Not as a politician, but as an insuperably brilliant to sit on an integrated pool of citizens’ details, Modi will continue to win the polls as long as he wants to stay in power.
The days of winning elections through high-pitched campaigns have gone. It is proven. Smart rulers cannot be replaced so easily, because they know the strengths and weaknesses well as the preferences and interests of each individual. They have successfully explored within the realm of citizens’ psychology and moved their coins on the playing board accordingly. They are smart enough to serve self-interests.
However, I refuse to count the power retention that we saw in the recent State elections. Except for Tamil Nadu, all the States saw the earlier ones retaining their hold. The State elections reflect local voter’s individual preferences on socio-political and socio-religious issues. Local issues and local leadership are the other factors that influence State politics. State rulers, with piecemeal powers in their hand under the present constitutional set-up, do not have anything much to command.
States within the federal system have many limitations. With limited power for governing the people States become a virtual executive body for implementing only Central policies under the supervision of Central representatives and the British designed bureaucracy. Though our bicameral system ensures States also their stakes in policy formation through upper house representation, States still have no command and control over many things.
State policies on education and healthcare are almost the same in every party’s rule. Local satraps try to make their gain from what is under the State lists. Moreover, a State ruler cannot stay permanently on his seat, as policies of the Central government also have a bearing on issues binding the local people. Nevertheless, that is not the case with a national ruler.
That is the reason Narendra Modi seems to have not much interest in winning many State elections. He knows the antagonists’ interpretation of him being a power concentrator otherwise also, or call rudely as a dictator, deliberately to avoid creating an impression. He is keen to win Central power with States where the upper house count can be enhanced so that his policies are made laws.
A national ruler has many advantages and upper hands over the States. From civil aviation to fuel mining, foreign affairs to defence, infrastructure from airport to seaport, money-flow control to industrial policies, the Central ruler has a big bag full to sit on. States have no say on many issues but to follow policies dictated by the Centre. It is here the Central ruler gets to play winnable dice.
Though the character remained so forever, consolidation of these along with a complete dossier of each citizen loaded on a single platform with the support of technology has strengthened the position of Modi, who is passionate about using technology for pooling everything that means for a nation. States have no such apparatus. Modi is successfully harnessing the advantages for remaining in power, perhaps until he likes. That is the reason I dare say, again, Modi will continue to be indefatigable in the national poll battles at least for some more times if no unforeseen mishaps wipe out his edges.
A shrewd ruler, especially if the ruler is tech-savvy with a sharp sense to make use of modern technology to track and pool every citizen’s details and secrets, knows each citizen like a pebble on palms. In normal case, an individual’s financial information is a secret. That is a piece of confidential information that the custodian is not morally duty-bound to share with others including an individual’s spouse. But the Central government has, as an when it feels necessary. States have no authority to delve into the financial details of an individual. States also have only limited access to a citizen’s wealth details.
The centre, which already has the power to access a citizen’s wealth details and his commercial transactions, has acquired a new system to pool and watch the activities of a citizen on a real-time basis. In the name of direct transfer of benefit (DTB), people are being linked with their aadhaar number.
PAN card has already been linked with the aadhaar mandatorily. Each citizens’ property details are being linked with the aadhaar number, which is linked with phone numbers, as everyone knows. An individual’s business activities are linked with the aadhaar. Of late, with the new Information Technology policy, the government has opened a window to trace who does the “fake” report, thereby making out the identity of the antagonists . The link is multi-dimensional that gives the government a comprehensive data pool of each individual. Finally, what remains unlinked is nothing. Even a factory worker’s details are pooled through PPF and other sources, giving the government an X-ray advantage to look through.
Manmohan Singh was a brilliant finance minister but a failed Prime Minister, only because he did not find the way to learn about each citizen’s position, possessions and mindsets through the system that Modi does now. Singh never knew how technology could be a tool to read people by peeping into every citizen’s pocket, citizen’s hearts and citizen’s psychology. DBT, during his time, failed to take off, wherefrom Modi took off. The big X-ray eye will locate the issues that citizens carry. Modi has a monopoly on this super technology-driven data pool. While some can be happy, a section obviously cannot.
