• Aakash Satyawali, Kulisha Mishra

The first 100 days of every government are carefully scrutinised. They offer us a window into the ideology of the government and a roadmap for the future. The 100 days of NDA 3.0 make it clear that this is a government on borrowed time. It is lacking in confidence and will for public welfare. The start of the tenure has been marked with U-turns, misgovernance, and an obsession to hold on to power.

The chinks in the armour were visible soon after the general elections when Mr Modi did not hold the customary meeting of the newly elected BJP members of the parliament. Historically, he addresses a meeting of BJP parliamentary party, but this time, he rushed to convene an NDA meeting and install himself as PM before murmurs of dissent could arise. It showed his shaken confidence in his level of acceptance among his party colleagues and the Sangh Parivar. Senior functionaries of RSS made statements questioning the BJP’s leadership, going to the extent of calling them arrogant.

PM Modi, long used to having iron grip over his party, was now confronted with dissent.

His lack of confidence in himself and in his ability to get the majority of his fellow parliamentarians to back his ideas and proposals became apparent when the legislature diverted the Waqf bill to the joint parliamentary committee. That the government was not forced to withdraw it outright was nothing more than a face saver. Similarly, the proposed Broadcasting bill has been shelved for now and the government is claiming that it will consult the stakeholders. Consultation with stakeholders, an important democratic principle, was cast aside in the previous two NDA governments. The humbling at the polls has brought about a welcome change.

U-turns abound in the third tenure. Reportedly, the much derided Agniveer scheme will be reviewed and a new compensation mechanism will be put in place. Sensing public pressure, the government has already rolled out a Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) after claiming that the New Pension Scheme was the most feasible economic solution. While the details of UPS are yet to fully emerge, its announcement shows that the government lacks any will for reform and will merrily walk back on policies it championed in previous terms.

Over the last few years, government had been recruiting candidates for civil services via the lateral entry process. This process did not involve reserving seats for SCs, STs, OBCs, and EBCs. This year, after protest by opposition, an advertisement inviting applications under the lateral entry was paused.

After having lost majority in the Lok Sabha, the government looks listless.

It presented a budget that was a tacit acknowledgment of government’s failures over the last decade. Unemployment reached historic high under the BJP government. The youth unemployment rate has been as high as 45 percent, highlighting the rampant distress young people face.

The finance minister announced a five-scheme package to address the unemployment crisis. Borrowing ideas from Congress Manifestos, the government has proposed employment-linked incentives for corporates and a large-scale internship programme. The government aims to incentivise corporates to take on 1 crore interns over the next five years.

The touted New Employment Generation scheme has been allocated Rs. 10,000 crore and New Internship Program Rs. 2000 crore. The lack of self-confidence is palpable. As it did with the Atmanirbhar Bharat package, government is principally relying on supply side measures to solve issues that are predominantly driven by lack of demand in the economy. On an average, every company will be taking on 4,000 interns every year, a non-starter. Most companies do not have more than 4000 permanent employees on their rolls. With artificial intelligence tools making more positions redundant, why will companies double or triple their workforce in the short run? The government is promising to finance a portion of the recruitment expense. But if demand does not pick up and production capacity remains the same, which company will risk reducing profit margins by adding more workers? More than a month after the announcement, there are no takers for the proposals.

The latest GDP data shows that the economy is still struggling from the misadventures of the past decade. GDP growth rate in the first quarter of this financial year fell to 6.7%. Agriculture growth rate in the quarter was down to 2%. Unless growth picks up, the joblessness is here to stay.

The budget was a golden opportunity for the government to present a credible vision for the next five years. However, it has chosen to cut back on welfare and continue its path of increasing wealth for the richest 1%.

At a time when people are still recovering from the income losses, food and fertiliser subsidies have been reduced. Defense budget has also seen a marginal cut while expenditure on pensions has been marginally increased. MGNREGA, the lifeline of rural India, budget has been kept stagnant when this financial year 5.8 crore people have demanded jobs already and 25 lakh new persons have been included in the job cards.

