by SHOBHIT MAHAJAN
The coronation of the “Dharti Putra” is over – the ceremony, though not on the scale of the Delhi Durbar, was still impressive enough with the 4,000-odd invitees, much like the Maharajas at the previous coronation, seated according to their hierarchy. The backdrop was, of course, more impressive than the flood plain of the Yamuna in 1911, where, incidentally, the decision to construct the new capital was announced; the ceremony this time took place with the architectural legacy of that “monumental” decision as the backdrop.
Now that the new order is in place, the cabinet announced and the media obsession with who’s in and who’s out is over, it is time to see what one can reasonably expect from the man whose rise to prominence has been unmatched in recent history.
There has been lots of discussion about Narendra Modi’s vision and his penchant for results and so on. The concomitant empowering of the bureaucracy, cutting the red tape, inducting professionalism and inculcating a sense of responsibility within the government have all been commented upon and will presumably be implemented. The stock markets will boom (at least till the Fed keeps quantitative easing and cost of funds low) and there will be, in general, a feel-good elation. Investment will kickstart and the growth rate will pick up from middle single digits to high single digits. And there will be some semblance of governance. After the astounding stasis of the previous administration, all this will be refreshing. In this generalised, breathless euphoria, it would seem churlish to even question whether there would be any structural changes.
And then there is the realm of culture. The ideological moorings of the current administration are not a secret. One can argue that with the kind of mandate that he has got, Modi will be relatively autonomous of the men in Nagpur and hence things like tinkering with syllabi or appointment of “like-minded” people to cultural bodies will not be repeated. This argument is erroneous because it assumes an autonomy of ideology which, I think, is non-existent. The core of the party doesn’t need instructions from Nagpur to introduce Karma Kanda courses or vedic mathematics in the curriculum. They genuinely believe that this needs to be done and see nothing wrong with it. The facile defence, as always, will run thus: every government in power has changed textbooks, appointed their acolytes to cultural bodies, so what’s wrong if we do it?
Economic & Political Weekly for more
(Thanks to Mukul Dube)