Volte-face on lateral entry
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: August 23, 2024 -

REGARDLESS of the efforts being made to downplay the rollback of its decision on the lateral entry to senior positions in the government, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has already done much harm to its own image.

It has once again exposed the inability of the new coalition government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Modi 3.0 (as some people prefer to describe it even though it is a misnomer) to come to terms with the changing political reality in the country.

Leaving aside the debate on whether the rollback decision on the lateral entry to senior positions in the government, which came within 72 hours of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) publishing an advertisement inviting applications for lateral entry to 45 posts of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries across 24 ministries on contract basis on August 17, was due to the pressure of the Opposition parties or resentment from some key coalition partners, one needs to understand that this is not the first volte-face of the NDA government but the fourth such instance since sworn in to power on June 9.

Last week itself, the Central government had to backtrack from pushing the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023 after it shared 'watermarked' draft copies of the Bill with a select group of people, following strong criticism from media organisations such as DigiPub and Editors Guild of India which claimed that digital media organisations and civil society associations were not consulted on the move despite concerns over restrictions on social and digital media space in the proposed law.

Along with abruptly withdrawing the circulated draft copies of the Bill, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had subsequently assured of holding further consultations with all stakeholders for preparing a fresh draft and additional time has been provided to solicit comments till October 15 this year.

Prior to this, and earlier this month, the BJP-led NDA government had to take a U-turn on the issue of Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 after the Opposition parties vehemently opposed the Bill when it was introduced in the Parliament by Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju on August 8.

Within hours, the government decided to send the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) so as to address the concerns of the Opposition leaders as well as some coalition partners who feel that the Bill unfairly targets Muslim places of worship and violates the right to freedom of religion guaranteed under the Constitution of the country.

Moreover, we had seen the NDA government stepping back on another issue earlier this month when it decided to offer taxpayers a choice to pay 20 per cent LTCC tax with indexation benefit on sale of property acquired before July 23, 2024 after it came under fire from certain quarters over the proposal made in the Union Budget to remove indexation benefits on long-term capital gains (LTCG).

The government had to clarify that the other option introduced in the budget to pay the tax on LTCG at a reduced rate of 12.5 per cent without indexation will also be available to taxpayers, as per the list of amendments moved by it in the Finance Bill, thus, giving two options to taxpayers.

All these indicate that political reality in India today is quite different from what it was in 2014 or in 2019, when Narendra Modi single-handedly led his party to power back-to-back with no one to question his decisions even on some of the most unpopular political stunts like demonetisation, GST and enactment of three farm laws, which triggered the longest-ever protest by farmers in the country.

He may have won a third term in office as the country's Prime Minister, but Narendra Modi needs to realise that his political party is in power this time by winning the election with a slimmer margin than expected and thus require the support of its allies, some of which are known for changing allegiances at the drop of a hat.

So, he can't afford to overlook the politics of consensus, even if it's a different ballgame altogether than he had been used to.