The Ecosystem and its Existential Crisis

Through various tales observed in the theatre of nature do we get a lot to learn. Many a times, the animals or the plants or the swishing winds or the gushing waters have a lot to communicate, a lot to teach. A cornered animal tends to fight back ferociously and we have seen/heard stories of herbivores such as bulls or gazelles too fighting back advances of carnivores and no more consider them surprising, given the circumstances. Though the event itself is no more a surprise, the ferocity involved continues to amaze me and offers a glimpse into the vast untapped energy of an entity and its ability to channel it through its own name & form. This animalistic ferocity though not illogical in any way is out on full display in our nation today and the next seventeen months look ominous with dark clouds gathering on the horizon and a cornered animal making its last stand in a battle that began five years back.

There has been a continuous improvement in Bhaarat’s global rankings / scores / economic indicators from 2013 – Inflation Rate (from 9.4% to 4.2%), Fiscal Deficit (from 5.2% of GDP to 3.8% now – thanks to better tax revenues, lower crude prices, greater transparency in subsidy & capital expenses through digital portals and Aadhaar etc), Money Supply (improving with 3 billion rupees approximately never being re-monetized and reduction in cash ratio with simultaneous leg up to digital payments), Ease of doing Business (rank from 132 to 100), Corruption Perception (score from 36 to 40), OECD Government Trust Factor (73% now and a personal approval rating for the head crossing 85%) and GDP growth rate (though lower than 2013 numbers but improving post the twin structural surgeries of High Value Note de-legitimization and GST). Our tax net is increasing in size by the passing day; increment in tax base is exerting simultaneous downward pull on the per capita tax burden which will lead to a more rational tax collection where taxation is distributed and every citizen’s pocket feels lesser pinch than before. In difficult times, improving economic indicators are much sweeter, for sure. Performance in bettering economic condition of the nation as a whole and its constituent states has translated into electoral support as well for the BJP which now governs a whopping 75% of territory and 66% of the population with 19 out of the 29 states in its kitty (the highest ever for any political party). The last time any single political coalition governed 18 states was the Congress in Dec 1993 but the major difference being that the 19 states today account for 66% of the MPs in the Lok Sabha while it accounted for only 48% for the Congress then. Even in downturns, the Congress’s ability to rally through state legislatures in powering itself back to the centre was unmatched but in the changed scenario today where the BJP has successfully installed strong state leaders to block Congress resurgence. (i.e. Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra, Yogi in UP, Mamaji Shivraj in MP, Dr. Raman Singh in Chattisgarh and other CMs across the horizon including partner CMs like Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu) Add to that a below par ‘leader’, unlike Ahmed Patel-Antonia Maino combo then, and we have a far powerful negative effect on the Congress’s chances. The rapidly shrinking state support that this has led to, with Karnataka & Punjab the only remaining major states (and the former due a new election in 2018) and specs in the North East with Meghalaya on the verge of being relinquished, the Congress has very little space left on the ground to feel about. With a difficult electoral scenario in the past, the Congress had been slick in employing other organizations to its benefit and rebuilding; even when injured and nursing its wounds, the beast didn’t have to go hungry. Congress successfully gnawed through institutions and constitutional offices by establishing a culture of entitlement at the expense of the tax revenues generated from the people. The entitlements fed the bunch of Lutyens elite, the bureaucratic set-up in daily administration, the educational institutions surviving on grants & benefits furthering the separatist agenda (read JNU & FTII etc), the NGOs thriving for evangelical ends under the garb of pro-poor service or environment protection, elite celebrities or film stars or businessmen allowed leeways against illicit income in a quid pro quo and finally the gullible pawns – our dear fellow citizens maneuvered on the chess board. Just like a forest or a jungle is symbiotically fed by the natural elements of air, water & soil along with the various living beings playing a part in the food chain and a king of the jungle commanding the alpha status, similar so is the case here with these various institutions symbiotically living off the Congress so no matter what, electorally or non-electorally, comebacks were guaranteed after minor bumps – the nourishment engine was well oiled. Then came social media, an increasingly aware electorate demanding accountability, Narendra Modi and Raul Vinci all together completely throwing off the Congress game. The fact that Narendra Modi & Amit Shah are unwilling to be decent fellows and gentlemen like Vajpayee and are more than happy to set the wolves after the lambs has compounded woes. A 12 year incarceration has no doubt hardened the duo like fire & hammer forging steel.

