By Mayank Chhaya
For the first time in his nearly 24 years of being in power, first as Gujarat’s chief minister for nearly 13 years and then as prime minister for ten years, Narendra Modi faces the unpleasant prospects of yielding to his coalition partners in government. It is not a role that he is at all skilled at or naturally happy about.
Both as Gujarat’s chief minister and India’s prime minister until now Modi had been accustomed to his writ running unchallenged by his usually servile cabinet colleagues. With India’s parliamentary election results having forced him in the position of having to depend on two ideologically antagonistic satraps in Nitish Kumar from Bihar and N. Chandrababu Naidu from Andhra Pradesh for his minority government’s survival, Modi has entered uncharted waters.
The fact that both Nitish Kumar as Bihar’s chief minister and Naidu as Andhra Pradesh’s chief minister-elect depend significantly on the support of their respective state’s Muslim population could be a factor in the way they calibrate their support for an avowedly Hindu nationalist prime minister. That alone could become a point of contention as the coalition government of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) headed by Modi gets read to take charge.
Both Nitish Kumar and Naidu are seasoned politicians cast in the old school style of politics unencumbered by the kind of lofty Hindu nationalist ideals that Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have been espousing through their first ten years in government. They are expected to make their presence felt to Modi at every step of the way as he embarks on his third term.
Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) together control 28 parliamentary seats at 16 and 12 respectively. That by itself may not be a big number but given the vagaries of coalition politics that Modi finds himself in having won 240 seats, 32 short of a simple majority, it is a decisive number. As happens in all coalition governments, smaller allies exercise disproportionately large influence on the direction of the government.
That is where Modi’s aversion to seeking a second opinion on anything will come into direct conflict with what Naidu and Nitish Kumar may prefer on policy matters, especially as it pertains sociocultural issues affecting the country’s minorities, including Muslims. Nearly a quarter century of unfettered power has made Modi unaccustomed to sharing spoils even within his own party.
Perhaps one factor that might compel Modi to be more amenable to consultative politics is the realization that this could well be his last term as prime minister and the wish to secure and burnish his legacy could underpin everything he does.
As an astute politician he is not without the pragmatism to work with the hand that he has been dealt. He could also bank on the fact that both Naidu and Nitish Kumar may equally be consumed and motivated by being nationally powerful to not upset their partnership with Modi over pure ideological differences.
Naidu with the reputation of being a sharp technocrat politician and Nitish Kumar with socialistic grounding are in their 70s like Modi with intimations of age. There are expectations for now that the three will make it work notwithstanding their political idiosyncrasies.
However, for Modi it could be particularly exacting to be hobbled by the compulsions of a coalition government with both their main allies known to be dexterous at switching their political allegiances.
On a separate note, before addressing the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting which anointed him its leader, Modi yet again reaffirmed his commitment to India’s Constitution. This comes in the aftermath of his main opponent Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress Party having constantly accused Modi of harboring contempt for it. “Every moment of my life is dedicated to upholding the noble values enshrined in the Constitution of India, given to us by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. It is only due to the Constitution that a person like me, born into poverty and in a backward family, is able to serve the nation. Our Constitution gives crores of people hope, strength and dignity,” he tweeted with a picture of him holding aloft a copy of the Constitution touching his forehead.
