Themeless election

India needs a positive agenda

It has been over 50 days since the Election Commission of India announced the Lok Sabha election and the Model Code of Conduct came into force. Three phases of voting have concluded, with voters in over half the Lok Sabha constituencies having exercised their franchise. While both the ruling National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Opposition bloc, with the Congress as its largest constituent, are campaigning to improve their chances, what voters are missing is a substantive debate on crucial issues. To be sure, both parties have released their manifestos, but they are not necessarily the main talking points. And, in any case, campaigning in India is much more than manifestos. What India instead has are debates on mostly irrelevant and often undesirable issues. An electorate that would soon be running the world’s third-largest economy was expecting better. Since the focus is not on substantive issues, the language has also been a casualty.

This is in sharp contrast to the Lok Sabha election 10 years ago. The BJP capitalised on the weaknesses of the United Progressive Alliance government with the promise of “achhe din”. It was a positive campaign for change and delivered a single-party majority after decades. The 2019 election was dominated by the national-security theme, with Pulwama and Balakot forming the backdrop. Nothing of that sort is visible today. The campaign thus far has moved around history — sometimes medieval history — who ate what and when, preserving or increasing reservations — often pitting one section of the population against another — and redistributing wealth and resources, among others. None of these will help increase, say, the pace of economic growth or improve learning outcomes in schools. The issue of inheritance tax, for instance, became a debating point for no reason for a few days and faded away. It is well known that imposing and administering such a tax will be enormously difficult in India.

One of the reasons why political parties end up talking about irrelevant issues could be a long election cycle. Completing the process in two or three phases would have perhaps kept them more focused on important matters. The primary responsibility for improving the political discourse rests with both the BJP and Congress. For the BJP, which aims to make India a developed nation, it was an opportunity to show its achievement and campaign on the future road map. For the Congress and the Opposition at large, it was a chance to highlight areas where the government could not make an impact and present a better alternative in front of voters. Unfortunately, none of these are happening. Indian voters are largely getting to hear personalised attacks and issues that are unlikely to take India forward.

What India needs is rapid economic development. Political capital and energy thus should be focused on enabling sustainable higher growth. A related issue in this context is employment generation. India needs to generate productive employment for its rising workforce and to pull people out of agriculture, which still engages nearly half the workforce, to increase productivity and growth. How India can achieve such goals should be a major feature of any policy or political debate. A pre-poll survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies showed inflation and employment were the biggest concerns for the majority of Indians. It’s time for the political debate to pivot towards issues directly affecting people’s lives.