Political Parties have Failed People

With so many things going wrong for the Modi Government, how come no revolution has taken place against this government?

One would have imagined that with so many things going wrong against the Modi Government a revolution would have taken place and this government would have been thrown out either by peaceful protest or through violent means. But this has not happened.

What are the reasons for this?

One of the prime reasons would be the Modi governments hold on the media, both mainstream and social media. It has managed to tell a different story and has compromised the mainstream media of money and corruption. It has almost bought the mainstream media via the support of those industrialists who benefit from the government. It is not by chance that almost everything in India is being bought by either Ambani or Adani. The other industrialists are seeing these juicy deals going the other way but can do little to benefit from the situation. Ambani and Adani are so much favored that even established companies running businesses are being coerced into selling their stakes or face institutional action, for example, take the case of CSIA stake sale in Mumbai where GVK was cornered to sell 74 percent of its stake to Adani.

Now Adani is poised to buy New Delhi Railway Station. It is reported that there are no other buyers, even if there are, nobody wants to cross swords with Ambani or Adani lest their own evil empire comes under threat. Thus, even before they sell a government asset, it becomes a one-horse race. This helps the buyer as other buyers are reluctantly bidders, they're only to fulfill the requirement of three bidders such as an eyewash.

Not that others are not getting contracts. Tata's getting a contract for rebuilding the new parliament building against L&T is an example. So a subterfuge is also going on at the same time to show that it is not just Ambani or Adani who are getting all the contracts. Some breadcrumbs are being thrown at other industrialists to keep them quiet.

So with media and businessmen have taken care of, there is no news that shows the government in a poor light. All such news is being filtered. They attack anyone who steps out of the line. See how NDTV has been on the receiving end of government's stick.

Then there is civil society. It is impotent. It can hardly mount a revolution.

The same can be said about the opposition parties whose cupboards are filled with corruption skeletons, and they dare not mount an open attack on the government.

Then there is fear and mistrust. Within the government, the people who can do some damage are living in fear. See what happened to B.K. Bansal and his family. The CBI, RAW, ED, Income Tax, etc. are turned out to be mere dogs that can be unleashed on anyone who steps out of the line. The people within these government establishments too can't mount a revolution because they are in fear themselves and don't know whom to trust among their colleagues. There will be enough rats who will take the prized information of an attack on the government and score brownie points and escalate their own careers. Modi does not inspire any confidence in anyone and is vindictive and publicly so, therefore, no bureaucrat will rise against him.

Then there are people within BJP and RSS who would love to see the back of Modi and Shah, but they too have been compromised through skeletons in their cupboards and CD's which have kept them in check.

Which brings us to the Defense Forces and the Judiciary. Once again both have been heavily compromised as is clear from the rise of V.K. Singh and the episode with Ranjan Gogoi.

That leaves us with the last hope, the students of India. They are our best bet. They are unattached, have little care, are widely distributed, have powerful networks, are a force by themselves, and are in the most distressing situation as the government closes employment avenues and privatizes organizations.

The youth can bring about a revolution. We have to support them in any way possible. They have already started a movement on Modi's birthday, finding focus on joblessness. The lack of jobs and the reduction of avenues can be a tinderbox for this government. And the beauty is that it does not have a solution to this problem. That is because it is actively destroying jobs and the economic conditions are anyway destroying job opportunities not only in India but across the world. The world, which had become outsourced, is now becoming in sourced.

(Vinod Chand is an activist based in Mumbai)