Anna Hazare’s encore at Ramlila Maidan over farmers’ issues, and the creation of a Lokpal at the Centre and the appointment of lokayuktas in the States has not exactly taken the country by storm, the way he and his curious band of followers and fans did in 2011. However, it might take some of the sheen away from the Opposition’s ploy to use farm distress as a campaign plank. It also serves as a distraction from the impressive mobilisation of farmers in Mumbai, under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha.
Whether Anna Hazare succeeds or not in defusing the impact of the Opposition, there are signs that the latter’s economic agenda is not really headed anywhere. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said that the growth rate is alight, but the Centre has not kept its job-creation promise. However, he cannot continue to harp on the impact of demonetisation on jobs without being able to offer a plan on how the economy should be restructured. In fact, this is not surprising. ‘Jobless growth’ has been as much a feature of the UPA rule as it is now. The difference now is that due to external factors, IT has ceased to be the employer of skilled workers it used to be, while the Gulf countries, well past their petro boom, are no longer a big draw for Indian workers.
Unless the Opposition commits to job creation by the Government, led by sectors such as the Railways, its campaign will lack conviction. In effect, this would entail some self-criticism of post-1991 policies, where the public sector was indiscriminately attacked, as it is today. A greater allocation for education — with no ideological strings attached — and health are key to creating a better society and economy. What we are seeing across the political spectrum is a failure of a broader imagination — of not being able to chart another course, as Jeremy Corbyn has done with the British Labour Party.
A Srinivas Senior Deputy Editor