Enough good reasons to vote for Modi led government in upcoming general elections 2019!

Good Reasons to vote for Modi led government in upcoming general elections 2019

For any healthy democracy to flourish we need to give equal opportunities to different political parties and opinions. Post-independence, Congress has been in power for almost ~55 years. In these years Congress had enough time to fix issues in our social-political structure and bring reforms. But unfortunately, the Congress disappointed all of us at many levels. It was also sufficient period for Congress to create its staunch supporters within the judiciary, media, educational institutions, intellectuals and bureaucracy, which is not healthy for any democracy.

Sometimes, I wonder, is Congress a party of stalwarts like Sri Aurobindo, M K Gandhi, Patel, Nehru, and Shastri? I feel sad when I compare the ethos of these great leaders and today’s Congress. Today Congress stands at a point from where they can’t even democratically elect a credible party president. The way empires collapse over time, Congress party has collapsed in today’s India. Many great empires (Roman, Greek, British…) collapsed and today they are no longer relevant. In the same manner, Congress is no longer the party it used to be in the early 20th century. Congress party doesn’t have great leaders who rose from grass root level and with whom common Indians could relate to. Today Congress is full of sycophants and rich elites. Even the young leaders (Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot) are carrying the legacy of their parents.

Also, it has been a failure of Indian citizens to not let non-Congress alliance govern India continuously for 10 years. We had an opportunity in 2004 to do this but unfortunately, we missed it by not voting for A.B. Vajpayee. Now we have another opportunity to correct our mistakes in upcoming general elections. But we should not vote blindly based on sentiments, instead, we should vote based on facts and figures.

I would like to share below a few constructive initiatives which BJP led gov took since May 2014:

The launch of the world’s largest healthcare insurance scheme (Ayushman Bharat):

The launch of the world’s largest healthcare insurance scheme (Ayushman Bharat) which covered 1/2 billion people. When many rich countries are cutting down on health care, a developing country with a size of 1.35 billion people launched its publicly funded health care scheme. Good health is a basic fabric of any society and the first-time someone took it so seriously in India. Recently, Union Health Minister JP Nadda informed that 6,85,000 beneficiaries have availed free health care in just the first 100 days of the scheme and the number is rising rapidly.
Bill Gates congratulated Indian Gov for achieving this feat. The US democrat, Bernie Sanders had also applauded Modi at the launch of this scheme.

 The campaign around sanitation, hygiene, clean rivers, toilets

No other Indian PM showed so much enthusiasm to this cause since 1947. The day Modi was elected as PM he gave his historic speech in Varanasi on hygiene.
Due to water born diseases countless people die and get sick. This campaign has reduced such diseases and deaths. More than 80 million toilets are estimated to have been built since 2014. Bill Gates and his Melinda Gates Foundation have applauded Modi many times for this noble cause.

The launch of the International Solar Association in Gurgaon

It is the first international organization ever launched in India and it is based in Gurgaon. The HQ of the majority of International bodies are based in Europe or the US. But ISO’s HQ is in Gurgaon. Indians must feel proud. It has been supported by more than 123 countries, and French President, Macron was also one of the key leaders behind this initiative along with Modi.

In today’s world, Climate Change is the biggest threat, and it’s great to see a developing country like India is ready to risk its economic development for the sake of climate change initiatives. Also, India increased its already massive 2022 clean energy target by 28%.

Electricity for all:

The project to electrify all Indian villages by 2018. Though this only accounts for 10% electrification of any village. But still, it’s a small step towards the bigger goal and they have achieved it by electrifying 18,452 villages since came to power. Also, with India depending on coal to meet more than 60% of its electricity requirement it is not an easy task to fulfill its promise. To reduce this dependency, in parallel BJP government is progressing very well with solar energy projects.

Paris Climate Change

Modi is a staunch supporter of Paris Climate Change whereas the world’s largest and most powerful countries are not in support of it (US, China, Brazil, etc.). In 2018, India’s second most populous state, Maharashtra (ruled by BJP) banned all single-use plastic. India’s environment minister also announced the country would eliminate all single-use plastic by 2022.

