THIS ISN’T “HIS TIME”
Amid the entire CoViD-19 chaos and the govt.’s efforts to tackle this fast spreading pandemic, Home
Minister Amit Shah has been missing in action. Since May 2019, the roles of
Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have been more or less clear. Modi has been the
master persuader and Shah has been the master executor. But it’s during Corona virus pandemic where execution was going to matter the most. And hence,
Amit Shah should have been tracking dashboard of information on the virus's spread, which is coming up continuously and directing the response.
However, in perhaps the
biggest crisis that the Modi government is facing, given the global pandemic’s
unpredictable scale, Shah seems to have receded into the shadows. It seems that
Modi-Shah’s govt. has clear division of responsibilities– the PM with his ‘elderly’ image
will be the face of the fight against this crisis and the one reaching out to
people, while Shah with his 'tough and aggressive' projection will remain in the
background, even though his ministry has a crucial role to play. This is a very
serious crisis that requires the government to rally everyone together by
reaching out and establishing a personal connect, and clearly Shah’s more
Gladiator – like image may not work. This, to put it clearly, is just not a
role Amit Shah can easily fit into.
MODI’S CARE vis-a-vis SHAH’S AGGRESSION
Shah is not used to
being silent. Not as the home minister of Gujarat, not as the firebrand BJP
president and of course, not as the country’s home minister. In fact, over the
last 10 months or so, he emerged as the face of this government, at par with
Modi, if not more, on that front. In this COVID-19 fight, however, it has been
Modi all the time. It was Modi who decided to address the nation on 19 March to
talk about the gravity of the issue and urge people to follow a ‘Janata curfew’ on 22
March. Then again, it was the PM who addressed the nation to break the
difficult news of a 21-day
national lockdown, and
explain to people why it was needed. Then again, Modi addressed the residents
of his constituency, Varanasi via video-conference, whose message was meant for
the entire country. Playing his part as the ’empathetic but firm’ family elder,
Modi then devoted his entire ‘Mann ki Baat’ episode on 29 March to the crisis, apologizing
to people for the inconvenience. The PM has also been tweeting regularly and
interacting with nurses and students to boost their morale. Forget Modi, even
minister of state for home affairs, G Kishan Reddy is doing more from the front
by holding regular video conferences and Facebook lives to reach out to his
audience.
However, Shah has been completely in the backdrop —
even though his home ministry, besides health, is a key agency and a crucial
implementer. He hasn’t addressed even one press conference. According to PIB,
has been holding regular review
meetings and interacting with state chief ministers, but again there is no
sign of him leading the charge from the front. Amit Shah’s very obvious silence
has led many, including the opposition and several on social
media, to raise questions.
MAKING NOISE THROUGH SILENCE
Amit Shah’s role in this crisis is a sharp contrast
from the one he has played so far during this tenure of the Narendra Modi
government. Since Modi 2.0 took oath in May 2019 and Amit Shah took charge of
the very critical home ministry, the former BJP president has been at the forefront
of a series of high-profile decisions and processes — from diluting Article 370
in Kashmir, pushing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, amending the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act to making the Centre more powerful and heading over
seven ministries.
Of course, these fall directly in the domain of his
portfolio. But given the criticality of the home ministry in the CoViD-19
situation, and the fact that it was ultimately Shah’s ministry that issued the order for lockdown by invoking the
Disaster Management Act 2005 to bring states under the Centre’s control, the
home minister’s silence does generate enough noise.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Article 370, CAA, NRC, UAPA, etc. required Shah’s tough,
aggressive nature; the ‘do what you want to, but we will have our way through’
person leading from the front. This Corona virus pandemic, however, is a humanitarian
crisis — one that needs a 'firm yet gentle' approach by a leader, who the whole nation can connect with.
Modi, as the popular PM with his smooth talk and
larger-than-life image can easily slip into the ‘caring family elder’ role.
Amit Shah, an eternal aggressor with the ability to unapologetically make his
way through, may not be the best choice to be projected as a key person in this
crisis. Not yet. At least, not until the government reaches a point where it
needs to wield its iron hand.
P.S.: If you enjoyed the article, please do SUBSCRIBE to get e-mail notifications, each time I post a new article. Also, don't forget to share...
Post a Comment