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The muddle of saffron socialism

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8 years ago

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Modi greets BJP leaders on the occasion of the swearing-in of Adityanath Yogi, the new UP CM

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Modi plan for New India is based on a guided economy

By Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr

The Congress party, the communists and others assumed that the pro-poor socialist agenda is theirs alone, and it is the weapon to be used against right-wing parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). That is why Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as well as Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury portray the BJP as anti-poor, pro-rich. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi has outflanked the traditional left-of-centre and left parties by appropriating the pro-poor, anti-rich slogan for his party, and going by the electoral success in Uttar Pradesh, it seems that it has worked. Modi has successfully forged socialism with BJP features and turned it into the standard of the party.

Modi has not invented socialism of the right. He has taken the idea from BJP/Jan Sangh ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay, from the rhetorical formulations of Swami Vivekananda about the need to serve the poor, apart from Gandhi’s idea of the rich being the custodians of the riches which are to be used for the poor. But he has consistently harped on his commitment and that of his party for the welfare of the poor. He has projected demonetisation as pro-poor-anti-rich, that is illicitly rich, measure. It remains a debatable point whether UP poll verdict is an endorsement of demonetisation as it is being made out to be in a knee-jerk fashion. The intent of the UP voter in voting overwhelmingly in favour of BJP is quite complex and it cannot be inferred as an approval of the nearly three-year Modi government at the Centre.  Demonetisation remains a wrong economic decision and an electoral victory cannot make it right. All that one can say about demonetisation and the UP electoral outcome, if there is any connection between the two, is that bad economics makes for good politics. Modi’s jibes against the critics of the measure will remain just that, jibes, and they do not alter unsoundness of the measure. As a matter of fact, it is the true measure of populism that it seeks vindication not in terms of its own inherent logic but in extraneous factor.

It will be difficult to label BJP as a Hindutva party alone any more, though it remains a Hindutva party in terms of realpolitik. It has become a populist party, and it is right-wing populism at that because it combines nationalism with egalitarianism of a kind. The dreaded word, national socialism, has to be used despite its negative connotations derived from the German experience with the Nazis, the National Socialists. Speaking at the victory celebration do at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday (March 12) evening, Modi put forward a convoluted argument. He declared that the poor are not looking for sops but they want the state to provide them the opportunity to make their own fortune. The converse of the theorem is that once the poor are able to get on and get off on their own, the middle class need not carry the burden of national well-being. The underlying theme is quite evident: the tax-paying middle class is carrying the weight of welfare measures and subsidies.

If this is the rhetorical flourish of the prime minister, the thinking of Modi government at the policy level is to create a welfare state, which is administered by private entrepreneurs and not by the state, and which is supported by increased tax collections. The prime minister maintains a conspicuous silence on the tax booty, while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is clearly looking for higher tax collections in order to finance welfare measures. The plan will come under stress if the economy does not grow, and tax buoyancy will disappear. The non-performing assets (NPAs) of the public sector banks are a sign of the stress in the financial system. Apart from the evils of crony capitalism that is behind part of the NPA story, there are issues of how the financial system is to bankroll the engines of economic growth. It can be seen in the last three years that public investment is carrying the burden of keeping the growth rate ticking, and there is no sign of private investment picking up. And then there are major problems involved in empowering the poor through educating them, skilling them, and by prodding investment that will create jobs for them. The economy is not at the beck and call of a leader or his party. And even the poor have their own ideas as to how they want to get ahead in their lives. They do not want a paternalist state to make them walk on the straight and narrow path of what the policy-makers believe to be the right path.  It is on the rocks of unbound reality that the best laid plans of the politicians break.

Modi’s vision of New India envisages a national economy managed by the state through private sector that will provide full employment. It is a socialist vision of an indirectly planned economy. It poses a challenge to those who hated the Congress variant of socialism, and despite the market meltdown of the last decade have not lost faith in the ideal of a free market economy. One of the reasons that pro-free marketers supported the BJP was their hope that the right-wing party will get rid the country of the state-controlled economy spawned by the Nehruvian socialists. They will now have to come to terms with the Modi plan of making the free market a handmaid of national power and pride and for serving the needs of the poor. Even if they now decide to become the foot soldiers of BJP’s nationalist socialism, it does not alter the ominous truth established by Friedrich Hayek in his 1944 book, Road to Serfdom. Socialism of any kind comes at the price of liberty.

If socialism as such has turned out to be a failed system, and it can now be argued that Nehruvian socialism could not have succeeded with the best of intentions, then it is inevitable that the epitaph for saffron socialism would have to be written as well, and that sooner than later. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Privilege motion against Union Minister Kiren Rijiju for calling Opposition MPs unworthy of House

The Union Minister said that if the Opposition cannot respect the chair, then they have no right to be a member of this House.

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17 hours ago

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December 12, 2024

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Privilege Motion against Union Minister Kiren Rijiju for calling Opposition MPs unworthy of House

Sagarika Ghose, Trinamool Congress MP on Thursday moved a privilege motion against Union Minister Kiren Rijiju for calling opposition MPs unworthy of being in Rajya Sabha.

Reportedly, the notice was endorsed by 60 opposition MPs. This follows a day after Kiren Rijiju, speaking to opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha, said that they all are not worthy of being in this house.

Addressing the media, Trinamool MP Sagarika Ghose said that the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, instead of doing his best to run Parliament smoothly, has chosen to repeatedly insult the opposition.

