Narendra Damodardas Modi is the third longest-serving Prime Minister of India, after Jawaharlal Nehru (16 years and 286 days) and Indira Gandhi (15 years and 350 days). On June 9, 2024, when he was administered the oath of office for an unprecedented third consecutive term by President Droupadi Murmu, he became only the second prime minister in India’s history to serve three terms in a row, after Jawaharlal Nehru.
Along with the prime minister, 71 other ministers (60 from BJP and 11 from NDA alliance) from 24 states, representing a wide spectrum of caste, class, religion, and gender took oath of office. The list includes 30 cabinet ministers, five ministers of state with independent charge and 36 ministers of state (MoS). The government, a veritable mix of experience, expertise, and youth, has nine new cabinet ministers and six former chief ministers.
The first cabinet meeting of the new government is likely to be held today (June 10) around 5 p.m. After the allocation of ministries, the government is likely to begin working on its governance agenda swiftly. This will be the first time in the last three elections that the BJP, which secured 240 seats, has relied on the NDA to form a government, reaching a comfortable majority of 293 with the support of its allies. Prime Minister Modi has given the NDA a new moniker: “New India, Developed India, and Aspirational India”.
Political pundits have opined that NDA coalition partners, particularly the TDP and JDU, will demand significant concessions and leverage their positions within the government. However, the ease with which the government formation has happened – with appropriate respect and representation accorded to all partners according to a pre-arranged agreement – should immediately dispel such speculation. The council of ministers has an indelible stamp of the craftsmanship of the PM.
Indubitably, Prime Minister Modi, in the third term, will need to follow the “coalition dharma” and remain steadfast on the path of “cooperative federalism”. Nevertheless, this member of the commentariat humbly posits that Modi 3.0 will fast-forward development, reforms, and equity and resolutely move on the predetermined path of Viksit Bharat.
Here are the reasons for what I say and why I say it:
One, since independence, coalition governance has been ingrained in India’s political DNA. In fact, Prime Minister Nehru’s first cabinet, formed in 1947, included at least four non-Congress members among its 15 ministers. These included B.R. Ambedkar as Law Minister, Syama Prasad Mookerjee (founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh) as Minister of Industry and Shipping, John Mathai (an economist) as Finance Minister, and C.H. Bhabha (a businessman) as Commerce Minister.
Two, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor party of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), cut its teeth in the coalition governments at the state level as early as 1967, and at the Centre in 1977, following the post-Emergency rout of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Though the Janata Dal experiment did not last long, it was, in a true sense, an “Indian Spring” that sowed the seeds of multi-party democracy in India.
Three, ever since December 1989, when Vishwanath Pratap Singh assumed charge as prime minister, the nation has been ruled by coalition or minority governments. This included full terms by Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao (1991-1996), Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1999-2004) and two full terms of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (2004-2014).
Four, as a keen observer of the evolving national landscape, I humbly posit that every coalition prime minister, regardless of their tenure, has made significant contributions in bringing India to its current standing.
Five, for the first three years of his tenure, PV Narasimha Rao led a minority government with 238 Lok Sabha members and it is these three years that are known for big bang economic reforms that proved to be the death knell for the License Permit Raj.
Six, in the 1999 general elections, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA, with the BJP securing 269 seats, formed the government. While not strictly part of the pre-election alliance, the Telugu Desam Party’s 29 seats proved crucial in providing a stable majority for Vajpayee to complete a full term.
Among Prime Minister Vajpayee’s key contributions was an unprecedented push for infrastructure development. This included initiatives like the Golden Quadrilateral Project, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the Pradhan Mantri Urban Renewal Mission, and the Pradhan Mantri Rail Yojana. He also introduced the National Telecom Policy, which ended the government’s monopoly in the sector, a move whose benefits are enjoyed by the present generation. Vajpayee ushered in an era of economic liberalisation, allowing 49 per cent FDI in private banking and 26 per cent FDI in insurance. He is also credited with laying the foundation for the privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs) by establishing a separate Ministry of Disinvestment.
Seven, Dr Manmohan Singh served as the prime minister of the UPA coalition government for two consecutive terms, from 2004 to 2014. In contrast to the BJP’s 240 seats in this year’s elections, the Congress secured only 145 seats in 2004 and 206 seats in 2009. Nevertheless, the coalition government successfully completed its ten-year tenure.
Despite some challenges and controversies toward the end of Dr Singh’s second term, he is widely acknowledged for conceptualising and implementing Aadhaar, empowering citizens through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, and initiating the groundwork for the Goods and Services Tax (GST). While the GST was ultimately implemented during Prime Minister Modi’s term, the initial Constitution Amendment Bill (2011) was introduced during Dr Singh’s premiership, based on the recommendations of the Kelkar Task Force on Indirect Taxes in 2000 during the tenure of Prime Minister Vajpayee.
Eight, although the seeds of India-US friendship were sown under Vajpayee with the lifting of US sanctions against India in 2001 (imposed after the 1998 nuclear tests), it was during Dr Singh’s first term that the relationship truly blossomed. In 2005, the US and India signed the ‘New Framework for India-US Defence Relations’, followed by the landmark Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative in 2006, which lifted a three-decade-old US moratorium on nuclear energy trade with India, ushering in an era of cooperation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since elevated to new heights.
Nine, during Prime Minister Modi’s previous two terms, the BJP secured absolute majorities, winning 282 seats in 2014 and 303 in 2019. Nonetheless, it is evident that over the last ten years, Narendra Modi led a government, though BJP-dominated, with pre-election NDA partners. The ascendance of the Hindutva agenda notwithstanding, the government’s performance in most areas has been noteworthy. From elevating India’s standing on the global stage to making it the world’s fifth-largest economy, the government has achieved significant milestones. Its handling of the Covid pandemic, despite the immense challenges, was commendable. Furthermore, the government has propelled infrastructure development to new levels of scale and speed. These achievements, along with targeted schemes for poverty alleviation, represent just a few of its successes.
Having written extensively about Prime Minister Modi’s performance and achievements for News18 in recent years, I can confidently assert, for the sake of brevity, that he has made the nation proud and placed it firmly on the path of becoming “Viksit Bharat” by 2047.
Ten, it is ironic that what would have been considered a stupendous performance of the BJP and NDA in 2014 is being labelled as a loss and a loss of face in 2024. This is far from the truth. Certainly, many unfinished agendas remain, and numerous challenges await the NDA 3.0. However, with an NDA government firmly in place at the Centre and nearly two dozen state governments under the same regime, I humbly posit that the next five years will be transformative for the country. This government has the potential to lead India toward becoming “Viksit Bharat,” with development and reforms defining its term.
While certain programs like the CAA and UCC may be temporarily set aside, development will remain a top priority. I see no logical reason why this government should not complete its full term.
The author is Multidisciplinary Thought Leader with Action Bias, India Based International Impact Consultant, and key watcher of changing national scenario. He works as President Advisory Services of Consulting Company BARSYL. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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