The celebrations are continuing, the honeymoon period will last a few weeks, perhaps even a little longer, but then this government must get down to what it has been elected to do – govern the world’s largest democracy. It is no easy task and the government has to take the 1.3 billion strong population of this country along with it. Every one of the citizens of the country has to be made to feel that he or she counts, that they all are part of this great country called India.
When Manmohan Singh began a second term, the government was termed as UPA 2, for the United Progressive Alliance. Now that Narendra Modi has been sworn in for a second term, his government is not being called NDA 2, but Modi 2.0, which puts the entire burden to deliver on the prime minister. So the prime minister must put behind him the divisive debates that have emerged in the past five years.
The entire world will be looking at India with renewed interest. The international media – here some of the most widely read and respected print editions of magazines – have not been complimentary to the former government of the NDA. This global perception is what the incoming government will have to strive to change. The idea that has to be sold internationally is that India is a pluralistic country, that believes in respecting the beliefs of each and every single one of its citizens and will protect them. This, the new government that has taken office in New Delhi, has to manage to achieve. But it cannot be left to perception alone. The government has to also ensure that its policies and its deeds make this happen.
The hard line on issues that has been taken by certain organisations in the past five years has to be softened, and that can happen only if the new government reacts strongly to statements of extremists. This election the people have given the NDA another opportunity to govern, it should not be viewed as a licence by extremist groups to continue with their utterances that in the past years have hurt the minority communities in the country. The minorities are as much part of this nation as the majority community, and their rights cannot be infringed upon. India has to go beyond the trivial pursuits of individualism and embrace all ideas and all religions that today make it up. It has done so for centuries, and been the abode of tolerance. It should not and cannot change now.
The task before this government will not be just economic policies and wellbeing, it will not be just ensuring that the economy that has nose-dived recovers, but goes far beyond that. As the new government begins its term, it has to assure the people of India that pluralism will always be defended. It has to assure the people that secularism will not be killed, but it will be kept alive and thrive. It has to assure the people that they have no reason to fear that their beliefs and way of life will not be tolerated. It has to assure the people that a man will not be lynched on the suspicion of having cooked and eaten beef at his home, as happened in the past in Dadri.
As a strengthened NDA returns to take charge of the country, the issues before it will be many. This is a strengthened government, with the BJP having 303 MPs, 31 more than the majority mark, and then another 50 of the allies. It is in a position to make a difference to India, giving it the stability and the governance to turn it around and take its place among the leaders of the world. Can it do this?
