Its latest examples are the hill states of Arunachal and Uttarakhand which have become a victim of the Modi government’s draconian strategy to topple the democratically elected opposition-ruled state governments. The methodology adopted is first to engineer defections of the disgruntled and ambitious MLAs of the faction-ridden Congress and then to declare the breakdown of the Constitutional machinery. It showed the Modi government adopted double standards. It imposed president rule in Arunachal and Uttarakhand alleging breakdown of Constitutional machinery. But it did not take such a step in Haryana which during the last February’s Jat agitation saw the jat policemen deserting their posts, civil machinery either feeling helpless or avoided checking widespread violence and arson of public and private property. But no action was taken against the state BJP government headed by the Modi’s favourite RSS loyalist Manohar Lal Khattar.

Sometime back, the Prime minister had said that cooperative federalism would guide the government’s relations with the states. The promise was hugely compromised in the two Congress-ruled states. Promises by those in power are made to be broken!

In Arunachal, the Congress defectors escaped disqualification under the Anti-Defection Law because of their numerical strength. In Uttarakhand’s nine Congress MLA were disqualified by the High Court because their numerical strength fell short of the required strength to save them from disqualification under the Anti-Defection Act.

Both the states are now under President Rule. The Supreme Court is currently hearing the Centre’s appeal against the Uttarakhand High Court’s verdict quashing the imposition of President’s rule and reviving the Congress government. While staying High Court verdict, the apex court has fixed April 27 to decide the issue. Floor test will, however, take place on April 29.

The BJP has been nursing the ambition to wrest power in the Congress-ruled states to at least partially retrieve its image damaged by its humiliating defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections. Arunachal and Uttarakhand episodes show that it wants to achieve its objective mainly by engineering defections in the ruling party/parties.

One hopes the BJP’s ambition does not lead the defections to take the form of Aya Ram Gaya Ram politics which Haryana had pioneered during the first two years of its birth on November 1, 1966. In the then 81-member Assembly, 44 per cent of the MLAs had defected – one five times, two four times, three thrice, four twice and 34 once. Of them Gaya Lal, who defected thrice in a single day, gave the country’s political lexicon the term ‘Aya Ram Gaya Ram’.

It is not only the in the opposition-ruled governments, historic and established institutions of excellence are also being saffronised by appointing undeserving persons as their heads. India’s fast changing political scenario needs to be seen in the backdrop of the worrisome happenings of the past two years which have communally polarized the plural and multi-faiths society and communal violence at several places.

It all began with Mohan Bhagwat, boss of RSS, which calls itself a cultural and social organization, declaring India as a Hindu rashtra. Taking a cue, some of the RSS disciples including some ministers, MPs, sants and sadhvis began making divisive and provocative speeches. Union Minister Giriraj Singh said that those criticizing Narendra Modi should be “sent to Pakistan”. Last year, Giriraj was caught on camera using apartheid and derogatory comments in his speech saying that had Rajiv Gandhi married a “Nigerian” woman instead of the ‘fair-skinned’ Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party would not have accepted her as its leader.

The rot that has set in under the two years of Modi-led government shows no sign of being stemmed.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Politics is not an exception. Happenings of the Modi government’s two years in power have prompted the regional parties to think about forming a Bihar-like mahagathbandhan which inflicted a crushing defeat of BJP in the last assembly elections. This happened despite Modi’s extensive election campaign like which no previous prime minister is known to have undertaken in a state assembly election. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already suggested the formation of an anti-BJP united front at national level. If the proposal materializes, it will a severe blow to the BJP’s ambitions for future elections, if it still nurses them after its debacle in India’s third highest populated state of Bihar. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already taken up the issue of forming an all-India level mahagathbandhan.

No major regional party except its staunchest ally Akali Dal in Punjab and the now-ally-now-foe Shiv Sena of Maharashtra are presently in the BJP’s kitty.

The above political scenario shows that the Modi government and the BJP are going to face tough times during the remaining three years of their remaining term. (IPA Service)