The Times of India
December 9, 2013
Going by the rout undergone by Congress across at least three out of four states where assembly poll results were announced yesterday, with the exception of a reasonably strong showing in Chhattisgarh, Congress may have fundamentally misread the meaning of mandates in its favour in 2004 and 2009 general elections. It took them to mean a rejection of `India shining` and by extension the India growth story, therefore a licence to continue with politics in the old mould.
This consists of juggling a calculus based on carving up the electorate into ever finer slices based on caste, communal or regional identity; then throwing calibrated freebies at each, while playing on a politics of grievances rather than of aspiration. Voters do not want just freebies, they want to see the economy growing, new manufacturing enterprises emerging, jobs being created. The ogre called inflation, which the UPA government has allowed to rage untamed, has undermined the nation`s capacity to attain all of these things.
How else does one explain a verdict like Rajasthan’s — where the Gehlot government offered a generous basket of freebies including free medicines and was yet routed. That too in a state that is largely poor rather than middle class dominated — and therefore ostensibly offering greater traction for populism as a vote-getter. Given that a penchant for populism is not confined just to the Congress, the take-out for all political parties must be that in modern, aspirational India populism can no longer substitute for governance and wise economic management. Government must be an enabler rather than saviour; if you dump the India growth story, there will be political consequences to pay.
Apart from that, strong and charismatic regional leaders matter. BJP’s comprehensive victories in MP and Rajasthan were piloted by Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje respectively. And Congress could put up a strong fight in Chhattisgarh because it was led by Ajit Jogi who, whatever his warts, is a tribal leader with strong regional roots instead of being parachuted in by the Congress high command. The Delhi BJP suffered from interminable leadership struggles and pitched for Harsh Vardhan only at the last moment. With a spirited third player like Aam Aadmi Party in the fray, it failed to sprint decisively across the finish line. That may be the template for general elections next year as well; the BJP has absolutely no room for complacency.
