Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra speaks to Preetha Nair about seven years of the Narendra Modi government and the deteriorating Centre-state relationship. Excerpts:
How do you assess the Modi government in terms of perception and performance?
Considering demonetisation and every other big fiasco, they actually managed perception very well. They always managed to spin it as if they have done something great for the country. Until about three months ago. Now it is falling apart. In the perception battle, while it was alright to criticise the government, the prime minister was kept untouchable, with a superhuman halo surrounding him—almost godlike. It was a sort of spiritual thing. Rules that applied to global leaders like the British PM or the US President didn’t apply to Modi. It started with demonetisation, when he fell back on the old Hindu traditions of tyaag or sacrifice and said that the pain will actually be good for you. So people put up with demonetisation, and then with the migrant crisis and everything else. Human beings can put up with standing in a queue, even with just one meal a day. But when they see people dying from lack of treatment, then it ends.
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There has always been an Opposition, but people just didn’t want to listen to us earlier. Rahul Gandhi called out the Covid crisis much before anybody else, but nobody listened. Mamata Banerjee called out the demonetisation fiasco on the day it happened, when even the Congress was saying it’s great. Indians were in love with the idea that there is no alternative. Today, they realise there is an Opposition, but we have been there all along.
In terms of performance, the government deserves zero from day one. It is not just important to run a government based on numbers, it is also very important to run a government that has moral authority. This is where this government has fallen flat. It has fallen flat on economics, and on creating a social welfare state, which is very important when more than 50 per cent of our people live on a subsistence level. They should get medical facilities, education for their kids, and three meals a day. When you have a pandemic, you have to have a universal vaccination programme. These are the parameters of a decent, moral government. And this is where this government has failed spectacularly.
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How you think Centre-state relations have fared over the Modi years?
They have destroyed the federal structure. There has been no constructive or cooperative federalism. The NIA and UAPA laws they enacted are totally against the federal structure. Anyone can go to any state and arrest anybody even without the state’s permission. They wanted to get rid of Article 370; it should have been passed by the J&K legislature, but they put that in abeyance, saying it’s under President’s rule. By that logic, tomorrow they can divide West Bengal, saying we have bad law and order. They can impose President’s rule and create Gorkhaland. Where does this end?
Were the states taken into confidence in fighting the pandemic?
The vaccine crisis is a fundamental example. Health is a state subject, but pandemic and public health is a central subject. So they pushed the National Disaster Management Act and brought it under the Epidemic Act. The states can do nothing. We told them a year ago that we will buy the vaccines, but the Centre refused to give permission. In the beginning, ICMR set umpteen norms on testing. In the first week, Bengal got hammered because ICMR kept changing the regulations every day. We had no control over medical supplies and equipment. The first 90,000 testing kits we received were faulty. We were not permitted to float a global tender or procure vaccines from Pfizer or Johnson and Johnson. Meanwhile, they were exporting vaccines, and came up with unfair pricing too. The states were never consulted. It took a pandemic for Modi Bhakts to realise that what India needs is not Hindu Rashtra, but oxygen and health infrastructure. When you see bodies floating down the river, you realise that the country is facing a breakdown. The last time we saw something similar was during the Bengal famine. Modi has deprived us of dignity and brought us to our knees. I remember the BJP people warning me against speaking about Modi. Today, children are standing on the road and spitting on Modi’s name.
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Is there a total breakdown of trust between the Centre and the states?
There is a trust deficit between the BJP government and non-BJP-ruled states. The BJP has brute majority in the Lok Sabha and they use all central agencies to get their way in the Rajya Sabha. They bulldozed many bills, including the farm bills, despite the Opposition. We spoke against the bills. They use central agencies as a political tool against opposition leaders. Why is Mayawati quiet now? We all know.
You have talked about how the government undermined institutions such as the Election Commission, especially during the Bengal polls….
They have undermined the EC and the judiciary to such a point that people have lost faith in democratic India. That is a great blow to Indian democracy, right? Today even the high courts are criticising them. Also a Supreme Court bench. They don’t want to listen to (solicitor general) Tushar Mehta’s lies any more. In March 2020, Mehta said there were no migrants on the road. Now he says there is no shortage of oxygen. When judges found they can’t get beds for their loved ones and that Bar Association lawyers too have died, they realised it’s gone too far.
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When other states had elections in one to three phases, we got eight. In mid-April, when Covid numbers were soaring, the PM was doing 16-20 rallies and the home minister, 30-50. We told the EC to put a blanket ban on rallies, but it didn’t listen. When there were three phases of polling left, we requested the EC to club them, but it didn’t listen. Then, on April 19, when Modi announced he is cancelling rallies, the EC said no rallies from tomorrow. The Kumbh Mela was allowed in all glory, with 96 lakh people attending it. Almost 90 per cent of those who returned to Bihar were Covid-positive. Who is responsible for this nonsense?
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