By G Krishna Mohan Rao*
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government’s 100 days in office coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on September 17, 2024.
Prime Minister Modi and his new council of ministers were administered oath on June 9, 2024, after the BJP-led NDA scraped past the majority mark in the Lok Sabha election to return to power for a third consecutive term.
On this twin occasion, Home Minister Amit Shah touched upon a few sensitive issues, which led to the Opposition’s counterattack. The Home Minister spoke of a census process to resume but was silent on whether it would be caste-based or not. The Home Minister also made it clear that — one nation, one election— and controversial Waqf Bill will be pushed through, which are being opposed by the Congress-led opposition.
In its usual style, the Opposition criticised the government’s initiatives during the 100 days, while the NDA government as well as the BJP predictably defended its actions. Speaking at an event in Gandhinagar on September 16, 2024, the Prime Minister said that despite taunts and insults by the Opposition he worked to ensure that the government’s agenda for the first 100 days was completed. “In the first 100 days of my third term, they made fun of me and insulted me. But I chose not to respond to any of their insults and ensure that the government’s agenda was completed,” Modi said.
The government in a statement said that the first 100 days have been marked by a determined infrastructural development push, with the government clearing and approving projects worth Rs 3 lakh crores, including the Polavaram irrigation project in Andhra Pradesh, Roads, Ports and Airports have been the primary focus of the government. Various Ministerial Departments also held separate briefings to highlight their policy initiatives as well as targets and achievements.
However, political observers feel that the first 100 days have also seen the BJP, which is dependent on its allies to remain in power, retracting some of its decisions. A Congress Party spokesperson said, “From day one, Modi has proven to be a weak PM, dependent on crutches, setting new records for U-turns”. Referring to the U-turns, the Congress Party pointed out – Lateral entry, Broadcast Bill, Indexation, Wakf Board Bill, and the National Pension System (NPS) to the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).
The Congress Party demanded to know what was the government’s plan for strife-torn Manipur, and will the PM ever visit the state that has been burning for 16 months. It also questioned the “PM’s silence” on Chinese incursions in Ladakh. On J&K, the Congress Party said in these 100 days, the Union Territory witnessed 26 terror attacks, leading to 21 soldiers being killed and injuries to 29 others. Besides, there were 15 civilian deaths and 47 injuries.
Soon after the Home Minister’s statement on ‘one nation, one poll’, BJP allies Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshaktri Party extended support to the move. However, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, and the Left ridiculed the statement and said that it was not pragmatic and asked how long the government would survive by “releasing hot air balloons “ to test the waters. They made it clear that ‘one nation, one poll’ is not possible under the Constitution and it is a “gimmick” and an attack on “federalism”.
However, the Union Cabinet, on September 18, 2024, cleared the report of the High-Level Committee headed by former President Ramnath Kovind that recommends ‘One nation, one election’ in the country. This includes a long process, including half of the States’ ratification. The BJP, in its Lok Sabha election manifesto in 2024, had promised ‘one nation, one election’.
Also read: Cabinet accepts recommendations on simultaneous elections
Concerning the census, Amit Shah also confirmed the government’s intent to resume the process for the census, on hold since 2020 due to COVID-19, “very soon”. Avoiding a direct reply to whether caste will be recorded in the upcoming census, he said, “These details will be known to all when announcement of holding the census is made”. Incidentally, no provision was made for the Census in the 2024-25 Budget. However, this is unlikely to be a constraint, were government to go ahead with the exercise in the current fiscal.
Census by convention is conducted between April and early March of next year in two stages, namely, housing and house-listing operations, which are conducted alongside the National Population Register ( NPR) updation and population enumeration, done from February 9 to 28. A pre-test is done 6-7 months before the start of the census.
The Home Minister also stated that the Waqf Amendment Bill, which is being examined by the Joint Parliamentary Committee, will be brought to Parliament for approval in the coming days. He said that the Bill aimed at the protection and prevention of misuse of Waqf properties.
The assertion that the bill will be tabled soon makes light of the stiff resistance put up by opposition as well as Muslim outfits to the proposed legislation, dubbed by them as an indirect attempt to seize control of and sell Waqf properties.
*Senior journalist
