Modi 2.0 Anniversary: A Year Full Of Challenges For Modi-Led NDA Government After Its Super-Sized Win

While the government tried to use its massive mandate to resolve long standing issues, it had to battle many unprecedented challenges at several fronts in its first year. Here's a look.

(Photo by Pavel Golovkin / POOL / AFP)

Modi 2.0 Anniversary: After the colossal electoral victory in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, hardly would have the BJP government realized that the upcoming one year will put to test all its grit. The Modi 2.0 government will complete a year in office on May 30, weathering several unforeseen challenges. The year has evidently been witness to several historic yet contentious decisions, the aftermaths of which the government could not evade. Even though the motive was to solve long unsettled issues, it had to face its share of challenges lying beneath.

Modi 2.0 government had to battle at many fronts in its very first year, here’s a look at some of them:

Article 370: After the abrogation of Article 370 which granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir, and its official bifurcation into two Indian union territories—J&K and Ladakh, restrictions were imposed in the state to prevent any kind of unrest or violence. The communication blackout, detention of political leaders under Public Safety Act and imposition of curfew, however, not only led to the criticism of the government within domestic boundaries, but also grabbed international attention. The main challenge was to brief the international community about the move. India earned the support of most of the countries who termed the decision as India’s internal matter despite Pakistan’s repeated attempts to muster support against India.

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) & NRC: Unprecedented protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens rocked the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, in December 2019. The protests, which were mainly led by students, had engulfed various cities and towns by January 2020. Police crackdown in Jamia University against protesters led to several universities staging demonstration in solidarity with Jamia students and against the CAA & NRC. The protests snowballed into a massive movement with people cutting across communities joining in, and eventually saw a burst of revolutionary songs, poems, artwork on the theme of protest. Among all, Shaheen Bagh in Delhi became the epicenter of the protests. The sit-in led by Muslim women could be dismantled by Delhi police only before the imposition of nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus. They stayed on the street for 100 days.

The controversial Act seeks to provide Indian citizenship for migrants of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities, who had fled persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 2014. It excluded Muslims and that turned the entire debate towards whether the act stands legit on Constitutional grounds. The opposition claimed that the act differentiates on religious lines and staged protests demanding a roll back of the legislation. Both Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah had to make clarifications on the Act, to dispel Muslim section’s apprehensions about revocation of their citizenship. Both asserted that the act is about giving citizenship and not taking it away from anyone. Hardly convinced, the group of protesters continued with their demonstrations, until the Coronavirus pandemic put the entire country in an  unprecedented lockdown.

Economic Slowdown: The government had to face bitter criticisms as India underwent a testing time at the economic front. Opposition took up the issue of economic slowdown vehemently at all public forums and in the Parliament as well, arguing that the last eight quarters GDP growth for India has declined. The state of the economy had been a key point of public discussion and debate thereafter. Centre took long to acknowledge that, and several leaders including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the country’s growth may have slackened but the economy was far from recession. However, this was before the Coronavirus induced nationwide lockdown dealt a severe blow to the already wobbling economy.

The Pandemic: The coronavirus pandemic, the first of its kind for any government in the world, has thrown up a herculean challenge for Modi 2.0 regime - to protect public health while simultaneously preventing the economy from faltering. Both the tasks tend to pull the government in opposite directions. The unprecedented health crisis propelled the government to impose a nationwide lockdown, which has been extended in phases till May 31. The government has not made any announcements on whether it will be extended further or not. It is pertinent to note that India has made place among the ten worst-hit countries by the pandemic, despite being under one of longest lockdowns in the world. Though, as per the Centre, the lockdown has helped avert 54,000 deaths and 20 lakh cases of Covid-19, it has posed a completely new set of challenges for the economy. The virus which has infected over 1.5 lakh people, including over 80,000 active patients, (and still growing) has not only put to test India’s healthcare system, but also upset key economic areas, pushing the growth at the backfoot. To bring it back on track, government had to announce a 20-lakh crore relief package to revive the several ailing sectors, that were hit during the lockdown.

From government’s handling of foreign travelers, to number of isolation centers, quantity of testing kits, research for vaccine, the four lockdowns, the economic package- every single step of the government this time has been debated and scrutinized on over-heated social media platforms.

The biggest challenge, which emerged amid all this, was the crisis of migrant labourers, who set off on foot for their native places as all means of income for them remained suspended. Reports of labourers dying while walking to their homes, amid lack of transportation facilities, apparently dwarfed every other problem. It caught the attention of one and all, including the Supreme Court which took suo moto note of media reports and the many representations that they had received, and said that the central and state governments should immediately provide adequate transport arrangement, food and shelters “free of costs”.

Border tensions with China: While the country is already grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, border tension with China has posed a major problem for the government at the national security front. As the tensions along Line of Actual Control (LAC) escalated, both the countries have rushed additional forces at the border in eastern Ladakh. While PM Modi held discussions with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and chiefs of the three armed services over the standoff, US President Donald Trump stated that the US is ready to mediate between the two countries over the border dispute.

Though India-China border disputes aren't new for both nations, and have taken place quite a number of times. Modi 1.0 government had also seen a 73-day long standoff between Indian Army and the Chinse People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Doklam, over construction works by China. Before that in 2013, the  Depsang valley incident also took quite some time to resolve. However, it would be premature to comment on whether or not it is like other temporary Sino-Indian face-offs or is it something more serious this time.

Challenges ahead:

As of now, the government has a couple of mammoth tasks lined up for its immediate attention. Taking care of the border dispute with China is the first one, as the country is already in shambles due to the pandemic.

The next challenge is to find out a middle ground between health and economy. The virus has brought into the open that  an upgradation at the healthcare front is imperative. The real task for the government is to reboot the economy along with keeping the transmission of Coronavirus under check.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has also observed “inadequacies and certain lapses” on the part of the Central and State governments in managing migrant crisis. Thus solving the problems of the migrant labourers remains yet another challenge that requires immediate attention.

Alongside attending to these, India needs to work adroitly to strengthen defence capabilities to match that of its northern neighbour.

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