Deepak Nagpal
The battle for the 16th Lok Sabha has begun and parties are going all out to woo the voters. Here`s a look at what they all have to offer:
On Corruption
UPA
Going into the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is faced with a dichotomy – how to sell its anti-corruption plank in the face of the numerous scams (2G, CWG, Coalgate, VVIP choppers etc) that took place or came to the fore during the UPA-2 rule. No party, in the modern times, can afford to not talk about fighting corruption while campaigning for elections. This is probably why in the months before the General Elections, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government found a renewed vigour to push through Parliament major bills aimed at tackling corruption. While the government succeeded in getting the Lokpal and amendment to Whistleblowers’ Protection Bills through, it could not manage the same on Prevention of Corruption (amendment) Bill, and the Right of Citizens for Time-bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of Grievances Bill.
Anyhow, with RTI and Lokpal Acts under its belt the Congress is seeking to improve its dented image as regards corruption. Rahul Gandhi has sought to seek credit for the passage of the Lokpal Bill, though other parties have disputed the Congress stand. Moreover, the fight for the Lokpal Bill had reinvigorated over the last few years after social activist Anna Hazare took up the cause. The Congress has also been promising to bring back black money stashed abroad, and had taken a number of steps during the UPA-2 tenure for the same, but the intention of the government was always seen with a doubt.
Rahul Gandhi, the face of the Congress in the coming elections, had spoken out against corrupt legislators and forced the government to withdraw the controversial bill on tainted lawmakers, but his party’s alliance with the now-out-on-bail Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal puts a question mark on its stand on corruption.
NDA
The Bharatiya Janata Party, out of power for the last decade, has based its current Lok Sabha poll campaign mainly on the policy paralysis alleged during the UPA-2 tenure and the corruption unearthed during the same. The party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has hit out at not just Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but also the Congress’ 2014 face Rahul Gandhi over the corruption unearthed during the UPA tenures.
However, it is not to say that the NDA governments have been squeaky clean. One example is the BJP’s first government in South India. Its first South India chief minister BS Yeddyurappa had to resign in the wake of corruption allegations against him as well his ministers, the Reddy brothers and others. The governments of chief ministers of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi and Shivraj Singh Chouhan respectively, have also faced corruption allegations. So have the governments of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, both of whom were earlier ruling in alliance with the BJP.
Third Front
Out of power and down in the dumb, the Third Front senses 2014 polls as an opportunity to reinvent itself and emerge as a credible force. The grouping, which has a tendency to come together ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and disintegrate post polls, will try to put the ruling coalition in the dock over the various corruption scams unearthed over the past decade. It may also target the main opposition alliance, the NDA, over corruption allegations against its state governments.
However, the Front, mainly led by Left parties, will also have a lot to answer over corruption in states ruled by its member parties. For example, the SNC-Lavlin scam in Kerala during the rule of LDF government.
Others
Among other parties in poll fray, the Aam Aadmi Party is a major force. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP was born on the premise of fighting graft and is refereed to as anti-corruption party in international media. After breaking away from social activist Anna Hazare, Kejriwal led a nearly two-month-long government in Delhi and is now leading the Lok Sabha campaign against the Congress and the BJP. He has made a number of revelations against leaders of both the parties, and is projecting his AAP as a clean alternative to the two national parties. However, the AAP has itself been hit by corruption allegations. Several of its leaders have been accused of demanding money from prospective candidates, and the party has also been accused of collecting funds in a shady manner.
On Security
UPA
The UPA government, over its two consecutive tenures, has faced a lot of criticism over its handling of Pakistan and China.
With Pakistan, the government of Manmohan Singh tried to take the relationship forward but the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008 undid all the progress. The off and on talks did not yield much and Pakistan`s failure to act against the perpetrators of the 26/11 strikes tied India`s hands. The gruesome beheading of Indian an soldier by Pakistani troops at LoC and their dare of taking away the head exposed India`s vulnerability. And the failure to take any stern action against Pakistan and ensure the beheaded soldier`s head was brought back showed the UPA government was weak-footed and faced much criticism for the same.
