Bharat Bhushan: Polls on, but Modi still seeking a grand theme
As voters in 20 states
prepare to cast their ballots for 91 Lok Sabha seats in the first of seven
phases of the general election on April 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
desperation is evident. In this make or break election, he is virtually begging
for votes in the name of the Balakot airstrike and the Pulwama martyrs. It is
as if the Indian Air Force fighter pilots and the Central Reserve Police Force
martyrs were contesting the election on his behalf.
Appealing to an
estimated 15 million first-time voters, he said in Aurangabad: “When you earn
your first salary usually you don’t keep it for yourself. You want to dedicate
it to your mother or sister. Similarly, you can dedicate your vote for the
Balakot airstrike, for the Pulwama attack victims… Will you dedicate your vote
to the brave men who conducted the Balakot strikes, to the CRPF men who lost
their lives in the Pulwama attack?” Prime Minister Modi’s attempt to leverage the death and bravery of the security forces is nothing short of
scandalous.
In 2014, he had mesmerised voters with a
promise of delivering inclusive growth, corruption-free governance, employment
for youth, and the prospect of doubling the income of farmers. Five years
later, people have realised that the trailer was better than the film. Prime Minister Modi could not deliver on
any of his economic promises. Instead, his maverick policies such a
demonetisation destroyed jobs and small businesses. Markets turned chaotic with
the hastily-introduced Goods and Services Tax, which was so badly framed that
it had to be modified a record 376 times within 10 months of its inception... read more:
