“This is an attack on the lives of the tax-ridden middle class”
“Manmohan Singh was better than this Modi chap, he didn’t speak much but didn’t traumatize us either.”
But this was not shameful. The most shameful aspect was what the BJP leaders did. The Railway minister Sadanand Gowda squarely put the blame on the previous government stating that the decisions was already okayed by the last session and Manmohan Singh didn’t want to announce the price rise before the general elections. Shahnawaz Hussain seconded the Railway minister’s evasive remarks. And amidst the chaos, confusion and blame games, Modi did a Manmohan. He chose to stay silent.
Now let us analyse certain aspects here:
A week back, Modi announced in Goa that the BJP government is all set to take some “Kathor kadam(Harsh steps)” in order to stabilize the economy and bring about an epoch of restructurings and reforms. The railway fare hike seems to be the first one among those steps. If the plan was preconceived, why backpedal now? We all know that BJP has done it consciously and Modi is not one bit guilty about forcing a diktat which was otherwise proposed and passed by UPA-II.
BUT AS A SENSIBLE CITIZEN OF THIS WONDERFUL COUNTRY, I WELCOME THE PRICE HIKE.
Let us take a look at the Indian Railways first:
Do you know Indian Railways is a loss making body?
Do you know Indian Railways makes losses through passenger trains and some profits through freight trains?
Do you know Indian Railways incurred a loss of 25,000 crore Indian Rupees last year?
Governments come and go but no one dares to mess with the train fares for it has the potential of toppling a government. The “Dinesh Trivedi” incident is not a very old one where Mamta Banerjee asked the former to step down as the railway minister when he announced a hike in railway fare. Before stepping down, He very publicly proclaimed that Indian Railway is on its way to become Air India and that someday the Government will have to take some harsh steps.
Now let us look at the previous government:
Why do we criticize UPA-II so much?
Why was Manmohan one of the weakest Prime Ministers of all times?
Because both Singh and his gang lacked the willpower to perform. They went on flagging off one populist scheme after another just to stay in power. They were too busy appeasing the votebank rather than doing anything substantial. They were too scared to go against the public sentiments, even if it was in the interest of the nation. They failed to take even one bold step and the result showed in their election performance. The worse aspect was that they pushed India on the negative side of the development line.
Now let us take a look at Modi:
Why did we vote Modi to power?
The only reason, for which Indians voted Modi to power was because Modi seemed, acted and talked like a doer. He came across as a man with a plan and with an insatiable hunger to succeed. We wanted a go-getter after 10 years of indolence in the PM office. And I believe that he can walk the talk.
Railways price hike is the need and the inevitability of the time. If we want better service, better security, better infrastructure, cleanliness, hygiene and trains on time…We should be ready to shell out some more!
Dear Mr. Modi, if you have done it. OWN it. DO NOT RUN AWAY FROM OWNING THE RESPONSIBILITY. And dear fellow middle class folks, it is time we stop playing the victim card. We must be ready to participate in the development of the nation.