Indian Politics in Decade 2010 to 2019: Anna Andolan, Kejriwal's AAP, Congress Rout and Modi Wave — How Country's Political Map Changed
Even critics of the incumbent Prime Minister would agree that Narendra Modi is the uncontested centrifugal point in public life. Despite being a polarising figure due to the communal carnage in Gujarat in 2002, Modi, since 2012, succeeded in projecting himself as among the leading 'pro-development politicians' of India.
New Delhi, December 31: The past decade has changed the face of Indian polity, with the country drifting from Congress' libertarian-centrism to the BJP's conservative-nationalism. The party led by Gandhi family faced back-to-back poll debacles, including the crushing defeats in the general elections of 2014 and 2019. As this decade comes to a draw, here are some of most noteworthy phenomenons in Indian politics in the last 10 years.
Anti-Graft Movement & AAP: Shortly after Manmohan Singh-led UPA's win in the 2009 general elections, the Congress-headed coalition government was hit by back-to-back alleged scams. The 2G spectrum case, coal allocation scandal and CWC scam took a toll on the government's image. By 2011, the nation was up in protest, with a septuagenarian Gandhian, Anna Hazare, leading a massive protest against the Centre in Ramlila Maidan.
The Manmohan Singh government is credited by analysts of adopting a passive response towards the protests, as it allowed over a lakh protesters to assemble in the national capital. Hazare had demanded the then UPA regime to enact the Lokpal or ombudsman law to tackle corruption. The institution of central Lokpal, to this date, is yet to begin operation.
As the Anna andolan faded in 2012, when the then central government agreed to enact the Lokpal Bill, an offshoot of the movement erupted in form of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Headed by former bureaucrat-turned-activist Arvind Kejriwal, the party gained prominence in Delhi region.
In the 2013 Delhi assembly polls, the AAP stunned pollsters by ended up winning 28 out of 70 seats. In an election where the BJP was hopeful of ending its 15-year drought from power in the national capital, Kejriwal ended up emerging as the Chief Minister. The government lasted for only 49 days, but the party ended up returning to power with an unprecedented mandate -- winning 67 out 70 seats in 2015.
Modi Wave & Congress' Rout: Even critics of the incumbent Prime Minister would agree that Narendra Modi is the uncontested centrifugal point in public life. Despite being a polarising figure due to the communal carnage in Gujarat in 2002, Modi, since 2012, succeeded in projecting himself as among the leading "pro-development politicians" of India.
The ruling BJP was quick to recognise his growing popularity among conservative Indians and young party cadres -- which was reflected through the apparently sidelining of the party old guard. In 2013, the party took the tough decision of overseeing their patriarch LK Advani and announcing Modi as the prime ministerial candidate.
In 2014, Modi achieved an unprecedented victory in the Lok Sabha polls, as the BJP became the first party in last 30 years to win a single-party majority. The BJP won 282 seats, whereas, the then ruling Congress was reduced to its worst-ever electoral standing -- at 44 seats.
The Modi wave did not settle with the general election victory, as the BJP went on to bag the states of Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana, Assam, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Modi became the first Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi to succeed in winning back-to-back full majority victories. The BJP ended up improving its tally to 303, whereas, the Congress was restricted to 52 constituencies.
The rout suffered by the Congress was severe to an extent where the then party chief, Rahul Gandhi, submitted his resignation. He not only quit his post, but went onto insist that neither his mother Sonia nor sister Priyanka Gandhi should head the party. The time, he said, had arrived for a non-Gandhi to lead India's oldest political group. However, the party -- faced with mass desertions -- ended up re-appointing Sonia as the Congress president.
Crucial Political Steps in Last Decade: In the UPA tenure, the central government ended up fulfilling the long-pending demand of carving the separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. Under the Modi government, a spree of decisions came as a shocker for the nation, beginning with the unprecedented "surgical strike" on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir in September 29, 2016. Nearly 40 days later, the Prime Minister ended up shocking the nation with the midnight demonetisation of higher currency notes on November 8.
After winning the second consecutive mandate, the Modi government rushed to clear the legislation outlawing triple talaq, followed by the passage of a Bill in the Parliament to bifurcate Jammu & Kashmir into the union territories of J&K and Ladakh. The Prime Minister also ended up fulfilling a seven-decade old demand of the Sangh Parivar by revoking the semi-autonomous status granted to Kashmir.
The action-packed 2019 of the Modi government did not end before the passage of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Parliament in the first week of December. The law has ignited protests in all parts of the nation, with 27 deaths being reported so far in the nation. The anti-CAA protests first sparked in the Northeast, where indigenous groups called it a violation of the 1985 Assam Accord, followed by mainland India where Muslim groups alleged that the law, in view of the proposed nationwide NRC, is a ploy to rid them of their citizenship.
The 2010-19 decade, which ends off on tumultuous note, has also witnessed massive development, including the upliftment of at least 271 million out of poverty (data released for 2006-16) and electrification of all parts of the nation earlier this year. Cleanliness was also a subject of concern over the last five years, with the government building over 1 crore toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The succeeding year, as well as the coming decade, poses a series of challenges before the nation. With unemployment reportedly peaking to a 45-year high and the economy yet to show signs of recovery from the slowdown, the Centre would require a multi-year approach to resolve the woes on the economic front. Apart from the ailing economy, the country's deepening communal divide also raises apprehensions.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 31, 2019 10:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).