The BJP has plucked out foreign-funded vested interests and exposed double-faced NGOs

When the people of India elected the BJP Government to power in the summer of 2014, we were a broken nation. Our national security had been challenged by our neighbours. The previous Government in power had fractured our backbone with corruption.

Our strength had been weakened by policy paralysis, and in-action and to top it all, Western vested interests infiltrated in the country in the form of NGOs that were breaking us from inside.

Forget about making any progress in a fast-paced world, we were incapable, as a nation, to hold ourselves together. That is when and why the people voted for the BJP with a huge mandate.

People were hopeful that the new Government would get the nation moving. There was also a sincere desire to leave behind the period of inaction, subversion and corruption by undoing all the negative developmental bridles that surrounded us.

Remember the prolonged agitation of Medha Patkar, who undermined development and the water security of the central and western parts of IndiaIJ She and her cohorts had succeeded in stalling the efforts of providing water to the parched lands of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, notwithstanding the long spells of drought and famine.

Remember the Greenpeace-sponsored agitations that were trying to stall power generation capacity building and development in many parts of the countryIJ  They wouldn’t care if your child had light in his room to study for his examination, but wouldn’t allow even the most environment-friendly technology to be brought in to the country.

Remember Teesta Setalvad, who in connivance with large multinational donors, was promoting communal disharmony under the mask of social workIJ She wouldn’t allow reason to percolate in the society, but would do everything to cover the public eyes with blinding cloth.  

These are just a few examples of how vested interests systematically wrecked the country, by exploiting the state.

At the time when the BJP came to power, India had NGOs and activists mushrooming everywhere who ate from the palms of Western donor agencies. Not a day had passed without the media reflecting their voice and lionising their unjust stands.

They were being showered with international awards and recognition for breaking the nation from within, in the name of civic movement.  Democracy had been misused, governance had been disused and the vulnerable communities had been grossly abused. 

The BJP has been in power for two years now with its focus on development. Vested interests of sinister agencies have been plucked out of their niches and dumped into the dustbin of history. The perpetrators behind these double-faced NGOs have been exposed and neutralised.

And, two years have passed without unjust agitation by NGOs or dubiously funded agencies. 

Recently, the NGO of a well-connected person has been exposed and is being brought to justice. A nation that was being broken by divisive forces has begun its journey on the path of development with an uncompromising and unbroken stance. It is a pity that this has not been conveniently recognised by the so-called political commentators, political psychologists, social theorists, critics including the media.

It is also true that in the past two years, most projects have progressed as scheduled, without the opposition of the vested interests backed by Western lobbies. The financial over-run on the projects is a thing of past. Today, the nation is witnessing the cost-effective implementation of infrastructure projects, which had become milking cows of easy money for the previous Government.

These very significant achievements need to be accepted and publicised by all concerned, regardless of political or professional ideologies, as they have a direct bearing on our well-being as an individual and as a nation.

We need to make people of India aware of these benefits of achche din. We need to feel proud that our nation is on the path to progress. We need to feel happy that the lives of our children will be better than ours. As a nation, we need to realise that ‘hope’ has come to be a meaningful word.

(The writer is chairman, Khadi and Village Industries Commission)