100 not out and counting...

I am speaking about our new BJP govt, and in particular the captain of the team Narendra Modi here.

I was among the many who were quite anxious as to how the new govt would treat different religions and to what extent saffronisation would be done. So far, it has been so good.

The first 100 days were amazing with a lot of new energy and direction coming in. At least, that is what I felt as an outsider interested in these things..

Positives:

A lot of factors have worked in favour of BJP at the moment. The US economy is reviving. So it has triggered an early recovery and growth in our economy as well. The govt has not faced any major crisis in the past 100 days- No scams, No natural disasters and No major allegations against the govt. They have been helped further by the fact that the Congress party is now weaker and no one has been able to rise to the position of the opposition party. Also, they control most of the seats in the Lok Sabha which means that need not depend on coalition politics to get bills passed.

Less Talk and More Work- That is what Modi has been doing in the past 3 months. He vowed not to interact with the Media until atleast 3 months in the office was over. According to newspaper reports, the secretariat is working more punctually and more systematically now. Ministers are working late and coming quite early. Modi appears to be a no nonsense man and I have begun to respect him enormously.

Policy wise, I think this govt is going to achieve a lot more than the previous UPA govts. This govt has set apart a significant amount for the development of the MSME sector and in particular the export industry. Modi said in his highly acclaimed independence speech that the youngsters must look at each items that are being imported into the country and see how they can be manufactured here. There is a lot of encouragement given to aspiring entrepreneurs and our economy has exceeded expectations in the last quarter as far as GDP is concerned, reaching a 10 quarter high of 5.7% while the prediction was 5.5%.

The new govt is also likely to bring in the Goods and Services Tax policy which would imply that exporters/manufacturers would need to pay only one single tax instead of around 12 different indirect taxes in different categories. The UPA govt had tried to implement that Tax system but BJP had opposed it then. But now, the BJP are the ones trying to implement it. One might wonder why this change of heart now. Politics is something which only the politicians can understand. Whatever it be, if the GST is implemented it would augur well for our country.

So far apart from a few isolated instances where Party members tried to impose/proclaim Hindutva, there has been nothing to worry. Modi send a strong message against communal politics in his independence day speech, which was a very good thing.

Negatives:

If there is anything to criticise, I think it would be the resignation of non-BJP (affiliated) governors in different states of the country. That could have been avoided or better managed.

Also, there is no Leader of Opposition or an Opposition Party at the moment. This could mean that democratic discussions may not be as effective as it should be. Whether the Congress Party deserved to hold the Leader of Opposition post is another question. However, it is my opinion that Congress Party could have been given that post, even though it is impossible considering the political mileage the BJP can get if the Congress doesn't hold that post.

Another issue would be the appointment of Amit Shah as the BJP President. I strongly feel that it sends the wrong signal. Amit Shah was arrested a few years ago and even recently action was taken against him for hate speech. Appointing such a person is not the right thing to do, isn't it? That is what I feel about it.

Lastly, there is the Modi-fication of BJP with senior veterans being left out of the mix. Is BJP becoming a one man army? If so, is that a good thing? Democracy should mean distribution of power. If power gets concentrated in one man's hands, it can turn bad. Will Modi become a Dictator in a Democracy? Both his Party and Government has been completely Modi-fied. It is the attribute of the strong leader that Modi is. However, the question is will other opinions be shut out?

A thin line separates Strong leadership and Dictatorship.