India’s Modi government pulls key policies, bills after backlash

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is getting real taste of coalition politics in his third term, with his weakened Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forced to reverse recent key policy moves.

Just three days after issuing an advertisement to fill mid- to senior-level federal positions, Modi’s government this month pulled the ad amid an outcry from both allies and the revitalized opposition.

The advertisement was issued on Aug.17 for “lateral entry” into various government jobs under a process that allowed recruitment of outside experts based on merit, rather than under the traditional system, which reserves some jobs for specific groups. It was, however, rescinded on Aug. 20 after the plan drew criticism for its lack of affirmative action for lower castes and disadvantaged groups.

Chirag Paswan, a leader of a regional party in eastern Bihar state and a key ally of the BJP, who had expressed concern over the government’s lateral entry plan, thanked the prime minister after the advertisement was cancelled.

“Along with the opposition parties, we had also objected to this plan,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “It is the commitment of our prime minister toward social justice and toward that section of society which is still on the margins, because of which he withdrew this advertisement.”

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Indian National Congress, posted on X in Hindi: “We will foil BJP’s ‘lateral entry’ type conspiracies at any cost.”

This wasn’t the first U-turn that the Modi government has taken in the initial weeks after securing a rare third term in power in June.

The government earlier this month withdrew a draft broadcasting services bill after facing criticism over provisions that could have given the government greater control over online content. It also agreed to have a parliamentary committee review a bill that would have required the properties of Waqf, an Islamic charity, to be registered with a government district office. Opposition parties objected to the proposed change, and the BJP’s own allies supported further discussion on the issue.

Commuters watch videos on their phones in Mumbai. A broadcasting services bill was pulled after critics said it would give government too much control over online content.   © Reuters

Over the past decade, the BJP has enjoyed an outright parliamentary majority. During that time, the Modi government undertook tough policy moves, such as pulling high-value banknotes from circulation in 2016, and scrapping of the special status of the country’s only Muslim majority region of Kashmir in 2019. But the party lost its sole majority in the most recent general election.

A party needs 272 out of 543 lower house seats to form a government on its own. The BJP exceeded that figure in 2014 and 2019. However, in its current term, the BJP holds just 240 seats, meaning it must keep its allies on its side to complete a five-year term.

In the annual budget submitted on July 23, the government also announced special incentives for the states of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, governed by key BJP allies, in an apparent effort to maintain the parties’ support. Gandhi at that time alleged that the budget was aimed at saving the government’s skin by appeasing partners.

“Earlier [the BJP] could do what they wanted, but now no longer that position is available to them. That is why they have to rescind, withdraw or buy time,” V.S. Chandrasekar, a New Delhi-based political observer and former executive editor of the Press Trust of India news agency, told Nikkei Asia.

He added that all this is happening because of the ruling party’s reduced numbers; they now face pushback from both within their alliance and from the opposition parties. “It’s a compulsion [of coalition politics],” he said.

Chandrasekar also pointed to several key state elections due this year and in 2025 where the BJP will be cooperating with other parties, saying, “That is why also they have to listen to their alliance partners.”

The BJP’s rhetoric against Muslims now seems to have toned down significantly, given that the minority community is a key voting bloc for some of its important allies. “Social equations have changed, and upcoming state elections have forced [the BJP] to retreat” on various policy matters, said Navaid Hamid, a leader of the Muslim community, which generally supports anti-BJP parties.

Hamid, who is a former president of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, an umbrella group for Muslim organizations, said the BJP also saw voters from the Hindu lower castes and economically deprived sections “drifting away” from it in the general election. “They are in a bind as to what to do now.”

Had it been a preelection scenario, “This government would have bulldozed any legislation that it wished to have, [but] currently the only aim of the government is to survive,” Hamid said. He suggested the BJP may be buying time “to bounce back with the help of possible defectors in other parties,” but said it would still be unlikely for it to reach the magic figure of 272 seats.

However, others do not see the recent government rollbacks as buckling under pressure.

“When democracy evolves in a coalition, it brings about certain changes in priorities. So, I won’t call it any sort of pressure [on the Modi government], but rearrangement of priorities,” Sanjeev K. Sharma, general secretary of the Indian Political Science Association, told Nikkei.

The Modi government’s recent moves, Sharma added, “prove that the allegations against it that it is anti-constitution, anti-[affirmative action] or anti-democratic are baseless because the incumbent government is listening to demands and wishes of the other players, too.”

According to Chandrasekar, the BJP and Modi have the ability to remain in power “without creating flutters” if the government does not introduce policies or bills that their alliance partners reject. Nevertheless, he added, the BJP under Modi will keep pushing for a uniform national civil code to replace various religious-based laws, an idea the Prime Minister promoted in his Independence Day speech on Aug. 15. This proposed change is strongly opposed by Muslims, a constituency whose votes some of Modi’s allies want.

Modi and the BJP will emphasize to their traditional Hindu upper caste voting bloc that, “They are not giving up on their core issues, but are limited by their own allies and numbers,” Chandrasekar said.

source : asia.nikkei