A bit of this and a bit of that

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national election manifesto reflects the tension between its relatively liberal modernising impulses and the party’s archly conservative ideological core. The manifesto’s delayed release was a result of this very contradiction, one that is well nigh impossible to reconcile; the final document ends up accommodating both points of view. On the positive side, the BJP manifesto is free from the vacuous dole-based approach of that of the Congress, which has promised a slew of new entitlement legislations to add to the already existing ones. Interestingly, the word ‘subsidy’ does not even figure in the BJP document. Instead, the focus is more on removing bottlenecks and missing links leading to poor delivery of public services. The manifesto openly proclaims that the government “withdraws from those services which could be done by others” and tops this with the slogan Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.

Equally welcome are the promises of reviewing existing labour laws which are “outdated, complicated and even contradictory”; instituting a mechanism for time-bound and transparent environmental clearances; having a simplified, non-adversarial and predictable tax regime (in contrast to the investor-spooking retrospective amendments); and promoting federalism (by reviving the National Development Council/Inter-State Council and working with the states in implementing the Goods and Service Tax). There is also no quarrel with the emphasis on creating a strong domestic manufacturing sector, making healthcare universal while reducing out-of-pocket expenses, and meeting the aspirations of the sizeable ‘neo-middle class’: those who have risen from the category of poor but still cannot afford private education or healthcare. These economic aspects of the manifesto are largely forward-looking and sensitive to the new demands imposed by growth, education and a deepening of democracy.

Those who hoped that the more contentious non-economic issues would be underplayed have reason to be disappointed though. The Ram temple in Ayodhya finds a mention and so does the uniform civil code, which was omitted in 2009. The commitment to abrogating Article 370, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, is reiterated even with the proviso that it will be discussed with all stakeholders. On the economic front too, those out to please the party’s traditional trader/middleman base seem to have won the day; there will be no FDI in multi-brand retail despite a general endorsement for foreign investment as long as it creates assets and jobs. If the making of a manifesto has been such a struggle, it seems germane to ask how the conflict between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ will play out in the event the party comes to power. Although the stamp of Narendra Modi on the manifesto is unmistakable, the difficulty in its shaping is a reminder of the difficulties he may face in singling out growth and development as the focus of governance. It will require some skill, not to speak of a great deal of authority, to prevent his agenda from being hijacked from within.

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