In the majority of big countries, something strange is happening. After Trump, digging coal mines, fracking, deforestation have become common. In Brazil, its newly appointed president Bolsonaro is promoting deforestation of Amazon forest. But Modi’s focus on issues around climate change and the environment is impeccable. He received UN’s Champions of the Earth award in 2018.
Modi has been also awarded Seoul’s Peace Prize for his contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth.

He definitely deserves the second term.

Implementation of Common Tax system (GST) throughout India:

Though it was first initiated by Congress, but implemented by BJP in less than 4 years of rule. The ease of doing business has increased manifold.

Digital India:

The digitization of many government offices. The renewal of passport is seamless and the digitization has cut down the middlemen. It is not a hidden truth that just by tweeting to External Affairs Ministry many issues have been resolved when Indians were stuck abroad. Many times Indian railways responded immediately to tweets to resolve complaints related to late trains and poor catering services. All credit goes to BJP ministers.

Reservation Based on Economic Condition:

The recent 10% reservation based on the economic situation. It is the first time in Indian history that reservation is given based on the economic situation instead of caste. Ideally, there should be no reservation but unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world. Considering the caste-based politics we have in India, the economic-based reservation is the first step towards moving away from draconian caste based reservation. It’s a well-known fact that the caste-based reservation is mostly exploited by rich and educated backward caste citizens living in urban areas. Over the decades the caste-based reservation failed to help economically poor people within SC/ST/OBC section.

Increase in FDI:

A great increase in FDI. Last year India left China behind in FDI. The first time it happened in 20 years. In 2018, India saw more than $38 billion of inbound deals compared with China’s $32 billion. When all world economies are slowing, the Indian economy is still growing. The credit must be given to reforms brought by BJP government.

As per the World Bank report, India jumped rank from 142 to 77 in less than 5 years on ‘Ease of Doing Business’. This jump has occurred during Modi’s 4 years and a half period and it’s a result of economic reforms.

Also, as per Smriti Irani India to have its own standards of Apparel size soon.

Advancements in Armed Forces:

We live in a volatile world and surrounded by two nuclear power states (China and Pakistan). BJP has been always pro-defense forces and they are trying their best to keep our military up to date with the latest weapons and technology.

Building highways and improving railways:

Modi Gov. constructed 73% more highways than UPA. Until May 2014, the construction rate of highways stood at 11.67 km per day. The current regime has steadily raised the construction rate to the present 26.9 km per day in FY 2017-18. On other hands, they have invested billions of dollars in fast trains (bullet trains) and modernizing Indian railways.
Indian Railways has eliminated Unmanned Level Crossings throughout the country and 3,478 being eliminated in the last year. In 2014-2015, 130 people had died in various incidents at unmanned level crossings. This number came down to only 13 between 1st April and Dec 2018.

Auditing of Non-Performing Assets and Banks:

During the Congress era, many scams erupted through our dormant banking industry. The millions of dollars of loans were given to defaulters due to sycophancy. Once Modi came to power the auditing kicked-in and now you could see many fraudsters are hiding outside India. Mallya, Choksi, Nirav Modi are just a few popular names out of many. They were untouched for many decades but now their status quo has been challenged.

Decriminalising Section 377 making gay sex legal.

It was a century-old prohibition on homosexuals imposed by the British Empire in 1861 because of religious ideology. But this progressive gov. Let Supreme Court abolish this rule.

A bill was introduced to end Triple Talaq which is outdated Islamic law and has caused enough trouble to Muslim women. The majority of Islamic women in India supported this. It’s a sign of a progressive mindset.

International Yoga Day:

One of the biggest exports from India to the entire world is Yoga and Meditation. But there was no special day reserved to celebrate this day. Once Modi came to power he encouraged world bodies to make 21st June as International Day of Yoga and United Nations General Assembly unanimously accept it. This beautiful gift to the entire world from India found its place at a wider level.

The above are the only few initiatives out of many others which have helped India to march towards the economic and social progress. The majority of Modi led progressive initiatives are driven by the Socialist approach which you see in developed countries in Northern and Western Europe. The so-called Conservative Party of India actually could fit in the center-left and socialist ideology as per the European Union’s standard.

BJP under Modi leadership is a progressive party and considering our own interest we must once again vote for him. The BJP is liberal, progressive and party for all (poor, middle and rich) and deserves the second term in the upcoming general election.

Author: Chit Dubey: German-based author and senior consultant.