China too tested India`s patience with its repeated attempts of violation of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). On some occasions, the Chinese troops entered the Indian territory and painted warning messages in Mandarin on rocks; on other occasions the Chinese scared Indians away from their own territory. But in an incident that drew a lot of criticism for the UPA government, India failed to send back a group of Chinese soldiers who had squatted on the Indian territory for weeks at Daulat Beg Oldi sector in Ladakh. When they finally retreated, the UPA government claimed its diplomacy won; but everyone else had another view of the incident – that India was shown as `spineless`. Also, China has not yet dropped its claim on Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Jammu and Kashmir despite prolonged diplomacy. While dialogue between the two nations continues, the UPA government has not much to boast about as far as the Dragon is concerned.
The UPA government`s relationship with the armed forces has also remained uneasy. The routine Army movement in January 2012 close to the Republic Day was misinterpreted as a “coup” attempt – as claimed by a newspaper. That came in the midst of a much-publicised dispute with the then Army chief General (retired) VK Singh. Of late, the spate of naval accidents have highlighted the Congress-led government`s failure to address the modernisation needs of the armed forces; the only worth-mentioning achievement of the government could by the successful test-firing of the Agni-V ballistic missile.
There`s not much to write about the UPA`s track-record as regards internal security as well. The crime graph has been on the rise across the country, with cases of rapes and other crimes against women grabbing headlines. The December 16, 2012 Delhi gang-rape case of Nirbhaya got immense attention around the world because of the gruesomeness of the act committed. While the victim died a few days later and the culprits were awarded death penalties, the UPA government did manage to strengthen the anti-rape laws. However, the effort would yield results only when these translate into faster convictions.
Further, the Naxal menace has continued unabated with the Maoists carrying out several major strikes against the security forces as well as political class. In two separate attacks, the Maoists killed more than 70 CRPF troops and wiped out almost the entire state leadership of the Congress in Chhattisgarh.
NDA
The BJP has been slamming the UPA government over its failure to rein in both Pakistan and China, terming its external security policy `flawed`. But it has failed to provide options to the government on how to proceed, apart from making rhetoric statements that “no talks should be held unless Pakistan takes action against terrorists”. With regard to China as well, the BJP stand has been similar and that is understandable as the party is in opposition. However, one good suggestion which has come from the party is to `befriend China`s neighbours to tackle the neighbour`.
As regards relations with the armed forces is concerned, one may go back to the Kargil War to recall the Coffin scam under which the same were bought for inflated prices. Also, not much modernisation initiatives were taken during the NDA regime as well.
Further, on the internal security front, the BJP government in Chhattisgarh had to share the blame for twin Maoist attacks mentioned above. As regards crimes against women are concerned, the BJP supported UPA government`s legislation to strengthen anti-rape laws but later diluted its stand on death penalty for rapists.
Third Front
The external security policies of the Third Front parties are generally ambiguous on specifics, apart from the stated ones that Pakistan and China must respect India`s sovereignty and the former must not use its territory to export terror to India. The Left parties, while being Communists, did criticise China for intruding into the Indian territory and attempting to claim ownership.
As regards fighting Naxals, the Leftists have mainly been pro-talks but also supportive of firm action in case of violence.
On women`s security front, they are in favour of strong laws to curb the menace of crimes against females.
Others
While the AAP has supported talks with Naxals and given Lok Sabha tickets to those who are pro-Maoists, parties like the BJD and TMC are firmly against the Naxalites for their respective states have suffered a lot from the menace.
The AAP, meanwhile, has tried to project itself as pro-women and launched agitations over crimes against women. Mamata Banerjee`s Trinamool Congress also talks about championing women`s rights, but failed to take action in several rape cases witnessed in West Bengal.
The Aam Aadmi Party, meanwhile, raked up a controversy when its leader Prashant Bhushan suggested holding plebiscite in Kashmir. But the party had to swiftly issue a denial, saying Kashmir was an integral part of India. The controversy showed the newbie was still a rookie as far as national security issues were concerned.
