New Delhi: On May 26, 2014, the BJP registered its biggest ever victory in the Lok Sabha polls and Narendra Modi was sworn in as the prime minister. His popularity only soared with time and reached newer heights during the 2019 general elections as the saffron party won by a bigger mandate.
Having had a fairly smooth sail for six years, the seventh year for Modi as India's de facto chief has not been the same. Although, considered a good administrator, his handling of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely criticised.
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Not only the national media but also the international media, which previously hailed the prime minister as an able administrator, has been critical of the Modi government of late. Modi has been squarely blamed for holding election rallies in West Bengal amid the second wave of the pandemic.
During the first wave of COVID-19, India's vaccine supply to countries such as the US was considered a major achievement, and the name of PM Modi was discussed on a global scale.
However, these achievements became trivial with the onset of the second wave of COVID-19 i.e. the seventh year of the government. Not only the media but also netizens, analysts and opposition parties rallied and reacted sharply against the Prime Minister of India.
PM Modi's ability questioned for the first time since 2014
In the seventh year, the image of the NDA government and the Prime Minister has taken a hit. The opposition in Parliament has been questioning the government's silence regarding the peasant movement. Several questions were raised in connection with the disputes with China in the Galwan Valley, directly questioning the foreign policies of the Modi government.
All these issues have led to a huge debate on Twitter and WhatsApp, which has become a thorn in the flesh for the ruling party.
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On the other hand, the BJP leaders have repeatedly alleged the opposition of trying to spoil the image of the Prime Minister by colluding with international media, adding that they have been funded for the same.
In other words, the China and Galwan Valley dispute, mismanagement of COVID-19 and the long-drawn farmers movement, have in a way questioned the role of the Prime Minister. Also, in spite of putting all the money in the West Bengal elections, the BJP's defeat was completed.
Overall, the 7th year of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister has been surrounded by controversies
If we take a look back at history, it's not just PM Modi who has got into trouble in the seventh year at the helm of affairs. Jawaharlal Nehru, who became India's first Prime Minister in 1947, was also laden with troubles, as it was in his seventh year as the Prime Minister that China had attacked Tibet.
When Nehru remained silent on the issue, the opposition created a ruckus in the Parliament.
Similarly, when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was into her seventh year, on 12 June 1975, the Allahabad High Court quashed her 1971 election, which led to the JP Movement. In the same year, an Emergency was imposed by the ruling Congress, which is still seen as a black chapter in India's history.
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The case has also been the same for Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh as the UPA-led government had faced charges of massive corruption.
When ETV sought answers with the BJP, the party's national spokesperson Sudesh Verma said those trying to put Narendra Modi in the dock should look at facts and not the last seven years.
The BJP, for its part, believes it has achieved something which hardly any government has achieved before, adding the Prime Minister has put in all efforts to curb the pandemic.
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"When the infrastructure of a country like the US crumbled due to COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided free food to 80 crore people during the pandemic and this work has been on for eight months," Verma said, adding that the government has been working "to save lives".
He even went on to say that road construction in India was at its fastest pace despite the COVID-19 crisis, and that the construction of a new parliament building will be completed by the time India marks 75 years of Independence.
