The challenges facing Modi
Last Updated on June 6, 2024 8:20 am
The final and official results of 543 constituencies of India’s 18th Lok Sabha elections have been announced. No party got single majority in this result. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is forming the government for the third time after getting the most seats.
But the party has to be forward-looking in forming the government. The big question now is what challenges are coming in front of Narendra Modi, who has been in a single majority for two consecutive terms. News by AP, Anadolu Agency.
The Modi government has been running the government alone for a long time. After coming to power in India in 2014, he took all the decisions of the country exclusively. Narendra Modi took controversial decisions like currency ban in 2016 when he was Prime Minister. Again, in 2019, he took polarizing steps like revoking the special status of Kashmir. All these factors are expected to undermine the monopoly’s popularity in the case of a coalition government.
New Delhi-based political commentator Arthi Zerath says, ‘Modi is not a man of compromise. So, it remains to be seen how he will handle the tensions and pressures of the coalition government.’
Political analyst Rashed Kidwai said population and welfare policies will dominate this term. Because Modi is in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Regional leaders like Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar in Bihar to the east have to rely on. They support such policies. The BJP also pledged ahead of this election to promote economic expansion of India’s tourism sector, increase its international status and establish Hindutva supremacy. The party also featured unemployment in its election manifesto.
BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal said, employment generation is a challenge. We have taken it into consideration and are doing the best we can.’
India’s unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent in April this year, according to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy, a private think-tank. Which was 7.4 percent in March. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, it was around 6 percent. Modi first came to power in 2014 promising to create 2 crore jobs every year. But in reality he is miles away from fulfilling that promise.
In the latest January-March quarter, government estimates showed the unemployment rate for 15-29-year-olds in urban areas rose to 17 percent from 16.5 percent in the previous quarter.
Despite India’s economic growth of more than 8 percent, rising food prices have exacerbated the misery of rural life. Because this economic growth did not happen to everyone. It is confined to the richest 1 percent of India’s population. Inflation in India is now hovering around 5 percent, which is relatively low.
However, since November 2023, food inflation has risen above 8 percent, affecting the poor and low-income people. Modi will also face strategic challenges in forming a coalition government.
In this regard, analyst Parveen Donthi said, India’s problems have increased manifold due to tensions with China. Talks to resolve the issue have not progressed and an impasse on government formation between the two countries remains. According to him, the new government will be under pressure to break the deadlock and make progress on this front. Even the same applies to Maldives.
Also, according to him, the government should start working on several internal problems including farmers’ movement within the country. Because now the position of the opposition has also strengthened. As a result, there will be no one to suppress the people’s movement.