A little less aggressive

A significant departure Prime Minister Modi made this time from his previous speeches delivered from the Red Fort relates to the welcome toning down of his foreign policy eloquence. He restricted himself to a general observation that India is getting global support in the fight against terror. A surprise: there was no Pakistan-bashing, nor a reference to Balochistan as before. On China also, he exercised restraint. The speech, lasting less than an hour, has been Modi’s shortest so far. But it was not without its quota of election-time rhetoric.  

The faithful would likely to believe every claim or promise the Prime Minister made, while sceptics would put everything to scrutiny. Talking of building a “new India” by 2022, Prime Minister Modi listed the government’s key achievements, the emphasis this time being on the supposed fight against corruption and black money. The address was apparently aimed at the 2019 test for mandate. Critics will question the claimed success of demonetisation, given the countrywide disruption it caused, apart from deaths, job losses and economic slowdown. While the Modi government has renamed and marketed as its own some of the UPA programmes — Make in India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India, Start-Up India and Jan Dhan Yojna — what impact these make on the lives of people will determine the voters’ choice in 2019. A programme’s success depends on how far it has moved from the paper to the ground.

Nowhere is the gap between rhetoric and reality as glaring as in case of employment generation. The challenge of jobless growth has remained unaddressed so far and government spokespersons are not prepared even to acknowledge it. There has been little recognition of the concern expressed in the Economic Survey-2 about growth deceleration. Unless it shifts from windy rhetoric to action, the NDA could witness a replay of the 2004 “Shining India” campaign which indisputably was its worst poll strategy. Being out of touch with reality has its consequences and no one should know it better than the NDA.