Me criticize Modi and BJP

India-Pak relations

Much to the hype of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attending the swearing-in ceremony or the saree diplomacy, both governments couldn’t re-start the dialogue process nor has the firing across the Line of Control came down. Mr. Modi’s surprise stop-over at Lahore too failed to cut the ice.

India-Nepal relations

Anti-India protests flared up in Nepal after trade movements through the border were not allowed for many days. Nepal called it 'India's blockade' as it followed protests by Madhesis. All of these happened within a year of the Himalayan quake, when Nepal thanked India’s help in rescue and rehabilitation. Also, India couldn’t keep away Nepal from moving closer to China.

Smriti Irani and the Union Ministry of Human Resource and Development was in news for all wrong reasons. The suicide of a Dalit Research Scholar at Hyderabad Central University, sedition charges against students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, the FTII students’ strike, decision ofnot to support off-campus centres of Aligarh Muslim University, closing down Ambedkar-Periyar Study circle in IIT-Madras, the list goes on. And some avoidable controversies such ascompetition for schoolchildren on Christmas orscrapping German being taught at CBSE schools.

Blackmoney

Bringing back money stashed in off-shore accounts was one of BJP’s poll promises. The government gave a three-month window for compliance, but only 644 declarations were made. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley once said the bulk of blackmoney is within India, but little has been done to contain the feeders of parallel economy – higher education, real estate and mining.

GST Bill/Land ordinance

The government is unable to pass the GST Bill in Rajya Sabha for the past two years. Touted as the biggest tax reform in Independent India, the government is unable to bring consensus. Same is the fate of land bill. Though the Centre took the ordinance route to clear the bill, it was re-promulgated twice and lapsed on August 31, 2015.

Uttarakhand fiasco

The pre-mature imposition of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand, and victory of Harish Rawat in the Supreme Court-monitored floor test, is not only an embarrassment to the ruling government but also to the BJP, whose attempt to gain from dissidence in Uttarakhand Congress misfired.