North India Statesman
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Let us try to understand what changes are being seen in the country's politics due to two incidents. In September 2020, the BJP-led NDA government introduced three new laws related to agriculture. After a year of farmers' protests, the Narendra Modi government bowed to pressure and withdrew the law. Then in August 2024, UPSC gives a notification to fill 45 posts through lateral entry and this time too there is protest but here the government surrenders in two days. It is being said that UPSC will cancel that recruitment. A few days ago, the government, bowing to pressure, sent the Waqf (Research) Bill to the Joint Committee of Parliament.
These two incidents in four years show that the way the government works at the Centre has changed. Why did this happen? In 2020, it would not have made any difference for the BJP to break ties with the Shiromani Akali Dal, its main ally in Punjab. But in 2024, the importance of alliances increased or the trend started to show. Finally, the BJP had to bow down to the pressure.
BJP moved ahead in coalition politics
While BJP had a majority on its own in 2020, its position within the NDA has weakened in 2024. The BJP, which was strong with more than 300 Lok Sabha seats at that time, is now forced to bow down to its alliance partners with just 240 seats. In 2014 too, BJP had secured a majority on its own. That is, after being in power at the Centre for nearly two decades, BJP is having to taste coalition politics.
peer pressured
Take the case of the Wakf Bill. Earlier this month, several BJP allies, including the JD(U), LJP (Ram Vilas) and TDP, had expressed concern over the sweeping changes proposed in the Wakf (Research) Bill. Following this, the government referred the Bill to a joint committee of Parliament. On Tuesday, the central government once again bowed down to its two allies, the JD(U) and the LJP. Within a day, the advertisement for recruitment to 45 posts of Mukhiya through lateral entry was withdrawn. As soon as the UPSC announced the cancellation of the recruitment, the allies started showing their victory.
Allies started taking credit
LJP (Ram Vilas) national vice-president and spokesperson AK Bajpai called it a victory of coalition politics. He said that we are happy that Prime Minister Modi paid heed to our concerns and ordered the withdrawal of the lateral entry advertisement. We were the first to oppose this move and argued that this cannot be done without reservation. This is a victory of coalition politics.
JDU national spokesperson KC Tyagi told the Indian Express that we welcome him. We thank the Prime Minister for considering our concerns. This is a victory of the social justice movement led by Nitish Kumar. He has once again emerged as the champion of social justice forces in the country.
BJP
The government did not want to take the risk of lateral entry and no reservation was given in recruitment. The opposition as well as the allied parties called it against social justice. The BJP has already suffered a lot in the Lok Sabha elections on this pitch, so now it does not want to take any risk. The UPSC announcement was made on Saturday and when the opposition questioned it on Sunday, the government initially defended the recruitment. But as the story on reservation seems to be going back and forth, the government has opted for Peche Hut and taken it a step further by introducing quota in lateral entry. Assembly elections are going to be held in major states like Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana in the coming days. There are large constituencies here with direct participation in the quota and the BJP would not want to take any risk.
