Swadeshi may be theme song of BJP for 2024

In 2019, Narendra Modi went to the electorate seeking another term, harping on the much talked about Balakot strike in which the Indian Air Force went deep inside Pakistan to mount an aerial attack on February 26, 2019. The air strike — India’s response to the Pulwama attack — was piloted by 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets that crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and demolished the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot, Pakistan.

This event, just ahead of the national election, became BJP’s calling card in rallies and yielded 303 seats for the party. But in 2024, with the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in cold storage for now, what will be BJP’s Balakot equivalent? While Ram Mandir and abrogation of Article 370 and 35A will dominate electoral discourse, the prime minister — behind closed doors — said they won’t help win elections.

While it is premature to predict BJP’s main electoral issue next year, the ruling party is likely to project the yet-to-be-passed three ‘swadeshi’ laws that seek to replace centuries-old Acts — the Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Indian Evidence Act — as Modi government’s “masculine” steps against ‘anti-nationals’, the ‘Tukde Tukde’ gangs and those whom ministers call ‘enemies inside’, say BJP sources.

With enough numbers in Lok Sabha and support from friendly parties in Rajya Sabha — as was demonstrated in the case of the Delhi Services Bill in the Monsoon Session — getting the three Bills passed in the Winter Session later this year won’t be a headache for the government.

What’s more, the department-related Standing Committee on Home Affairs has called a meeting on these bills starting Thursday — three days in a row. Leaving just half an hour on Thursday, the remaining period is kept for a “presentation by the Home Secretary on the ‘Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023; ‘The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023’; and ‘The Bharatiya Sakhsya Bill 2023’.” Interestingly, all the members were suddenly called for a ‘dinner’ last weekend by Union Home Minister Amit Shah who informally told them about the importance of the Bills to become Acts.

BJP MP Dilip Ghosh, a member of the committee, told News18 that the target of the group is to submit its report to Parliament “at the earliest”.

“It will be in the portal so that the details are available to one and all. We will also try to tell people about it. The issue may be legally complex but it’s important for the common people to understand the nuances as it is they who will be benefitted,” said Ghosh. When asked about Shah’s instruction last weekend, Ghosh said: “He asked us to listen to all stakeholders and wrap up the process as early as possible.”

Another member of the committee and BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Khargone (Madhya Pradesh), Gajendra Singh Patel’s reply was a confident “nischit taur pe” when asked whether the three Bills can be made into Acts this coming Parliament session. He said the BJP will go to town drumming about the benefits of them along with the government’s welfare measures in the last nine years.

The government has already pitched the moves as walking away from the “colonial imprint” on the legal process. With increasing seizures of laptops and mobile phones by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe terror cases like 26/11 or Bhima Koregaon, electronic and digital records, email, server logs, and smartphone or laptop messages are included in the new avatar of the Evidence Act. This gives agencies more teeth to deal with foreign terrorists as well as the proverbial ‘Tukde Tukde’ gang. Terrorism has been defined for the first time and new sections added to deal with separatism threatening the sovereignty of India.

MHA officials said the aim to introduce these Bills was to eliminate the ‘colonial’ imprint on the legal process. The present laws, including CrPC and IPC, were enacted 160 years ago and intended to protect the interests of the British and their government in London.

In fact, the reason of removing sedition was that it was against the public. The aim was to make British rule paramount rather than human rights of the common man. Another reason to introduce the changes is to reduce the pendency of cases as innocents are also getting punished due to delays. The complex procedures of IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act have led to a large number of pending cases.

However, politically speaking, Modi Sarkar — through these Bills — wants people to see its tough stance on terrorism, separatism, and notorious criminals. Hence, the BJP is likely to project the Bills as the government’s ‘macho avatar’.

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