Ranjona Banerji: Pradhan Sevak running for cover?

What does it say about our Pradhan Sevak when days after the Budget led to chaos on Dalal Street he was releasing a book he had apparently written called Exam Warriors which provides students with advice on how to deal with exam stress PicPTIWho would have thought in May 2014 that a government run by a prime minister with a selfproclaimed 56inch chest who said he was the Pradhan Sevak or the prime server of the people of India would be looking a little lost even running for cover in February 2018 Many people in India assume that the Bharatiya Janata Party under Narendra Modi will win the next general election with easeMaybe they still will win No bets on that But the enormous cloak of fear and respect that had protected Modi and his section of the BJP is now in tatters And with the defensive shield down missiles and arrows are making their mark And what seems to bother Modis fans the most are not the facts that give the lie to government claims but jokes Why else did several news channels scream to Modis defence when his characteristically meaningless new acronym of Tomato Onion Potato was turned on its head to Potato Onion Tomato on Twitter What does it say about our Pradhan Sevak when days after the Union Budget led to chaos on Dalal Street he was releasing a book he had apparently written called Exam Warriors which offers students advice on how to deal with exam stress Not only that the book was released by two Union ministers making any sane person wonder just what sort of escape mechanism was at work hereThe stock market is not the only problem The economy has been in very bad shape since November 8 2016 when the disruption according to the governments own Econoshymic Survey that was demonshyetisshyation was announced by the Sevak The lack of vision in the budget the last full budget before the next general election has left many including wellwishers horrified Only those who have wilfully blinded themselves to any wrongdoing by their 56inchchested idol still feel that the new National Healthcare scheme is of any useIndeed there is widespread confusion over where the money is going to come from how the scheme will work why money cannot be spent on improving healthcare infrastructure and practices who the scheme will benefit how the scheme is different from other such schemes already in existence Farmers are not happy with the socalled Minimum Support Price benefits they have been given And those who chose to save their money in mutual funds are gobsmacked with the reintroduction of the longterm capital gains taxThe day of the Budget the Congress won two Lok Sabha and one Assembly bypolls in Rajasthan defshyeshyashytshying the BJP by large margins In Bengal the Trinamool Congress won one Lok Sabha and one Assembly bypoll The BJP decided to create a victory out of the fact that it came a distant second in spite of an over 4 lakh loss margin in one of the seats Straw meet the BJP As a result there is now open anger within the BJP and NDA Of all the BJPs allies the Shiv Sena has been most vocal in its criticism of socalled governance provided by the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra It has gone as far as to say it will not ally with the BJP in the next elections For the first time other allies of the NDA have started speaking out The Telugu Desam Party is not happy with what has not been given to Andhra Pradesh in the Budget and is contemplating the alliance The Akali Dal is tired of being routinely ignored by the BJP and has said that there is no way the BJP is coming back with a large majority in the next elections Nitish Kumar who broke an alliance to return to the NDA has put forward his opposition to the Prime Sevaks scheme for simultaneous general and Assembly electionsIs there any point mentioning the social divisiveness which has come to the fore fomented by the BJP and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar The incidents have been nonstop for the past four years with Kasganj being a new blot and ironically on Republic Day itself What a sad commentary on the state of India Meanwhile streetside pakodasellers are being presented by Prime Sevak as evidence of his employment initiatives as he makes up Indias population figures and makes it clear he has no clue how many villages India hasRanjona Banerji is a senior journalist You can follow her on Twitter ranjona Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai National and International news hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go