A sheep in wolf's clothing?
You don’t say!
Darius Nakhoonwala
A few weeks ago, Arun Shourie told a TV interviewer that the only thing you could be certain about Narendra Modi was that he would surprise you. Just how right he was became apparent when Modi replied to the President’s first speech to the 16th Lok Sabha. He did Uriah Heep proud, so conciliatory was he. It looked as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.
The editorial writers were taken totally aback and only three of them recovered their wits quickly enough to write sensible edits. The rest are still in coma, I think.
But before I come to the ones who did write, have you ever wondered about this practice of the prime minister replying to his own speech -- which is what the President’s speeches to Parliaments have become? So funny, no, our Westminster model?
Woof, woof, woof…
The Indian Express called Mr Modi’s speech “heartening and reassuring” and went a little gaga. “He resisted the lure of dwelling on the failures of his predecessors… outlined his vision of development… spoke to the insecurities and concerns of women and minorities… reached out to Muslims... did not consider policies that targeted the community’s persisting backwardness as “appeasement”…sought to evoke the nationalist spirit.. overall the theme and message remained encompassing, rather than muscular…the challenge, for him and his government will.. be tested by its resolve, or lack of it, in doing what it says.”
The Hindu Business Line said mostly the same things. “…Narendra Modi’s maiden speech in Parliament…apart from being devoid of triumphalism, made a conscious effort to reach out to the Opposition, saying “I don’t want to move forward without you”. This came alongside a message about “victory teaching us humility”… there may also be a touch of political calculation — Modi still requires the help of other parties to see legislation through in the Rajya Sabha… If Modi fulfils his promise of creating a Team India working together with his political rivals over the next five years, he would have strengthened not merely his own hands but that of the nation in tackling the myriad social and developmental challenges before it.”
The Pioneer, surprisingly, was sober in its tone, none of the gush-gush one might have expected from it. “The reality is that strengthening the federal spirit has been Mr Modi's mantra since before he became the Prime Minister. As Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had added his voice to the apprehensions of other Chief Ministers that the Centre was trampling all over them.” It then noted how “he reached out to the opposition parties to seek their cooperation and underlined the need to nurture the federal spirit by making States important stakeholders... and looked forward to constructive criticism — “forget the bitterness” — so that his Government “could be saved from becoming arrogant…”
The job to be done
So what are the challenges before it? These were outlined in the President’s speech which, as I noted earlier, is prepared by the government. The President merely reads it out. Gone are the days when he/she could speak his/her mind. So in a sense when the PM replies, he/she is replying to herself.
The Indian Express made a point that Modi has been making for ages and made once again in his ‘reply’, namely, that… “the challenge may not lie within the government or in Parliament, it will have to reach out to the states. The president’s address rightly highlighted that “Team India” includes the states. For starters, in the spirit of “cooperative federalism” that it invoked, the president, advised by the Union cabinet, should readily give his assent to reformist state legislation that may not conform with Central laws on subjects on the concurrent list.” This was a reference to article 246.
The Hindu, for some reason, focused on urban development and affordable housing. “The question is: will this government succeed where the previous one failed? The proposal to reduce interest rates on home loans, and rope in private companies to invest in housing as part of corporate social responsibility requirements, are good initiatives. However, these will not deliver unless the incentives are strictly tied to the actual creation and delivery of affordable housing” It then mysteriously segued over to the bullet trains project. “…Perhaps modelled on the golden quadrilateral national highways programme, this project could provide special high-speed corridors to link the four main metros… High-speed trains could be the answer to the congestion along the highways and slowing road speeds. But it calls for huge investments and consequently high fares.” Hey, how childish can you get?
The Telegraph yawned that “Most, if not all, of the policies that were mentioned by the president were repetitions of the promises made in the course of Mr Modi’s election campaign. There is nothing surprising or wrong in this since it is expected that a new government will attempt to fulfil the promises it made before it came to power. The president’s reiteration of the election rhetoric is, in fact, a sign that Mr Modi’s words were not vacuous. He tends to match his words with deeds. This is welcome…”
The Business Standard edit was a dreadful litany of everything the President had said. Here’s a sample. “…the idea that the environment and forest clearance systems would be made more predictable, transparent and time-bound should come as a big relief to industry, whose investments have remained stuck because of green activism.” The only comment was, “If there is an area of concern, however, it is in the way the president's address has overlooked the need for reducing the government's bloated expenditure, particularly on account of rising subsidies and how they need to be contained.”
The Times of India wrote about the topics touched on by both the President and the Prime Minister – sanitation, health, education – but thought it beneath its dignity to refer to their speeches. That is the ToI for you.
The Hindustan Times did not write at all. Neither did the Economic Times.