Time has come for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assume the role of a drill instructor and enforce discipline, synchronization and coordination that seems to be missing within the party rank and file.
Guess what might happen when a bunch of unruly schoolboys are suddenly appointed to manage the affairs and maintain discipline and decorum in the school affairs. This is exactly what is happening in the BJP.
Modi is beginning to realize that democracy is utter nonsense till you have inner party discipline. The ruling BJP lawmakers need to be made to realize that inner party democracy cannot survive without inner party discipline.
The greatest challenge Modi faces today is not from the Congress or the other opposition parties. But from his own party MLAs, MPs and Ministers who can’t seem to resist making controversial statements that eventually end up hurting the party and the government.
Mainstream politics at the centre has its momentum and dynamics. A politician belonging to the opposition party may obstruct or block the functioning of the government. But the ruling party MP or MLA should not be seen to be engaging in loose talk that may derail the development agenda and provide a weapon to the opposition to unite and beat the government.
Significantly soon after forming the government, Modi had issued a code of conduct for his party’s newly-elected lawmakers directing them not to touch his and other leaders. Instead, he asked them to go to their constituencies and ensure that government programs are implemented.
The PM has been telling the elected representatives to ensure that the government policies reach out to the people and that this development visible on the ground and not “just on paper.”
Another directive of the Prime Minister to his party MP’s is “not to address the nation” out of turn. \
BJP President Amit Shah has also asked each of the party’s 325 MPs to reach out to people and devote time for at least six small meetings in Delhi, where elections are due in February.
But it seems the majority of the party MPs and Ministers have been either ignoring or taking his veiled threats like, “I will not compromise on this”, lightly.
But it seems that time has come for Modi to act decisively and put the house in order.
The “negative” approach of some of his party parliamentarians is beginning to divert attention from the “positive works” done by the government.
Addressing the BJP Parliamentary Party in Parliament House, Modi told MPs that it was their responsibility to ensure that development and good governance by the NDA government were highlighted in the political and public discourse.
Hardening of Modi’s stance could be seen when speaking to senior functionaries at the BJP parliamentary party meeting, he told them not to cross the “Laxman Rekha.”
This may be a clear sign that Modi may not tolerate loose talk by any of the BJP lawmakers.
Here are some examples:
Madhya Pradesh industry minister Kailash Vijayvargiya was in the midst of a controversy last year for saying that women should dress in sync with ‘Indian culture’ in order to avoid molestation; kicked up a big storm by quoting the Ramayana to say that even Sita was abducted by Ravan when moral limit was crossed. “Maryada ka Ulanghan hota hai; toh Sita-haran ho jata hai. Laxman-rekha har vyakti ki khichi gayi hain. Us Laxman-rekha ko koi bhi par karega, toh Rawan samne baitha hai, who Sita-haran karke le jayega.
These remarks caused a major embarrassment for the BJP.
BJP MP from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj went to the extent of calling Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a “patriot”. Later he had to apologize in Parliament after the opposition made an issue out of it.
But this is not the first time that Modi’s ministers or MPs have shot their mouths off. Here are some other examples.
In a speech in Delhi, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said, “Aapko tay karna hai ki Dilli mein sarkar Ramzadon ki banegi ya haramzadon ki.” (You have to decide if you want the government in Delhi to be led by the children of Lord Ram or illegitimate children). Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to cut a sorry figure when the remark generated a storm in the media and the opposition demanded Jyoti’s resignation. The Prime Minister finally had to break his silence, but all his attempts to buy peace failed with the opposition paralyzed Rajya Sabha for the three days.
Later at the instance of parliamentary affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy Jyoti was asked to apologised.
Yogi Adityanath another BJP MP has been making public statements on religious conversions.
Similarly Nishikant Dubey, the BJP MP from Godda in Jharkhand caused immense embarrassment for his party’s government at the Centre when while participating in a debate on Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha he said that the government will not be able to bring back black money from Switzerland “in our lifetime”.
His comment totally contradicts the Narendra Modi’s government statement in Parliament that it is “determined to bring back the black money stashed in foreign banks.
Significantly in the previous meetings, the Prime Minister had asked the party’s MPs from both houses to reach on time for the parliamentary party meeting.
But despite the warning, at least 26 of them reached after the PM had already arrived. The late comers included ministers like Nitin Gadkari, Santosh Gangwar, Rao Indrajeet Singh and Mahesh Sharma.
The Prime Minister himself who had to address the Parliamentary Party in between his election campaigns in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir arrived with 10 minutes to spare.
