Human civilisation has a long history of misreading texts. People tend to read and understand texts according to their own mindset including their ability or capacity to understand, and in this process they miss or distort the things which are actually written or intended. The art and science of criticism are then forgotten under a spell of bias and then people land to wrong conclusions, sometimes to such a proportion that threatens an individual to lose something one believes to be precious – rightly or wrongly. The new ideas are then resisted by such people, even wrong allegations are made against the harbinger of new ideas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s case is the same.

While discussion and debate on any idea claimed to be of public good, must be debated in public, there are certain rules of fair criticism among well educated people. Things could be interpreted differently, and must not be threatened to silence, rather must be tolerated, howsoever contrary they may appear to one’s view or ideas. Only one thing that is not acceptable – is . Distortion of facts. As a critique of the opposition, he has just sinned, not only by carrying his ruling bias in criticising the opposition, but also by distorting the facts in black and white in the Congress’ manifesto. In legal election parlance, it is a serious violation of Model Code of Conduct.

Before going into details, it may help to understand the issue in proper context. The entire opposition, including the chief opposition party Congress, has been alleging that there has been unprecedented rise in inequality under 10 years of PM Narendra Modi. To substantiate it, the opposition has quoted the authoritative data that 20 big companies are bagging 60 per cent of the national wealth and 70 per cent of the national income for themselves. The richest 1% of the people are now owning 40 per cent of the country’s wealth.

Then there is the stark reality of inequality, that is about 80 crore people are dependent to quench their stomach on Prime Minister Garibh Kalyan Ann Yojna. This realty of inequality is interpreted differently by PM Narendra Modi, who assured boastfully these hungry people that his government would not leave them to remain hungry and therefore has extended the free food programme for the next five years, ie until the next Lok Sabha election in 2029. So many people having no access to food is actually a matter of shame for any country under any rule, but it is height of shamelessness for a ruler who failed to provide opportunity to earn their food, now boasting that his government is giving them foodgrains, which only make poverty and hunger a little more tolerable, but not eradicate them. There is no way in which we can deny the rising inequality in the country under last 10 years of Modi rule.

What is then wrong with the Congress manifesto if it speaks about Equity justice, one among the five-fold justice the party has promised to the electorate of India to address the social and economic disparities in the country? It rattled PM Modi perhaps Congress’ equality plan can adversely affect his electoral prospect of returning to power for the third term. This Congress plank has exposed how PM Narendra Modi’s policies worked for the rich, and created havoc to the lives and livelihoods of the underprivileged.

It is understandable why it infuriated PM Narendra Modi. He alleged that Congress plan for equality is ‘dangerous game’, the opposition party aims at snatching rights and properties, has plans to implement 15 per cent reservation to Muslims by reducing quota for SCs, STs, and OBCs. He alleged this not in one rally but in three, one after the other, and hence it is a too serious matter to be ignored, especially when he goes on alarming electorate of the country.

However, the Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha election does not contain any mention of a religion-based reservation or of reducing the quota for SCs, STs, or OBCs. In fact, the Congress manifesto calls for a Constitutional amendment to raise the quota limit beyond50%. If PM Modi differed on this plan, he has right to criticise but has no right to distort it.

Additionally, Congress manifestos says on the party’s plan to address economic inequality, “We will address the growing inequality of wealth and income through suitable changes in policies,” with no mention of wealth redistribution or even any wealth survey apart from the promised caste census which is to gather socio-economic data as well.

PM Narendra Modi seems to have some far-fetched ideas in his mind which he yoked together to claim the Congress has “dangerous intentions” which were coming to the fore one by one. He claimed in election rallies that the Congress’ plan for social welfare and reducing inequality amounted to a “dangerous game” of wealth redistribution and “snatching people’s rights and properties.” It was perhaps the fear of the capitalists’ getting fat by grabbing resources for themselves that were rightfully of others systematically impoverished to make them merely exist like an economic slave. They can give you food to survive for their service, but not allow you enough earning to take care of yourself on your own. They derive the pleasure of just feeding you, and boasting how great work they are doing, but not giving you opportunity to earn your livelihood.

PM Modi said, “This is Congress ki loot. Zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi (During life, and afterlife also),” adding “While you are alive, they want to survey your personal wealth, property, houses, shops, and land, and give it away to secure their vote bank. And when you die, they want to deprive you of the right to leave your assets behind to future generations as well.”

PM Modi has now read too much in Congress’ manifesto of 2009 and 1014 Lok Sabha elections also erroneously claiming that the “same intention” of the “dangerous game to steal quotas of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs” was there. He did not stop here and accused the Congress of “hoodwinking” the OBC communities of Karnataka, the state where Congress has thrown BJP out of power in May 2023 elections, by allowing all Muslim castes to avail reservation under the OBC category. “The Congress government of Karnataka committed another sin, he critically said adding, “All the castes of the Muslim community were included in the OBC quota and made them OBCs. The benefits that OBCs of our country were getting were cut off.”

He actually contradicted himself in subsequent speeches when he said that the Congress had “killed the secular religion of social justice in India”. What according to his is the “secular religion” and why it should exclude Muslims to remain “secular religion of social justice”. Perhaps he himself cannot explain it to the satisfaction of a bias free mind.

PM Modi has wrongly alarmed people on the basis of something existing only in his imagination that Congress hand, which is also the party’s symbol, would snatch away the money that people accumulate for their children through their hard work. He claimed this referring to “inheritance tax”, an opinion of Sam Pitroda, and said that “in 2011, the Planning Commission had mulled the same inheritance tax.”

It is at all not acceptable argument of PM Narendra Modi that his language should reverberate with the idea that the country’s largest minority Muslims are “infiltrators” who would take India’s wealth, if his opponents win the election. It should be noted that Indian Muslims have not come from outside, and terrorising majority Hindus to submit to vote for him alarming them that their wealth would be taken away, even the Mangalsutras (the sacred necklace of a married women), is wrong. He himself is playing a “dangerous game” of communal unrest, while alleging Congress’ equality plan a “dangerous game”.

The country must debate and discuss the issue of ‘inequality and social unrest”, “secular democracy and majoritarian rule”, “economic slavery and economic freedom”, and so on, without bias to find out ways and means to improve the general living condition of the people of the country. Showing off the wealth, resorting to communalism, talking about nationalism, etc must not make us blind to the pathetic condition of the common people of every caste and every religion. Aligning with one at the cost of other is wrong. Therefore, Congress’ manifesto talking about the five-fold justice in its manifesto must be discussed and debated, but not distorted, as our PM Narendra Modi has been doing. (IPA Service)