bihar, where his barb about Nitish Kumar’s DNA lent ballast to an entire campaign from the other side, Bihari vs Bahari.
The NDA government forced to retreat[पीछे हटना] by the Supreme Court and the floor test in Uttarakhand, where it has been accused of trying to topple yet another government in an Opposition-ruled state. The Modi government on the offensive against the Congress in Parliament over the controversial AgustaWestland helicopter deal, armed with rhetoric but without the homework to match the shouting. These images are eloquent[सुवक्ता]. They speak of a government at the Centre that is yet to pronounce the battle over and call an end to the hostilities. Two years later, it’s still 2014.
To an extent, the crowded election calendar in this country demands a constant battle-readiness from parties. And a healthy antagonism[विरोध] between government and opposition is a feature of a robust[मजबूत] democracy. But the BJP’s unending bellicosity[लड़ाई का प्रेम] is about more than just that. As the party that rules the Centre, it needs to draw crucial distinctions. Even as it faces off with the Congress and other Opposition parties in state assembly arenas, it must, at the same time, engage them in a conversation in Parliament to push its own agenda, especially in the Rajya Sabha where it lacks a majority. In the last two years, however, there is little evidence of attempted political outreach, and even less of a follow-through. By all accounts, the BJP appears to be allowing its slogan of “Congress-mukt Bharat” to get the better of its dialogue with other parties and its own judgement, and even push it onto constitutionally slippery ground as in Uttarakhand. It is true that Prime Minister Modi shoulders the burden of being his party’s lead campaigner. But both he and his party must be mindful of the fact that his no-holds-barred immersion[विसर्जन] in the heated poll battle also singes his office — the PM must, in all circumstances, be a figure larger than the leader of his own party and he must be seen to be so too.
The BJP must ask itself why, two years into government, it looks angry and resentful[क्रोधित] — a polariser and a settler of old scores, rather than the party elected with a large mandate to break with the past and build anew.
Vocabulary :
rhetorical [शब्दाडंबरपूर्ण] -of, relating to, or concerned with the art of speaking or writing formally and effectively especially as a way to persuade or influence people- a rhetorical device/style
- The windows were coated with grime.
- The mayor was forced to make a retreat from his earlier position.
- an eloquent speech/speaker
- an eloquent essay
- There is a long history of antagonism [=hostility, enmity]between the two nations.
- robust young men and women
- He is in robust health.
- She is resentful about being demoted.
- He's resentful of his boss. = He feels resentful toward his boss.
- a resentful child
For daily current affairs : CLICK HERE