We just passed the 3 year anniversary of Modi's spectacular victory in the 2014 Parliamentary election in India. Unlike many, I reserved my judgement about its performance till now. Because it takes a while for the results of performance to tickle down to ground, so 6 months past the midpoint is a good checkpoint of the ground realities.
ADMINISTRATION - We can cherry pick on some administration lapses, but in general Modi's administration is a nice breather from the scams and corruption scandals in a huge scale which was the sine qua non of the previous UPA government. A focus has been made on infrastructure development which had been stalled and is key to sustain India's economic progress. But more needs to be done to tackle the Maoist menace which is periodically raising its ugly head.
ECONOMY - It is doing not so bad at this moment with 7 plus GDP growth, especially when the world economy is facing headwinds. Though some dispute the GDP has been manipulated, still it is better than what it was under the moribund UPA which suffered from policy paralysis.
Also is important to note, Indian economy has been benefited by couple of factors beyond its control.
First, the monsoon has not played truant in last 3 years. Agriculture is still an unorganized sector which employs 70 percent of its population and a monsoon failure can put a spanner on the growth.
Second, the global crude oil price has halved since Modi took office. This has been a boon for India, an enery hungry country which imports 80% of its crude oil from outside, putting less pressure on its national exchequer.
DEMONETIZATION - though a step in the right direction, corruption is hydra headed moster who needs more than overnight demonetization to cut off its head. It would be futile to expect the demonetization to put a full stop into corruption, so its impact was limited and temporary. Those who indulge in corruption have 101 innovative ways of escaping from it and escaped the threat post demonetization threat. (If a Nobel prize is given on innovative ways of escaping from corruption, India's draught of winning the coveted prize will vanish).
INCLUSIVENESS - Though extremely popular within the Hindu community, especially among the upper caste, Modi has not been able to bring the vast majority of minorities into its fold. Almost all my Muslim friends have a dislike for him - some overtly, and the rest express in private. Bottomline - Modi is still a divisive personality, a status hardly changed since 2014.
FOREIGN POLICY - Not to mention the hype surrounding him, Ajit Doval has so far failed to produce any tangible result on the ground. Kashmir is boiling, Pakistan is as recalcitrant ever and doesn't care about the 56 inch chest of Modi. India is still perceived as a toothless snake by Pakistan - can hiss, but can't bite.
Relationship with China is at stalemate. In spite of Trump's ABAKE BAAR TRUMP SARKHYAAR (after this Trump Administration) harping about India being a victim of terror attack from Pakistan, there is hardly any sea change in American policy towards Pakistan Rest assured, Uncle Sam keeps on writing checks to India's western neighbor for its nuisance value.
In the meantime Modi has learnt the art of winning elections, an art perfected by the Congress party under Indira Gandhi. Coupled with the TINA (There Is No Alternative) factor, Modi led BJP is all set to win reelection in 2019 (Though India is a Parliamentary democracy, elections are often personality based contests, like in Presidential elections)
In geography, we studied about Absolute humidity vs Relative himidity. So in Absolute term, I will give 6 out of 10 to Modi's admission, a slightly better than average. On the relative term, it is much preferrable to the Congress led UPA, any day, any time.
ADMINISTRATION - We can cherry pick on some administration lapses, but in general Modi's administration is a nice breather from the scams and corruption scandals in a huge scale which was the sine qua non of the previous UPA government. A focus has been made on infrastructure development which had been stalled and is key to sustain India's economic progress. But more needs to be done to tackle the Maoist menace which is periodically raising its ugly head.
ECONOMY - It is doing not so bad at this moment with 7 plus GDP growth, especially when the world economy is facing headwinds. Though some dispute the GDP has been manipulated, still it is better than what it was under the moribund UPA which suffered from policy paralysis.
Also is important to note, Indian economy has been benefited by couple of factors beyond its control.
First, the monsoon has not played truant in last 3 years. Agriculture is still an unorganized sector which employs 70 percent of its population and a monsoon failure can put a spanner on the growth.
Second, the global crude oil price has halved since Modi took office. This has been a boon for India, an enery hungry country which imports 80% of its crude oil from outside, putting less pressure on its national exchequer.
DEMONETIZATION - though a step in the right direction, corruption is hydra headed moster who needs more than overnight demonetization to cut off its head. It would be futile to expect the demonetization to put a full stop into corruption, so its impact was limited and temporary. Those who indulge in corruption have 101 innovative ways of escaping from it and escaped the threat post demonetization threat. (If a Nobel prize is given on innovative ways of escaping from corruption, India's draught of winning the coveted prize will vanish).
INCLUSIVENESS - Though extremely popular within the Hindu community, especially among the upper caste, Modi has not been able to bring the vast majority of minorities into its fold. Almost all my Muslim friends have a dislike for him - some overtly, and the rest express in private. Bottomline - Modi is still a divisive personality, a status hardly changed since 2014.
FOREIGN POLICY - Not to mention the hype surrounding him, Ajit Doval has so far failed to produce any tangible result on the ground. Kashmir is boiling, Pakistan is as recalcitrant ever and doesn't care about the 56 inch chest of Modi. India is still perceived as a toothless snake by Pakistan - can hiss, but can't bite.
Relationship with China is at stalemate. In spite of Trump's ABAKE BAAR TRUMP SARKHYAAR (after this Trump Administration) harping about India being a victim of terror attack from Pakistan, there is hardly any sea change in American policy towards Pakistan Rest assured, Uncle Sam keeps on writing checks to India's western neighbor for its nuisance value.
In the meantime Modi has learnt the art of winning elections, an art perfected by the Congress party under Indira Gandhi. Coupled with the TINA (There Is No Alternative) factor, Modi led BJP is all set to win reelection in 2019 (Though India is a Parliamentary democracy, elections are often personality based contests, like in Presidential elections)
In geography, we studied about Absolute humidity vs Relative himidity. So in Absolute term, I will give 6 out of 10 to Modi's admission, a slightly better than average. On the relative term, it is much preferrable to the Congress led UPA, any day, any time.
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