A forest ceases to thrive when the rivers run dry or the animal imbalance increases. If we carefully observe the events that have panned out in the last three to four years, the fabled ecosystem has been attacked like never before – by nationalist forces within and outside the government. The credibility of the Lutyens was the first sacrifice in the yadnya of Bhaaratiya revival; a parallel set up of the social media completely derailed news trading with drop in viewership ensuring financial stress as well. The bureaucratic set up was revamped through initiatives like PRAGATI being implemented steadfastly with online tracking and unique project coding. Non-performers are being booted and performers are being encouraged. Institutions filled with the leftist anti-Bhaarat agenda peddling fiberal cabal are being cleansed – through student elections within with ABVP strengthening muscles and government regulation outside with freeloaders like Amartya Sen being forced to squeal. FCRA regulations are being adhered to strictly and NGOs are being taken to task with multiple FCRA license cancellations (over 50k at the least till date): anti-Bhaarat puppet NGOs like Greenpeace, Amnesty etc controlled by evangelical forces are at least feeling the heat. Awareness against supporting mafia image rebuilding movies or hogwash like Aman ki Aasha has increased; the Khans no longer control the discourse with multiple movies of theirs not earning as much as they used to while tax evading businesses have the flashlight being shined upon them through GST reformation. Each and every spoke of the proverbial hub & spoke model is being dismantled by a collective conscious of awakened nationalists out for reclamation of their prized Bhaarat. Each and every element in the fabled ecosystem is being challenged for what it really is – a sham and a termite-like infestation. I should apologize for insulting termites here for even termites have a role to play which is constructive in the bigger picture unlike the elements of the fabled ecosystem which have brought about nothing but doom on everything that they got associated with. Now, with all spokes breaking through or elements withering away, the hub or the powerful king of the jungle stands cornered and exposed – the beast is on the verge of turning hunted from the great hunter that it was.

When on the verge and backed into the corner, the ferocity becomes highly evident. In our story of the blog, the cornered beast will ferociously react. The Indian Anti-National Congress will ferociously react; the Indian Anti-National Congress has already begun to ferociously react – the caste riots using bogies at times to build public perception against nationalists, the railway derailments, the security force shaming, cheering for ‘youth icons’ exercising their right to free speech, compromising intelligence, parliament ruckus and much more inclusive of, with complete confidence I can say, engineering of wide scale terrorist attacks if need be – all reactions are very much on the table with Koregaon-Bhima probably being simply a trailer. The Jignesh Mevani-Umar Khalid link, Raul Vinci's overt support to both during the Gujarat Elections & Bhaarat tere tukde honge! Insha Allah! JNU rally respectively, fiberal brokers & funding houses offering material and non-material support, the Islamic flags seen in the riot scenarios, the deliberate attempt to pin this on 'saffron' forces', celebrating an enemy's victory over Indic warriors (not too different from JNU celebrating the murder of CRPF Jawans at the hands of Naxals) and the impatient tweets that followed the turn of events - right from the 'how to snatch power the Congress way'.

The Lok Sabha elections of 2019 can be termed as the beast’s last stand for it is a battle for the very existence of the legendary ecosystem and we should not forget that a female monkey climbs atop her own child to save herself from drowning, if need be; then civilians like you and me are, to use a Hindi idiom, kis khet ki mooli. If the ecosystem powers itself back to control a few states going to polls in 2018 (Incumbent governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan) and/or the centre in LS 2019 or even achieves a split verdict against BJP in LS 2019, then a revival can be achieved. If the ecosystem suffers another resounding defeat, then the beast would truly have been hunted and we can expect a neo-Congress splitting into Gandhi & Non-Gandhi factions if the spines of the latter blokes would shed their jelly like properties then. Through all that, we as civilians will face a choice as always. The Modi style of politics, as observed since 2013 nationally, leaves no place to construct a fence and sit on it. If ever there are times to say, “You are either with us or against us”, the times we live in today would be the right ones to say so; and it is not because of any enmity but all because of the eventuality. In the first past the post electoral system, NOTA (or the electoral equivalent of the fence) is no candidate to win and govern. Even a 99% vote to NOTA implies that the next best candidate with majority of the balance 1% votes gets to win and govern. Again, this theory sees light through nature and the mechanics of opportunity costing – rejecting one choice automatically implies selecting the other – the binomial web of multi-verses. As an electorate, I can say with great pride that we have grown and matured a lot in the past few years. We have become more vocal but we have also become more balanced; we have become more demanding but we have also become more accommodating. While we have raised our aspirations and expectations, we have also accepted that aspirations come at a cost and we are willing to share the costs for a better future. I, for one, am cent percent sure that the voter maturity is at unparalleled levels in our democratic history and we are able to analyze the pros and cons of each political party with much greater accuracy than before especially after the reactions observed in interviews or on social media or on chat groups with majority of us reading through the lines and interpreting Koregaon-Bhima for the move that it is in the ecosystem's fight for survival.

All in all, we have an extremely chaotic seventeen months in front of us and we can expect the ferocity never seen before, No Holds Barred! Unlike 2004, the ferocity is two way (classic Savarkarian Thagashi Thaga) and that makes an interesting battle on the cards. Hoping to see Bhaarat on the ‘right’ side of the fence!

Asato Maa Sadgamaya ….

Tamaso Maa Jyotirgamaya ….

Mrutyormaa Amritamgamaya ….

Jai Hind!