On Foreign Policy
UPA
The UPA`s foreign policy has mainly focussed on improving ties with the US and ensure technology transfer. A case in point is the Indo-US nuclear deal – which though sort of ended India`s nuclear apartheid, but has not yielded much in terms of transfer of technology and materials. India has also been a US ally in the war against terror, but the UPA government failed to use this relationship to exert American pressure on Pakistan and ensure uprooting of terror sanctuaries there.
The government, meanwhile, did try to maintain a fine balance as regards its relationships with the US and Russia – India`s all-weather friend. India mainly depends on Russia for defence equipments, and the UPA government ensured none of the two were upset by India`s close equations with the two superpowers.
However, it is not to say that the foreign policy as regards other key nations, like Sri Lanka, has been a stable one. While India supported Sri Lanka`s “sovereign” action against the LTTE, it failed to ensure proper rehabilitation of the civil Tamilian population in the island nation. Also, the UPA government did not do enough to protect the Indian fishermen who were facing harassment or arrest by the Sri Lankan Navy. However, lately Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed the issue with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and the latter agreed to release jailed Indian fishermen.
One highlight of the UPA tenure was India`s growing ties with ASEAN nations and East Asia countries, especially Japan.
NDA
The NDA regime, during its rule from 1999 to 2004, too had sought to maintain a fine balance with Russia and the US as regards bilateral ties. It was during the NDA rule that the 9/11 attacks took place and the entire global scenario changed. The Indian government at that time adopted a firm position on war against terror and had extended all possible support.
If the BJP comes to power this time around, it is expected to carry forward the policies of the UPA government as has been the practice in India. However, as regards China and Pakistan, the BJP`s PM candidate Narendra Modi has been quite vocal and is expected to adopt a hard stance compared to the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh.
Third Front
The Left parties – the main constituents of the alternative grouping – are known pro-China parties because of their Communism links. They support greater ties with China compared to the West, mainly the US. As regards Pakistan, their stand is similar to other parties – credible action against terrorists must precede peace talks.
Others
Like the Congress and the BJP, other smaller parties too are expected to endorse a uniform foreign policy.
On Economy & Inflation
UPA
When it took over from the NDA government way back in 2004, the Indian economy was growing at a healthy pace of near double-digit GDP. But, over the past decade the growth has crashed to a low of 4.6 percent, and much of the blame has been put on the UPA`s economic policies. It is ironical that the man who turned around India`s economy post 1991 was at the helm of affairs when India saw its GDP grow much lower than its potential. Among the reasons blamed for the poor economic showing include corruption, policy paralysis, poor government-corporate connect, and failure to resolve lingering issues – a case in point is the Vodafone taxation row.
The agriculture as well as industry too failed to register healthy growth, with the IIP even going into the negative during the UPA-2 regime. While the UPA government did manage to tide over the 2008 depression, it failed to revive the `India story` and continues to fight to maintain an average 5 percent growth.
As per a media report, over 300 central sector projects, with an investment of more than Rs 150 crores, have got delayed and have run into cost overruns to the tune of a whopping Rs 1.74 lakh crores. Most of the delays have been caused due to issues like law and order problems, delay in land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement problems, fund constraints, delay in green clearances etc. A committed Central government could have ensured none of the above problems lingered for long. That would have given a much-needed impetus to the Indian economy as well.
Critics have blamed the government for following populist policies rather than focussing on tackling economic problems by way of boosting growth and attracting investment. The subsidy bill continues to mount, though the government did manage to decontrol fuel prices to an extent. The Rupee, meanwhile,plunged to new lows crossing 68 per dollar.
The government policies on taxation have also attracted much criticism from the industry as well as corporate world. While the government failed to resolve issues concerning GAAR and DTC, its fight with Vodafone over retrospective taxation issue got bad press nationally as well as internationally and sent wrong signals to the global community. On foreign investment front, while the UPA did further open up many sectors, it failed to evince much interest on FDI in multi-brand retail due to policy bottlenecks.
On the inflation front, the track-record of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s government could be termed as one of the worst. Consumer prices rose at an average 10 per cent every year over the past five years; in fact, the prices have been rising in India despite the world witnessing a decline of late. Many are describing the India situation as one where prices continue to rise and growth continues to fall.
