Manorama News Conclave 2019: Debating left, right and centre in Indian politics

Are the delineations of left, right and centre relevant in Indian politics?

Tharoor-Lekhi-Raja-Manorama-Conclave-Josekutty (Left to right) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi, and CPI general secretary D. Raja | Josekutty Panackal

In the fast-shifting Indian landscape, can the political sphere be neatly pigeon-holed into left, right and centre any more? This was a point raised by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi at the Manorama News Conclave 2019, where she was in conversation with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and CPI general secretary D. Raja, moderated by special correspondent Cithara Paul, on the topic ‘New Indian politics’.

“This so-called capitalist government [BJP]", she said, “was the one following the welfare model, with impetus for the unorganised sector, and sparking conversations on hunger and malnutrition.”

With Mahatma Gandhi's 150th anniversary in mind and 'Gram Swaraj' as the main motif of its welfare, PM Narendra Modi’s second term has been publicised to see an increased focus on schemes that will redistribute resources to “ensure everyone has equitable access to resources”. The 75th anniversary of India's independence that this government will celebrate will also showcase massive welfare works done in rural India.

According to sources, during all the closed-door meetings the prime minister had with senior party leaders including party president Amit Shah in the run-up to the elections, Modi emphasised that “the astounding impact of government initiatives like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Saubhagya, Ayushman Bharat, Ujjwala and other schemes” is what “karyakartas should talk about and help with delivery”.

The new government will accelerate the delivery under the 25 welfare schemes that were either launched from scratch or re-invented from the UPA government's schemes. 'Saashray' or housing is going to be given a big boost.

“Indian politics has chosen its path,” said Lekhi. “You have to perform or perish. Corruption, communalism and caste, the three Cs, have been wiped out. India is asserting itself at the world stage,” she said.

Raja asked Lekhi if that was the case, then why was the government not accepting the left’s demands for a minimum wage. “Why are you introducing anti-labour measures in the name of labour reforms? What is the amount being allowed for the NREGA?”

Tharoor retorted that the only 3Cs that have vanished are consensus, cooperation and compromise. “Communalism is rampant. Bigotry and prejudice are now openly spewed by political parties from public platforms. We now talk about this idea of a Hindu Rashtra, further compounded in this era of fake news and trolls,” he said. Raja said that right-wing populism and rhetoric was now dominating public discourse, which was becoming more abusive by the day. “Ambedkar said about Hindu Rashtra that it was the most calamitous thing if it happened in India,” he said.

Was the Indian political scene becoming more personality-oriented? Tharoor said that this was partly because of the proliferation of social media, which holds politicians accountable and accessible. “Some manage their image much better than the others. PM Modi is an example. An individual being the face is a departure from the past. We have the worst of two worlds now: a presidential system within a parliamentary democracy where parties fight it out on the basis of ideologies.” Raja said a presidential system of politics should not be a part of Indian democracy. “In religion, you can lay everything down at the feet of one figure. But, in politics, that is a way to disaster,” he said.

The panellists then discussed the oft-spoken BJP idea of a Congress-mukt Bharat. Is it healthy for a democracy to have no opposition? Said Lekhi, “Congress-mukt means a rejection of the party that has stayed at the helm since Independence. Promises were never delivered. These are remnants of the past, symbolic for what the Congress has represented.”

Tharoor was questioned about the internecine rift in the Congress—the flak faced by himself, Jairam Ramesh and Abhishek Singhvi—for “praising Modi”, and the dissonance of the statement coming from a party which prides itself for a multiplicity of voices. “The issue and the unnecessary controversy have ended after the state president accepted my explanation. I don’t want to open a closed wound,” he said.