She added that Kiren Rijiju has insulted opposition members and used personal terms both inside and outside Parliament. She continued that this is totally unbecoming of the high office he holds and amounts to total misuse of his position.

In a privilege motion against Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, Trinamool MP accused him of misusing his office and using unparliamentary language against the opposition. Many senior leaders from all opposition parties have signed the motion, she added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Kiren Rijiju criticised opposition members, saying they were not worthy of being in the House. He further defended Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has faced opposition attacks.

The Union Minister said that if the Opposition cannot respect the chair, then they have no right to be a member of this House.

Nearly sixty MPs from the opposition INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice in the Rajya Sabha for a no-confidence motion against Jagdeep Dhankhar. The Opposition accused him of being extremely partisan in his role as chairman of the Upper House.

In the no-confidence motion, Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Opposition have no personal enmity or political fight with him, but want to tell the countrymen that they have taken this step to safeguard democracy, the Constitution, and after giving it a lot of thought.

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Ahead of elections, Delhi government clears Rs 1000 per month for women, Arvind Kejriwal promise Rs 2100 if AAP wins

Arvind Kejriwal stated that previously he had promised to give Rs 1000 to every woman, but some women came to him and said that Rs 1,000 would not be sufficient due to inflation.

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17 hours ago

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December 12, 2024

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Ahead of elections, Delhi government clears Rs 1000 per month for women, Arvind Kejriwal promise Rs 2100 if AAP wins

Ahead of the assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced that the Delhi cabinet has cleared a financial assistance proposal for women over the age of 18. He further announced that the assistance of Rs 1,000, originally announced in March, would be hiked to Rs 2,100 if the AAP wins. 

Arvind Kejriwal noted that the money would not be credited into bank accounts since elections were likely to be announced soon, but said that registrations for the scheme, named Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, would begin tomorrow.

The former Delhi Chief Minister said that the registration will begin tomorrow, and the registrations will begin for Rs 2,100 and not Rs 1000. He made this announcement at Mahila Samman Yojana event where he was accompanied by Delhi Chief Minister Atishi.

Arvind Kejriwal stated that previously he had promised to give Rs 1000 to every woman, but some women came to him and said that Rs 1,000 would not be sufficient due to inflation. Therefore, Rs 2,100 will be deposited into the accounts of all women, he continued. Furthermore, the AAP national convenor said that the aforesaid proposal was passed in the cabinet meeting chaired by Atishi this morning, following which the scheme has been implemented.

In March 2024, the then Kejriwal-led Delhi government announced Rs 1,000 per month to all women above 18 years in the national capital under the Mukhyamantri Samman Yojna.

Notably, this initiative bore resemblances to Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna Yojana, under which women from lower- and middle-class homes would receive a monthly transfer of Rs 1,000 into their accounts.

In his address today, Arvind Kejriwal said the scheme would prove to be a boon for the Delhi government as it will be blessed by mothers and sisters, benefitting from the monthly funding.

He also added that women build the future of the country, and they consider it their privilege to support them in their work. Along with Delhi’s two crore population, the government overcomes the biggest obstacles, he said, adding no obstacle can prevent them from doing good work for the people of the city.

Lashing out at the BJP, Arvind Kejriwal said that he first announced the scheme in March and hoped that it would be implemented at least by May. However, the BJP conspired and sent him to jail based on a fraud case. He added that since his return from jail, he has worked to implement this scheme with Atishi. 

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March in connection to the Delhi liquor policy case. The former Chief Minister was released from Tihar Jail on September 13 after the Supreme Court granted him bail. Four days later, he resigned as the Delhi Chief Minister.

The elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are expected in January 2025. The AAP has so far released two lists of candidates to contest the election.

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Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis meets PM Modi amid deadlock over cabinet portfolios

Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar agreed on a division of 22 ministerial berths for the BJP, 11 for Shiv Sena, and 10 for the NCP.

Published

20 hours ago

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December 12, 2024

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PM-Modi-Devendra-Fadnavis-cabinet-portfolios

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday amid conundrum over cabinet portfolios. Almost three weeks after winning a majority in Maharashtra elections, the Mahayuti alliance is yet to decide on cabinet portfolios among the three alliance partners namely BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP.  

The meeting with the Prime Minister comes amid the three parties requesting the intervention of central BJP leaders to address remaining contentious issues. Earlier on Wednesday night, Fadnavis and his deputy Ajit Pawar held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde chose not to join the trip.

Reports said, Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar agreed on a division of 22 ministerial berths for the BJP, 11 for Shiv Sena, and 10 for the NCP. Notably, the maximum number of cabinet positions in Maharashtra, including the chief minister, is 43.

Nonetheless, the distribution of berths may still change. As per BJP leaders, if Shiv Sena and NCP request more positions, they will likely be assigned less significant portfolios. The major portfolios, including home and revenue, are expected to remain with the BJP. Reportedly, while Eknath Shinde had pushed for the home department, he has been given urban development, and the finance portfolio will go to the NCP.

The Shiv Sena initially argued that the election victory was achieved under Shinde’s leadership, insisting that he should remain Chief Minister. Nonetheless, the BJP stood firm, pushing for Fadnavis to hold the top position. Eknath Shinde had limited leverage, as the BJP only needed the NCP’s support to secure a majority. Notably, Shinde has always maintained publicly that he would not block government formation and took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister on December 5. 

However, Eknath Shinde’s current absence from the capital has raised questions in political circles, and it remains unclear whether he will join the discussions in Delhi.

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