During the last couple of days, the media has been full of articles and statements about the performance of the Modi Government during the last one year.
While the different departments of the government have been focusing on the achievements attained during its one year in office, the opposition has been projecting Narendra Modi as a failure in implementing his promises made during the run up to the national elections.
One year is too short a time to produce tangible results, particularly in a federal structure like India. While the Government of India has the authority to frame policies, the implementation, particularly those which have an impact on the people in general, is left to the states.
When the Indian National Congress ruled both at the Centre and in large parts of the country during the first two decades after independence, the divisions within the Congress following the untimely death of Lal Bahadur Shastri (January 11, 1966) and the emergence of regional parties, made it difficult to frame policies and expect that they would be implemented all over the country.
Indira Gandhi, who formed the Congress-I, lost power during the elections held after the imposition of the Emergency.
The Janata Government which was formed after the Emergency was short-lived, as there was no consensus in accepting Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister or the ambitions of Charan Singh.
Indira Gandhi, who returned to power in 1980, fell to the bullets of her own bodyguards. Rajiv Gandhi, who secured unprecedented majority in a sympathy wave that was the outcome of his mother's assassination, led a strong central government but he had to contend with state governments led by different regional political parties. His attempts to dismiss chief ministers when they raised questions, saw his influence waning.
Regional leaders, who had the potential to lead the nation, were attacked. I recall how Karnataka Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde was embroiled in a controversy concerning the tapping of telephones, following the publication of articles by some columnists that he had the potential of a national leader.
Rajiv Gandhi's popularity waned during the second half of his tenure, particularly because he was not able to take regional leaders along with him while governing the country.
He could not take the country along with him when he got the Constitution amended following the Shah Bano judgment. While his decision to send an Indian Peacekeeping Force to Sri Lanka was accepted, the decision to confront the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was unpopular, particularly in Tamil Nadu. The immense popularity he enjoyed as a person did not extend to the policies formulated by the Central Government.
From a massive majority, the Congress Party failed to win a majority in the 1989 elections, and he decided to sit in the opposition. The minority governments led by V. P. Singh and Chandrashekar were short -lived. Rajiv Gandhi, a much mature politician, hoped to return to power in the 1991 elections, but he was felled by an LTTE suicide bomber.
Narasimha Rao , who became the Prime Minister, led the Congress government for a full term. His attempt was to govern on the basis of a consensus. But those opposed to him in the Congress itself like Arjan Singh, made it difficult for him to return to power.
The country had to endure another spell of unstable coalition governments. Atal Behari Vajpayee, who led a coalition in 1998, soon lost majority by a single vote by Saifuddin Soz, but he returned to power as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance, after the victory in the 1999 Kargil war.
I recall that during Atal Behari Vajpayee's tenure, Ramakrishna Hegde was appointed Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission. I used to meet him informally at his office and one of my queries to him was did he see a majority party government emerging at the Centre. I recall his words: "Ramamohan Rao, give a decade or a little more, the country would see the emergence of a single party government at the Centre. India is a united country and people look forward to someone who can lead the country, but I cannot say how soon. It may take a decade or a little more."
The selection of Narendra Modi as the leader to conduct the campaign for the National Democratic Alliance last year, his emergence as the uncontested leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which secured a decisive mandate has been interpreted as a desire by the people of the country for a strong leader.
He may not have able to implement all the promises made during the election campaign. Black money may not have returned to the country, but the Government of India has framed policies which would make it profitable to invest in India.
The state governments, including those led by opposition parties like the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, of coalition governments like the one in power in Jammu and Kashmir, have found that they can interact with the Central Government.
Internationally, Narendra Modi has been able to improve relations with major powers like United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, France, South Korea and many neighbouring countries. There has been a significant improvement in relations with Bangladesh and his visit next month to finalise the transfer of enclaves and possibly conclude a treaty for the sharing of Teesta waters would be a major step. Afghanistan continues to receive assistance of India in its development.
What is significant is that Modi has conveyed a positive image of India which is keen on improving ties with countries world over.
Modi has had his problems too. He has to keep in his fold the Swayamsevaks, who have helped him during the elections. He cannot support them in 'Ghar Wapsi' or conversion programmes or help in the construction of Ram temple. The country has grown in the last two decades and the younger generation is not swayed by the slogans which moved people in the eighties or early nineties.
I recall how Bharat Ratna Atal Behari Vajpayee boarded a bus to Lahore in February 1999 to establish better relations with our neighbour. He also invited separatists in Jammu and Kashmir to interact and suspended security operations during the holy month of Ramadan. He did not succeed in many tasks that he undertook, but people remember him as a statesman who led the country internally and in the comity of nations.
Narendra Modi is showing signs of being of the same mettle.
Mr. I. Ramamohan Rao is a former Principal Information Officer to the Government of India. He can be reached at raoramamohan@hotmail.
