7 years of Modi government- NAMO 007

As the Modi government marked its seven years of being the torchbearer of the world’s largest democracy, somewhere deep inside everyone is still waiting for 15 lakhs in their account. The basic parameters of development are Gross Domestic Product, employment, and Inflation. During this regime, India witnessed an all-time low growth of GDP and unemployment is at its peak. This may be excused by the loss that occurred due to the pandemic but India's economy was falling even before that. A formal report published by the government, just after the 2019 Lok Sabha election found that unemployment was at 6.1%. This was marked as a rare event that occurred after a long span of 45 years. Since the fourth quarter of 2017, India's GDP has been declining. In the fourth quarter of 2020, it fell to an all-time low of 3.1 percent. In just one year, the economy has deteriorated, and the country has slid dramatically in over a dozen global indices. Talking about rising prices of petrol which recently celebrated its century in Mumbai is one of the commodities that witnessed an increase in its retails price. Apart from this, edible oils like popular mustard oil are priced at ₹180/ litre.

Demonetization was hailed as a game-changer in the fight against black money and the shadow economy. Contrary to popular belief, it failed, since notable economists such as Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen condemned the initiative and labeled it "despotic." Over 100 people have died as a result of waiting in long lines at ATMs and banks to convert money.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019 was being criticized as a vote-buying technique by the ruling party to win the next Lok Sabha election. While the Uniform Civil Code (Article 44), which is mentioned in part IV of the constitution, i.e. directive principles of state policy, has been a contentious issue in India for quite some time.

During the 7 years of NAMO, India passed various controversial legislation that faced the opposition of various sections of society. From abrogation of Article 370 to give a nod to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 remained in limelight and gained the interests of international organizations and media. India witnessed widespread protests after the CAA and recent farm bills. If seen solely from the perspective of a ruling party's rise to power, India's political economy landscape has seen a rapid transition in recent years. From ruling over 21 states at one time in March 2018 to currently ruling 18 states, BJP needs an introspection to form government at the central level in the coming years. India has seen a paradigm shift from being a democracy to be an autocracy where the image of the supreme leader is flashed regularly on various social media channels that are backed by a well-established IT cell.

Modi wave is not as strong as it was in 2014 but the core vote bank of BJP still supports them. Even after witnessing one of the most unprecedented times where citizens lost over 1 crore jobs (CMIE), the Home Minister of India confidently affirmed that India under PM Modi successfully fought the COVID-19 battle. We as the citizen of the country may think that what would have been possibly happened if the government was “unsuccessful” in tackling this pandemic.

The government is constantly criticized for its inability to manage the pandemic. While stakeholders claim to be running on the biggest vaccination campaign, people still struggle to get their jab. Slowly, the country is recovering from the pandemic and the government has a chance to revive the economy. People who lost their jobs need a sigh of relief.

After 109 foreign trips, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains unaffected by the criticism that its government has been facing since it was formed. There always remains hope amid despair. We still wait for an interview that our PM may give before contesting in the next election and answer all the questions that affect a common man of this country.