NDA
The BJP-led NDA government, during its tenure, had tried to open up the economy and took the disinvestment route to mop up revenues and curb fiscal deficit. GDP growth under the NDA rule saw a jump from 5.5% in 2000 to 8.3% in 2004, when it exited power. Price rise, or inflation also remained under check.
Using these figures, the BJP has tried to hit out at the UPA government and sell its economic agenda to voters in the run-up to polls. The BJP is also depending on the fact that its PM candidate Narendra Modi`s Gujarat has been among the top-ranked states in terms of economic performance, and is promising to implement the Gujarat model of development across the nation. Modi, on his part, has promised reforms to put Asia`s third largest economy back on track and also generate millions of jobs.
Meanwhile, while the party continues to oppose FDI in multi-brand retail it has hinted at a change in stance if it comes to power. Modi, while listing out his economic agenda at a business summit recently, asked small traders to adopt latest technology in order to compete with foreign players, suggesting a softening of stand on the entry of big retailers. He has also stressed on the need for reforms and simplification of the taxation system.
Third Front
The constituents of the Third Front, dominated by Left parties, are more conservative in nature and against opening up of the economy to big players. Most of them do not support entry of private players in government functioning, i.e. disinvestment or sale of PSUs.
When the Left had supported the UPA-1 government from outside, it had played a key role in formulating the government`s policies through a Common Minimum Program, in which it had vowed to focus on the common man, poverty alleviation and sustainable development projects. However, their economic attitude led to the creation of policies that impeded foreign investment. Further, their anti-globalisation, anti-Western stand also impacted the opening up of Indian economy.
On inflation front, they support policies that will help control price rise and alleviate the pain of the common man.
Others
The Aam Aadmi Party will seek to involve people in the economic decision-making. It is pro-small trader, pro-poor and this was evident from the AAP government`s decision to bar entry of big retailers in the national capital. Further, the AAP favours increasing direct taxes and lowering indirect taxes, expanding the tax net, and simplifying the taxation structure.
The TMC, meanwhile, is seen pro-poor and pro-farmers, and anti-industry. The Tata Nano fiasco in West Bengal is a case in point. The party is also against globalisation and free market.
On Growth and Development
UPA
Alleviating poverty has been a common goal of successive Congress governments. However, their policies have not yielded the desired results and India continues to have nearly a third of the world`s total poor. In its first tenure, the UPA had launched the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme and the Bharat Nirmaan initiatives, aimed at providing employment to the poor and masses boost infrastructure development. However, the UPA government part-2 failed to come up with such policy initiatives and instead focused on lowering poverty threshold, thereby fudging the number of poor in India. On the education front, the UPA continued with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan launched by the NDA government, which has been a success. Further, Congress` 2014 face Rahul Gandhi has been stressing on education as a means of empowering and transforming India.
In another indicator of the UPA`s poor performance, India was ranked 136th globally on the Human Development Index in 2013. The ranking was 13 places lower than the 123rd position achieved in 2004 when the NDA was in power.
NDA
It was the NDA government that had started the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan in 2001-02, and the programme continues to be in operation till date. Further, various state governments run by BJP or its allies have been rated high in improving the education spread. If the BJP comes to power post 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it is expected to implement the state policies nationally. On the poverty front, the NDA did not achieve significant reduction in the number of poor. However, over the past few years state BJP governments like the ones in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have done a lot in improving the standard of living thereby uplifting people from poverty.
As far as infrastructure development is concerned, the NDA government was credited with launching the Golden Quadrilateral project linking the four metro cities, namely Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. The project was dubbed as the largest highway project in India and the fifth longest in the world.
Third Front
Since the main focus of the Third Front parties, including the Left, is on the `aam aadmi`, its policies are expected to reflect the same school of thought. The Left claims to champion the cause of the poor, so poverty alleviation is a major goal of the grouping. Providing education for all so as to uplift the marginalised would also be a prime focus of the Front if it comes to power.
As regards infrastructure development, the Left is expected to oppose the involvement of private or foreign players, and would want PSUs or government agencies to take up projects.
Others
The AAP, the TMC and the likes too have tried to come across as pro-people parties and would strive to reduce poverty, spread education and improve the standard of living.
