Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came in with the slogan “minimum government, maximum governance”, has become the government itself.
“They might well have come to regard prime ministerial dominance as normal and, therefore, as acceptable. They might have been taken in by the media’s preoccupation with the leader, his close circle, his family and his friends. They might even be over-impressed by the fact that the new Prime Minister had led them to victory and that they therefore owed their jobs to him. It is quite possible that they might be overawed by the sheer scale of the Prime Minister’s department. Ministers in such a government would be not so much the Prime Minister’s colleagues as his employees, even his courtiers—in which case the Prime Minister really would be a sort of president. An administration of this character is conceivable, but it seems unlikely, and, even if an administration did start out on that basis, it would be unlikely to remain on that basis for long.”
—Anthony King, The British Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2007).
THE EMINENT BRITISH PROFESSOR OF Government had observed thus while making an assessment about a specific aspect of politics in the United Kingdom, particularly the impact and sway that different Prime Ministers had on the governments they led, especially on fellow Ministers in their governments. While doing so, King also points to a phenomenon he terms “theatre of celebrity”, which involves premeditated creation of a celebrity personality, which in turn is employed to enforce dominance on fellow politicians as well as the larger polity. King’s argument that such an administration is “unlikely to remain on that basis for long” does not make any reference to a specific time frame. In other words, there is no quantification in terms of years or decades.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
