What Narendra Modi’s victory could mean for India

The NDA coalition led by Mr. Narendra Modi secured a massive victory at the recently concluded Lok Sabha Elections in India. This was one of the most memorable and hotly contested elections of all time. There was a stark contrast between the two prime ministerial candidates. Mr. Modi, a man who was born poor, but through hard work, innovative ideas, well thought-out strategy, and efficient execution consistently exceeded expectations, grew through ranks of BJP. His unflinching focus on the development and good governance yielded considerable success in Gujrat and earned him immense goodwill. All of this was accomplished while maintaining an absolutely clean image, an unusual island in a sea of corruption. Mr. Rahul Gandhi, about twenty years Modi’s junior, was born in an ultra-rich political dynasty and  grew-up in luxurious surroundings. He appeared out of touch with the average person, and he even stated that “being poor” is a state of mind.  Mr. Gandhi’s heritage entitled him to a top post in the Congress party and his inexperience showed vividly in the campaign trails. While Mr. Modi attracted the biggest crowds India has ever seen and eloquently communicated his message of hope and progress, most of Mr. Gandhi’s rallies had sparse attendance and his speeches seemed repetitive, lacked vision, and many times were incoherent.  

The exit polls showed that people voted for Mr. Modi across caste, community, and religious lines. His voters included all age groups, all education levels, and all economic classes—both urban and poor. All of these groups voted in much higher percentages for Mr. Modi than for Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Modi’s message of rapid development, good governance, and enhanced opportunities for youth employment resonated with the voters. His emphasis on the need to check rising prices and tackle pervasive corruption was music to voters’ ears.

This is the first election since independence that a non-congress party (BJP) has gotten a full majority in Lok Sabha (BJP: 285 seats, Congress: 45, out of total 543 seats). Mr. Modi is the first prime minister who was born in free India, a son of the soil and a true nationalist. He is also the first prime minister after Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri who was born in poverty but defied all odds and succeeded.

To quote a good friend of mine, Ashish Chugh, “Mr. Modi’s victory is freedom from the dynasty raj, freedom from the nepotism and the corruption raj, and freedom from the Congress raj. His victory is freedom from the divisive communal and vote bank politics. One of the ironies of Indian democracy has been that the greater good has often been sacrificed for the benefit of a few. His victory is freedom from this irony. His victory is freedom from so many things that have constantly held India back.  The Indian voter has voted for one thing and one thing only – Progress.”

What can we expect?

Mr. Modi is expected to stay highly focused on critical issues including the need to revamp the economy and to substantially accelerate growth while paying special attention to those at the bottom of the economic strata.  During the Congress regime about $150 Billion  worth of projects were awaiting clearances, some for years. His administration is expected to quickly clear the backlog and provide policy framework to prevent such growth inhibitors from happening again.  He will aggressively push for infrastructure development including roads, highways, ports, railways and airports. Building many new power plants is also on the agenda. Connecting rivers across the country to raise agriculture production and to provide water to alleviate critical shortages will also be a high priority. This will provide additional impetus to the stalled economy and will attract substantially more foreign investment, which had declined considerably in the last regime.

To reduce unemployment, another important effort is expected to be on skill development to enable the ordinary citizen to make a dignified living and improve his or her quality of life. This is in sharp contrast to the prevailing practice put in place by Congress party that is of dependence on the government handouts. Unfortunately, by UPA government’s own admission, more than half of these doles end up in the pockets of politicians, bureaucrats, and other middle men. Expect many more vocational schools across the country along the lines of Germany and China. Furthermore, education will be geared to be in sync with needs of modern India and not of Lord Macaulay’s British Raj. Hence, an employment-centric curriculum encouraging innovation is expected. Another major area that will get attention is manufacturing, especially that of high tech electronic goods. This will further help in not only reducing unemployment but will also cut rapidly growing import bill on this account.

Mr. Modi is anticipated to take stern measures to ensure peace at the borders and prevention of internal strife. The last three years have seen increasingly deeper incursions by China, as much as 20 kilometers within Indian Territory. Similarly, the Bangladeshi border is virtually open, resulting in millions of illegal immigrants and infiltrators coming into the country every year. Pakistan’s daily violation of ceasefire to provide coverage to terrorists infiltrating in India is an ongoing saga and need to be firmly dealt with. In addition, groups within the country aided and abetted by enemies, including naxalites, are almost certain to feel heat.

Energy resource development, such as natural gas exploration, is expected to be high-up on the agenda. India, in spite of having largest coal reserves in the world, is still importing coal due to bottlenecks caused by rampant corruption; many power plants are simply idle due to a lack of supply. This is bound to get considerable attention. Other areas of focus include health care, child nutrition, women’s security, and bringing back black money from abroad. Mr. Modi is quite keen on using advanced technology to institutionalize government processes to minimize deeply rooted corruption.

Foreign policy will likely take somewhat of a back seat in this new regime, although it is likely to undergo a sea change, as the foreign policy becomes a tool to enhance development efforts at home and trade abroad.

To summarize Mr. Modi’s vision; from a top-down perspective the key components are modernization of infrastructure, manufacturing, and enhancement of knowledge-based economy. From a bottom-up perspective, the focus will be on small town/village-based cooperatives, small scale businesses and skill development. Mr. Modi’s vision is to have inclusive development that provides equal opportunity to all of its citizens so that even the most ordinary citizen also has an opportunity to become somebody. He wants to govern in way that accounts for the aspirations of all of its 125 million people, as opposed to historic catering to the top 20%.  Expectations are high and we the NRIs can play a significant role in realization of Prime Minister Narendra Bhai’s vision of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat (One India, Best India)”.

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