Panellists feel that the government has a lot to answer to its voters vis-à-vis lynchings, gau raksha, lack of development even if people might feel there is no alternative
Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have started planning for the general elections due in 2019, taking stock of all that they can capitalise on and what all they need to improve. APN’s popular debate Mudda discussed the development report card of the Modi government. Anchorperson Anant Tyagi spoke to BJP’s Rajesh Jha, Congress’s Anshu Awasthi, SP’s Anurag Bhadoria, RJD’s Kailash Yadav and APN consultant Govind Pant Raju.
Jha said: “Farmers have taken centrestage in the BJP focus areas vis-a-vis development. There has been no ghotala (scam). The opposition has a lot to learn from the BJP.”
Bhadoria said: “The BJP only talks of coming to power. What about the lynchings and cow vigilante groups, riots and so on? Where has humanity gone? We will fight for development. The BJP got a massive mandate. People trusted the BJP. But sadly, much more is desired from the government.”
Awasthi said: “Modiji only knows how to talk. Where is the work done by the BJP government? Unemployment is up, and GDP is down. Modi has always been off for foreign tours. We know who is working and who is not.”
Jha said: “The Congress could not eradicate unemployment in 50 years. What does it expect Modi to do in five years?”
Yadav said:”No good work has been done by the BJP. It is just trying to pull wool over people’s eyes.”
Raju said: “In four years no government can find a permanent solution to the problems of unemployment, inflation and farmers’ woes. Where the government could have make some progress it still failed. For example, Ganga water continues to be unclean and the NGT and courts have been forced to intervene. The Pakistan issue has been put under international spotlight for sure, but the situation for the soldier fighting along the border continues to be the same, and the people in the Valley still live under the shadow of militancy.”
Bhadoria said: “Children died in Gorakhpur hospital and the government watched helplessly. Innocents have suffered and paid with their lives due to the weak law and order situation. The slogan of development has been reduced to a farce.”
Jha said: ”The official machinery has been doing its job with complete alertness and dedication.”
Awasthi said: “The BJP representative has made sweeping statements about his government’s achievements, rubbishing all that has been done by the previous governments.”
Yadav said:”What about corruption? PM Modi had said that he will put an end to corruption—but that remains an empty promise.”
Raju said: “What sounds good on paper is not actually so. For example, the Swachh Bharat drive triggered a toilet scam, in UP there is a grain scam, and so on. Women’s security continues to be a big problem. On issues like these, the government could have performed better.”
Bhadoria said: “The BJP has been talking big on social media to influence voters, but all these are false promises.”
Yadav said:”After wasting time on gau raksha, the BJP talks of development. On one hand, the PM inaugurates bullet trains, while on the other, farmers continue to languish in poverty.”
Anant also took some bites from NCP’s Inder Pal Singh who said: “Development did not even take birth under the Modi sarkar. Every day, there is some train mishap or the other, and they talk of bullet trains. Where are the two crore jobs that had to be created? This government is good at marketing, and tampering with EVMs, and that’s how it has been making electoral gains.”
Raju said: “The opposition is right about finding fault, but it’s not that the BJP made no gains. However, people will support the BJP only if they feel that their day-to-day life has improved in some way.”
—Compiled by Niti Singh Bhandari