BJP 2.0

BJP 2.0

With the arrival of celebrated free-market economist Arvind Panagariya at Niti Aayog as Vice Chairman, the basics and foundation of BJP 2.0 have been put in place. The socialist era Planning Commission is gone. The federalist Niti Aayog has come to promote equity and competition between the states.  

The elders of the Vajpayee era have been moved respectfully into an advisory role. The Advani protégés, and both Modi and Jaitley must be counted amongst them, have been joined by young bloods and Modi acolytes such as Suresh Prabhu, Manohar Parikkar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Amit Shah, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Ram Madhav.

The engine is in place, for both the Party and the Government to deliver, with several others in exalted and less stellar roles; in the Government, the Party, the Intelligence and Security Apparatus, as well as the Bureaucracy. The old arguments against Narendra Modi and the BJP will not hold water going forward. Too much is changing on a daily basis, both in form and content, and gradually, but surely, the commentariat is starting to shift the narrative as well.

This is a message that needs to be absorbed, particularly for all those who think the Modi Government has been big on announcements and small on implementation so far. And those who think that the fringe elements in the Sangh Parivar will derail the stated intentions of the Government.

Because, contrapuntally, there are others, including several foreign observers, who think that this Government has already done more in a few months in power than the UPA managed in several years of family politics, diarchy, and ‘policy paralysis’.

The pro-Government view cites the resolve not to be bullied on the borders, the deregulation of diesel prices, loosening of some labour laws and the scrapping of several redundant ones, the increased FDI in Defence Production, the increased FDI permissible in Insurance, and the more equitable Arbitration, the Coal-Block Auction and the Land Acquisition ordinances.

Other initiatives include online tendering processes, appointment of the higher judiciary, self-attestation, environmental clearances, time-bound processes, the cleanliness and solar power drive, more responsive and quicker governance, moves to part-privatise PSU Banks, sell-off some or all of certain PSUs, modernise the Indian Railways etc..

 All this, and a number of dynamic foreign policy initiatives and visits, that have resulted in substantial pledges of investment in India, and generated considerable goodwill.

This year 2015, promises well; preceded as it has been, by a flurry of important and enabling ordinances, designed to bypass the parliamentary logjam despite  motivated accusations of being undemocratic.

The Opposition in parliament has been vehemently protesting the activities of the Sangh Parivar’s fringes, and not the actions of the Government, even in omission/ commission or tacit approval; but they do not seem to care to recognise the difference! Some analysts feel the Opposition fears being completely marginalised as the Modi/Shah/BJP wave continues in the State Assemblies. This includes a high potential situation in J&K, alongside wins in Haryana and Jharkhand, and Government formation in plum Maharashtra.  

But it was the Modi pledge of ‘development’, based on which the public elected the BJP, and now it is clear that this Government is determined to deliver. Luckily for it, there is a respite from crucial Assembly elections in 2015, for the most part, as well.   

The BJP has in reality changed substantially and grown inclusive. In both the Government and the Party, it is now firmly controlled by a post-independence generation. There is a stated and clear-cut policy of dynamism, and not giving a ministership to anyone older than 75. And this Government’s stated, oft-repeated mantra: ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, is in pointed departure from the BJP’s old majoritarian themes.

The Modi silence on the shenanigans of the fringe element in the face of Opposition demands, is however being bolstered by discreet action from RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat. As for the loud-mouths in Government or in parliament, they too have been quietly cautioned, but well away from the screaming media.  

The old polarising tactics are seen to be outdated, and are no longer BJP 2.0 policy. They have certainly contributed on the journey so far, right from the days of patriarch LK Advani’s  very successful Rath Yatra . They delivered the first BJP/NDA Government,  an unwieldy coalition under Prime Minister Vajpayee. But where it scored, despite its disparate make-up, was on the economy, with near double-digit growth. India also went overtly nuclear, repulsed Pakistan at Kargil, enjoyed a buoyant stock market , a stable currency, and built much of the spectacular Golden Quadrilateral.

 The 10 years after the Vajpayee Government under the UPA was like stepping back in time. It had just one proud moment- the signing of the nuclear power agreement with the US. The economy however languished, even as there was a huge increase in Welfarism and worrying fiscal deficits.   

 But now, a young voting population has put the BJP in power with a clear majority on its own, enhanced by the other constituents in the NDA.  It is this that will carry the resolve of this Government through. The nay-sayers have their work cut out for them. As the late Baroness Thatcher, somewhat of a kindred spirit, said once: This lady is not for turning.

(871 words)

January 4^th, 2014

Gautam Mukherjee