India’s current government is led by the Bharatiya Janta Party or the BJP. It is also the country’s largest national party. It was formed in 1980, though its origins lie in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which was founded in 1951. The Jana Sangh was closely associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organization that continues to play a significant role in shaping the BJP’s ideology.
The party first came to power at the center in 1996, but its government lasted only 13 days. It returned to power in 1998, forming a coalition under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister. His tenure saw India conducting nuclear tests in 1998, economic reforms, and a focus on infrastructure development. However, the BJP lost power in 2004 to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
The BJP made a historic comeback in 2014 by securing 282 seats out of 543 in the Lok Sabha, with Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister. Major policy changes include the revocation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 that criminalized triple talaq in India.
The government’s handling of several protests and crises has faced widespread scrutiny. The 2020–2021 farmer protests, which were sparked by the controversial farm laws that were later repealed, drew significant public attention, with criticism directed at the use of force and the management of the situation. Similarly, the government’s response to the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests raised concerns over its handling of dissent, particularly the use of force. The BJP’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic also attracted criticism, especially regarding the lack of transparency around the death toll, shortages of medical resources like oxygen cylinders, and inadequate preparedness during the second wave.
Additionally, the ongoing inter-tribe conflict in Manipur, which erupted in 2023, has faced criticism for the government’s perceived failure to take adequate action, with accusations of poor crisis management and insufficient intervention in addressing the escalating violence.
This is the nature of politics. When a party or person does not a part of rulling party is always discuss real issue. But they act same when they got the chance to rule and serve the nation.
Kumar Ketkar is indeed fit to be a follower of his Party’s president, given that he glibly believes that Modi is running away from facing Rahul. It is beyond Ketkar to understand that there is nothing to debate in Rafale. All issues have been clearly addressed by Jaitley and Nirmala and intelligent listeners understood the content and the context. Now what is left for Rahul is just Kejariwal style shoot and scoot politics but it will be ignored by Modi. Ketkar should not draw any other conclusion but being what he is, he had come out with this article. Sometimes one wonders if he is paying to Print for publication of his articles!
I find great common thinking in the Imran Khan’s small men occupying big offices and Rahul Gandhi’s PM is incompetent leader.
Thd conclusion- Neither if them have an ounce of right or anything to call PM Modi who has stellar political career.
Same reasons why Congress did not agree to Modi’s debate with Manmohan Singh !
Three debates in the United States – the economy, national security, other stuff – between the candidates of the two major parties give Americans a measure of the (wo)men who aspire to the top job. In their case, language is not a constraint, because everyone speaks English. In India, logically the debate should be in Hindi; English would sound elitist. However, people in the South and the East would not be happy. While eloquence would make Shashi Tharoor PM, complete with brushing back his locks, substance is more important than style. Answering questions in Parliament, taking press conferences, debating with rivals are all an integral part of democracy. 2. The interview must have added a lot to ANI’s bottom line.
This writer was bribed with a seat in Rajya Sabha to write such nonsense.
The trick of debating is to push the narrative into confusing alleys whenever one is on a weak footing — so I guess, having watched so many silly debates on TV. Actually those debates are not meant to be silly because the topics are often interesting, but they are MADE silly by the professional debaters’ sleight of hand.
Mr Modi is a very good talker, and Rahul Gandhi would be no match to him in debating. But our PM is on such a shaky ground when it comes to Rafale that he cannot face absolutely anyone on this issue. I don’t know in what bad “nakshatr” Mr Modi got into this mess! It’s human nature to sympathize with even a stranger if he’s in a bad way, and I have full sympathy for Mr Modi on this one. Of course he’s no stranger to any of us, he’s our PM. I am reminded of a line of a sher: “Duniya ne kis-ka raah-e-fana mein diya hai saath”! Mr Modi will see his own trusted people slowly deserting him after 2019. If it’s not too late, and if God gives him courage, Mr Modi should gallantly accept his mistake and rescind the Rafale deal while he’s still in power. Otherwise, I see people pressing for even a treason charge against him post-elections.
Agreed. For once, the writer is not heavily biased towards Congress in this write up. I almost did NOT want to even look at it, knowing Mr Ketkar’s propensity favouring Congress and its dynasty. Modi choosing to ignore Rahul is tactical and correct. Rahul is prone to making false and rash statements a la Kejri. It is beneath Mr Modi, the PM of this great country to respond live to such cheap stunts.
Mr Ketkar is in Rajya Sabha fm Congress.. he has earned his place in RS only for reasons of being the party mouthpiece in media. Imagine, before this became public, Mr Ketkar used to for hours and hours defend Congress and in turn his political prospects in the garb of independent journalism. Long live freedom of press.