Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a hugely controversial statement on Monday by claiming that 40 TMC MLAs were in touch with him and would desert their party once the BJP wins the general elections. The TMC and other opposition parties reacted furiously to Modi’s statement and alleged that he was openly indulging in horse trading. During election time, politicians make all kinds of statements for political one-upmanship. In their attempts to woo voters they use every trick in the book. However, this election has seen Prime Minister Modi making some highly controversial statements which demean the office of the PM.
This latest one is also not in good taste. His open threat to pull down a duly elected government is against the democratic norms of the country. If his claim of being in touch with TMC MLAs is indeed true, then the opposition is right in accusing him of indulging in horse trading. The duty of the PM is to govern the country and not to solicit MLAs of other parties to break away from their parties. The people of West Bengal elected the TMC and handed over the reins of the state to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for five years. Modi and the BJP should respect the mandate of the people. Instead of trying to break other parties, they should concentrate on trying to win the next election to form the government in Bengal. In Arunachal Pradesh too, they dislodged the elected Congress government by engineering mass defection of MLAs. The saffron party’s attitude of trying to grab power by hook or by crook is setting a dangerous trend in the country. It may come back to haunt them in future when they are out of power at the centre.