All through his stint as
CM of Gujarat, NaMo resisted the temptation to go after political rivals via
judicial or other non-political channels.
He preferred instead to
ensure their political demise by vanquishing them in the arena of electoral
politics.
As several media honchos
shifted anxiously in their chairs, many wondered if PM Modi would leverage
state apparatus to strip them naked and turn Delhi into a giant Hammam.
But even through the
campaign for 2014, candidate Modi made it a point to put these fears to rest.
"I will not waste my precious political capital on (a distracting)
political vendetta" seemed to be his message of peace.
As the PM, he has kept
his word. While his core supporters are incensed at this 'hands-off'
approach, expecting to see a political guillotine instead, the PM has wisely
elected to focus his considerable talents on the task at hand; which is to
extract India from the morass of political and economic mess.
But try as he may, his
political adversaries won’t let him take the high road. A successful PM means an end to the ‘Politics
of Patronage’ as practiced and perfected by Congress and its regional clones.
Sonia and her regional
socialist satraps know all too well what the Modi Model does to its political
opponents. Madhavsinh Solanki, Suresh
Mehta, Kashiram Rana, Shankersinh Vaghela, Keshubhai Patel – none were targeted
personally. Despite their vicious
campaign, NaMo chose to focus on his work so that the ‘Politics of Performance’
he spawned ensured their natural (albeit painful) political demise.
But in playing with the
same template at the national level, PM Modi is leaving many a flank open for
his opponents to attack and slow him down.
As explained in previous
posts, Sonia is no fool. Her scorched
earth strategy circa 2013, ensured that many a trap door were left in place for
a future non-Congress PM.
LAB is just such a trap
door. Even though the merits of the bill
may be hard to challenge, the imagery around it is very easily
manipulated.
“A PM and his
Industrialists friends stealing assests of the poor to usher in an India for
the rich, by the rich, of the rich”
PM Modi has tried to
counter this narrative by making himself the only real public face of his govt
and its policies. But Delhi isn’t Gujarat. Every verbal spasm by even the most remotely associated
‘member’ of the Sangh parivar can and will be exaggerated into the government’s
policy statement.
One can always argue
that media was unable to stop CM Modi, what chances does it have of stopping PM
Modi.
But there’s one vital
difference that even the PM seems to have overlooked. Gujarat was NaMo and NaMo was Gujarat.
A harsh policy explained
by an honest, clean, hardworking PM may be palatable to the masses that elected
him, but the same policy peddled by ministers who till May 2014 were maneuvering
for an “If not me, than none from the BJP” electoral outcome, cannot and will
not be trusted by voters.
And therein lies the PM’s
dilemma. Delhi is not NaMo and NaMo is
not Delhi.
When he first took office I wrote these two pieces - http://inflextionpoint.blogspot.com/2014/07/pm-narendra-modi-must-run.html
The basic message of
those two posts was that PM Modi must run an unconventional government. Instead, what we have witnessed in the first
9 months of this government is a typically conventional approach with a few nuances
to clearly differentiate it from previous regimes.
The Swaach Bharat
campaign is a wonderful example of unconventional governance. The sad part is that it is an isolated
example.
I’m not arguing that the
work done by Shri Gadkari and Shri Piyush Goyal is a waste of time. In fact they are doing exactly what needs to
be done – the rapid scaling up of India’s transportation and power infrastructure.
The fault lies in the
govt. thinking that the fruits of these efforts would reflect in electoral
outcomes in 2019.
Right wing economics
depends on market forces driving the economy, actively aided and supported by
an efficient government. These ideas
have worked well the world over. There’s
no disputing them. But India of 2015 is
not the United States of 1950s.
Intellectuals who
recognize the obvious superiority of right wing economics seldom vote, whereas
(as explained here - http://inflextionpoint.blogspot.com/2011/06/understanding-indian-electorate.html)
voters struggling for survival have neither
the time nor the patience to understand these proven economic paradigms.
These voters want two
clear deliverables:
1. Put the corrupt behind bars so that they stop
looting our wealth
2. Give us handouts so our daily struggles can be made
more manageable
Growing uproar over the LAB
is merely a symptom of a deeper malaise afflicting this government. A malaise which is a direct outcome of a
govt. ignoring the thought process of India’s regular and likely voters.
This govt being very
early in its tenure and these shortcomings can be easily rectified. But left unaddressed, it could turn 2019 into
a fight for a hung parliament i.e. a defeat for PM Modi.
But ‘Make in India’ needs
land. Without the ability to quickly
acquire land, setting up factories could take years. As explained in previous posts, the PM has
only 36 months to finish implementing key economic strategies so that the
effects can be felt by 2019.
This leaves the PM in
no-mans-land. He can’t acquire land as
any attempts to do so would render him with an anti-Farmer tag (the death knell
of Indian politics) but if he doesn’t facilitate easy acquisition of land, he can’t
implement his agenda and suffers the same electoral fate.
So how does he get himself
out of this chakravuyha?
Answer: Government Land particularly Railway land.
Indian Railways is one
of the biggest land owners in the country.
Given its proximity to the rail infrastructure, this land is
exceptionally valuable. Its commercial
value is unquantifiable.
It can be used for
multiple purposes:
1. To build
factories which need supply of rail transported input materials and rail
transported finished products (Cars, electronics, etc.)
2. Tourism – hotels, restaurants, etc.
3. Hospitals and health care centers
4. Etc.
This land can be
leveraged in two ways:
a) Offer it to industries to kick start the ‘Make
in India’ initiative
b) Create land infrastructure bonds with this land
as collateral
a. These bonds can be given to all farmers in
addition to the market value of their lands so that their financial future is
secure
b. The bonds could come with an healthy coupon rate
– say 10% which would be an additional way to compensate the farmer
c. Farmers could benefit in three ways
i.
Market value for the
land acquired
ii.
Payment from the Bond
upon maturity
iii.
Monthly interest
payments from the Bonds
d. Such compensation would come in addition to jobs
for farmers in any new factories that come up on the land acquired
Such a strategy would
help turn farmers into stakeholders in ‘Make in India’ and ensure immediate
electoral dividends to the BJP government.
