Rajrishi Singhal, Senior Geoeconomics Fellow at Gateway House, comments on the economic agenda outlined in Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election manifesto. “The BJP manifesto, much like the documents launched by rival political parties, is heavy on promises and low on details. For instance, it vows to build 100 new cities but is silent about the time-frame, or how it plans to go about achieving it. Similarly, while the manifesto does admit that land acquisition - a sore point with both industry and farmers - is contentious, plans and details to sort it out are sketchy, except for an ominous-sounding announcement that land use will now be monitored by a new regulator. But, the manifesto is unequivocally clear that it will not allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, in keeping with its recent public announcements. The apprehension is that FDI will erode the strong voter base among mom-and-pop stores across north India. Voter interest also stops it from chipping away at the multiple layers that add to food supply chain inefficiencies and food inflation. There is one redeeming feature though. The manifesto has placed heavy emphasis on federalism and accords a critical role to states in the economic development process. Given the fact that there are five BJP-ruled states (Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh and Goa), this is probably the central leadership teams hat-tip to the state leadership, whose support will be critical for Narendra Modi, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, in the coming weeks.”
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 12:18:43 +0000
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