Rural India has been completely ignored. Crop insurance scheme, urea subsidy, and nutrient-based subsidy have all been reduced. Like MGNREGA, allocation for PM Kisan has not been increased despite more people becoming eligible each year.

The policy continuity has been in the decision to extract incomes from the poor and middle classes. The removal of indexation benefits and tweaking other regulations will hurt the salaried class. The loss of majority has rattled the BJP leadership. In its obsession to hold on to power, it used the union budget as a device to appease its allies. The highlight of this year’s budget was what many commentators have referred to as ‘extra 2ab’, alluding to PM’s speech years ago where he rhetorically asked, ‘where does the extra 2ab come from?’ The 2ab (Andhra and Bihar) comes from coalition compulsions. During the budget speech, there were moments it felt that we had been transported from parliament to legislative assemblies of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Schemes after schemes and several proposals were focused only on the two states. It makes one wonder if other states are being punished for voting for the opposition. Such brazen appeasement shatters PM’s image of a strongman.

We must look at the current budget in historical context. July 24 is the anniversary of Dr Manmohan Singh’s maiden budget, delivered in 1991. Back then, reforms were unpopular and opposed by most political parties, including some senior members in Congress. Yet, Dr. Singh boldly embraced the “idea whose time has come” and announced long-term structural economic reforms that set India on the path of high economic growth.

In 1991, Congress had won 232 seats, like BJP’s 240 in 2024. In 1991, the nation had to mortgage its gold. In 2024, Indians are facing a generational income crisis. The similarities end there. While Rao and Singh risked political power to ensure long-term prosperity for Indians, the current PM and FM duo chose to leverage the budget to consolidate its weakening hold over its political allies. The budget is an indication that the government will buckle under the slightest of pressure from its allies.

The economic misadventures of the last decade have weakened the economy. The limited growth is being cornered by the top 1%. A report by World Inequality Lab shows that income inequality in today’s India is worse than a century ago when British ruled India. The economy and common people are demanding reforms that will ensure inclusive development and create wealth for all groups. The 100 days are an indication that the government lacks stomach for any serious policy change.

Foreign policy is another front where the performance of the government in general and PM Modi in particular ranges from disappointing to depressing. Carrying his self-created and boastful image of a ‘vishawaguru’, the Prime minister recently visited Ukraine and described his meeting with President Zelensky as ‘historic’.

But in the words of the India’s former foreign secretary, appointed during PM Vajpayee’s tenure, and ambassador to Russia and France Mr. Kanwal Sibal, President Zelensky’s comments to the media made just hours after meeting PM Modi amounted to ‘talking down at Modi and dictating policy to India’. The Prime Minister and his team should have been proactive and handled the situation better. The event management focussed foreign policy has left India with no friend in its neighbourhood. The regime change in Bangladesh poses serious risks to India’s diplomatic and business interests in the country.

A big claim the government made over the last decade was investing in infrastructure. It repeatedly allocated huge sums for capital expenditure while cutting down on education and healthcare. The unabated train derailments and the crumbling urban infrastructure is a proof of the misgovernance. A spell of light rain is enough to bring our capital city to a halt. In a tragic incident, three UPSC aspirants lost their lives after being stuck in a flooded basement. In the first 100 days, students faced paper leaks and a dismissive government that ignored their concerns. The positive from the 100 days has been how the Congress Party has set the agenda and forced the government to act more responsively. Led by Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, the opposition is forcefully raising people’s issues in the parliament and outside. As government adopts policies proposed by Congress and takes U-turns, it is a matter of time before a new pro-people PM is sworn in.

Akash Satyawali is National Coordinator, AICC Research Department and co-author of The Fifteen: The Lives and Times of the Women in India’s Constituent Assembly. Kulisha Mishra is former National Secretary, Indian Youth Congress and a public policy enthusiast.