Nagas caught between wrong priorities and their endless impact - M Chuba AO ::::: A key policy priority of new Govt will be to create a more enabling environment for foreign investment :::: Modi 3.0

Nagas caught between wrong priorities and their endless impact

M Chuba AO 

Elections are vital to democracy. I am not stating a rocket science.Often we experience that the individual ambitions obstruct a popular mandate. 

In the context of repeated sabotage of Rajya Sabha proceedings some years back, Late Arun Jaitley had said - "Less and less businesses are controlled by families due to start-ups, but more political parties are family controlled. Families that control political parties believe that they have a divine right to be in power." 

This is the essence of debate of the mandate of 2024. Well, in some states the opposition parties got moreseats and in some, it was the BJP or our good old National Democratic Alliance (NDA).But the funny way of behaviour from opposition parties is both shocking andunwarranted. Some of the opposition parties, especially the Congress, are frustrated. So, they are lookingfor reasons and rhymes to find fault with the NDA government.

Hope they stomach the rejection by Indian voters even as they have increased their strengthsin some states. Well, elections are meant to be surprised and the mandate 2024 by itself is a test case to argue that the Indian democracy is alive, vibrant and not vulnerable to bemisused. 

As New Delhi is reeling under heat and political debate around the elections; in far-offnortheast Nagaland has entered into the poll season for Urban Local Bodies.It is to ensure enhanced participation and representation of women in urban governing bodieslike town committees and municipal bodies. But we are also in the midst of news itemscoming out that some people want to boycott the elections to the urban civic bodies.

This is happening in eastern Nagaland and the ENPO as an organisation is behind this'boycott/abstain' doctrine. But I would also like to know who is benefittng. Electorally, the BJP and our regional partners including the NDPP have suffered a setback.Our joint candidate belonging to NDPP lost the Lok Sabha election to Congress candidate.Personally, I will always congratulate Supongmeren --also a youngman from our Mokokchung district.

In fact, my argument is that the NDPP nominee Chumben Murry could have easily wonhands-down if people of the ENPO region would have voted in the elections.I am not doing a post-mortem. It does not help. 

But when I try to analyze in futuristic sense; in what way the people of ENPO region have benefited by ensuring Supongmeren's win.

As a young energetic man, I am sure Supong will work hard and try to do wellin the national polity. But he is from the Congress and thus he will be sitting in the opposition bench and because he is a first timer; he will be on the back benches.I am not belittling him. 

In fact, I admire Supong's fighting spirit and the manner he stuck to the battle till the last moment. His success tale will be spoken and debated but it is also true a ruling party MP always has an advantage.

In that sense - Nagas would have benefited more if our MP in Lok Sabha sitsin the ruling bench. Our BJP government is in power in New Delhi and things could have helped Nagas everywhere -- in the entire state of Nagaland and in the eastern region. 

Hence, my argument is perhaps yet another mistake will be committed if they go ahead with their announced programme of boycott of ULB polls. Do we want to avoid -- development of our towns, cities and small urban hubs in eastern Nagaland and elsewhere in the state?

Even at the level of socio-political organisations; I often find that our Naga society is caught between wrong priorities, mismatched policies and their endless impact.

Boycotting of polls is a self-defeating proposition.

ends

A key policy priority of new Govt will be to create a more enabling environment for foreign investment  ::::   Modi 3.0 ..... :::  A pan-India representation and adequate focus on NDA partners 

The BJP’s manifesto pledged to make India a developed country (‘Viksit Bharat’) by 2047. 

A key policy priority of the new government will therefore be to create a more enabling environment for foreign investment and transform India into a trusted global manufacturing hub.

The formation and structure of Modi 3.0 shows a pan-India representation and also adequate focus on the alliance partners.

The caste equations have also been factored as out of 71 ministers, 27 hail from the Other Backward Class (OBC), 10 from the Scheduled Caste (SC), 5 from the Scheduled Tribe (ST), and 5 from the minority community.

What happens to Sickularism ?

The list of 71 ministers in the new coalition government comprises of 30 Cabinet Ministers, 5 Ministers of State (MoS) with independent charge, and 36 Ministers of State (MoS).  A total of 11 ministers from the NDA alliance partners took oath of office and secrecy on Sunday.  

At least 43 ministers have served in the Parliament for at least 3 or more terms in their previous stints, bringing a wide range of experience with them. As many as 34 ministers are said to have prior experience in the state legislatures with 23 of them having served as Ministers of States.  

Former Chief Ministers such as Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Manohar Lal Khattar have also joined Team Modi, marking a new role from the state legislature to the Parliament.

There were differences between 2024 and 2019 polls. 

In 2019, during election campaign, faceless Indian voters – and from lower strata of society – said they would vote for Modi because under his stewardship, the government has brought in a new ‘foreign policy’.

Modi has tried to make an outreach to Muslims and others as well who did not vote for party as well. He said his MPs should work for all including those who did not vote for them.

In terms of governance, the Direct Benefit Transfer into bank accounts, gas cylinders for rural poor, rural housing and a believed to be corruption-free governance would be certain hallmarks of his tenure between 2014 and 2019.

Modi projected a self image of a Hindu-nationalist, an industry friendly catalyst for development, someone who initiated GST reforms and a man who would not compromise with the ideologies of his RSS roots. All these have paid in dividends and helped create a phenomenon called Moditva.

Nagaland Lok Sabha MP Supong and blogger: Younger days friendship 

Supporters cheered, clapped and chanted “Modi, Modi” as the name of the 73-year old leader, dressed in a white kurta tunic and blue half jacket, was called to take his oath.

Modi was followed by senior ministers in the previous government: Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and Piyush Goyal, among others. Their portfolios are expected to be announced after the swearing-in.

Modi, who started as a publicist of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is only the second person after independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru to serve a third straight term as prime minister.

Modi secured the third term in elections that concluded on June 1 with the support of 14 regional parties in his BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), unlike in the previous two terms when his party won an outright majority.

The outcome is seen as a big setback to the popular leader as surveys and exit polls had predicted BJP would secure even more seats than in 2019, reports 'Dawn'.