What Do Indians Care About? Not Just The Economy, Stupid; India’s BJP Says Economy Would Be First Priority

Mar 31, 2014

What Do Indians Care About? Not Just The Economy, Stupid

NIHARIKA MANDHANA

The Congress party’s prospects have plummeted because Indians are unhappy with the economy, right?

Well, not exactly. A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds a majority of Indians – 57% – think the economic situation today is good. And this assessment is stronger in northern India, where the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and its standard bearer Narendra Modi are expected to win big. 

Still, Indians want change. An overwhelming majority – 70% – said they are dissatisfied with the country’s direction.

These findings don’t square off with what analysts have said – that as growth has slowed below 5%, confidence in the Congress party’s leadership has wavered. Over eight in 10 Indians said they believed two of Congress’s major welfare policies – a national rural employment program and a subsidized food scheme – have been a good thing for India.

This gap suggests public frustration has to do with more than just a slowing economy. Since the last national vote in 2009, Indians have taken to the streets to vent pent-up rage against a number of problems, from endemic corruption to women’s rights. People have also expressed anguish about the general state of Indian politics, including a proliferation of criminals up for election, the stranglehold of dynasties on political parties, the preponderance of black money in politics, and the disconnect between electors and the elected.

In an interaction with the foreign press Monday, a senior BJP leader, Arun Jaitley, described this as a “decline in the credibility of governance.” Indeed, the country’s newest political party, the Aam Aadmi Party, has risen to prominence by talking about political reform.

There’s foreign policy too. The Pew survey, which is based on interviews with more than 2,400 Indians through December and January, revealed 63% believe India should be respected more globally than it is. A majority also said they viewed political stability in Pakistan and China’s growing power as a threat to India.

Mr. Modi has promised to augment India’s influence overseas and has talked tough on security issues. In a speech in February, he warned China against following an expansionist policy and has criticized Congress’s handling of relations with Pakistan as ineffectual.

To be sure, the survey says the economy is among the most crucial issues. Nearly nine out of 10 Indians said rising prices are a “very big problem,” and 85% expressed alarm about a lack of jobs.

It also showed what opinion polls and a previous Pew survey have said: Indians feel the BJP would do a better job in dealing with these challenges.

Nearly 60% said the BJP would be better than Congress at creating jobs, and over half believe the party would be better at taming inflation, fighting corruption and helping the poor.

While these numbers don’t qualify as an overwhelming show of faith in a BJP-led government’s problem-busting potential, they certainly show that the party is seen, compared to its opponents, as the better choice to lead India.

 

India’s BJP Says Economy Would Be First Priority

Bharatiya Janata Party Also Says Policy Would Have ‘A Social Conscience’

NIHARIKA MANDHANA

March 31, 2014 12:57 p.m. ET

NEW DELHI—India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party said Monday that if it wins national elections set to begin next week, its first priority would be to revive investment in the country’s slowing economy.

“We’ll have to reestablish confidence of both Indian and international investors in the Indian economy,” said Arun Jaitley, a senior BJP leader. But, he added, “our policy will also have a social conscience,” a signal that welfare programs for the country’s poor would also be a priority.

The BJP hasn’t offered details of its economic plans, even though the start of balloting is just days away. Opinion polls indicate that the party is more popular than its main rival, Congress, which has been in power for the past decade and is facing a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment.

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, has campaigned on pledges to spur development, create jobs and boost manufacturing.

His tone has been starkly different from the left-leaning Congress, which promised to expand health care, housing and other benefits for the poor in its election manifesto last week, while also pledging to revive growth and invest more in infrastructure.

Opinion polls suggest Mr. Modi’s message has resonated with Indians frustrated with sluggish economic growth, alleged corruption and a government widely viewed as inefficient.

In a televised interview Monday, Mr. Modi spoke about removing bureaucratic hurdles, bringing predictability to tax policies and creating jobs by encouraging new industries like agro-based ventures, ship building and defense manufacturing.

“Today, vote-bank-oriented programs that are bankrupting our treasury are being called economic reforms,” Mr. Modi said. “Economic reforms are those that breathe new life into a system and create opportunities for people.”

As chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, Mr. Modi built a reputation as a strong leader who helped businesses by building infrastructure and reducing red tape—and India’s stock market and the rupee have been rallying on the belief that a BJP government would turn the economy around.

Mr. Jaitley said Monday that in the last decade, Congress had halted the liberal approach it had adopted in 1991, and he said his party would work to make sure “India once again is a great place for doing business.”

At the same time, Mr. Jaitley said, his party wouldn’t rely on the benefits of growth to trickle down to the poor. “India will always need, at least for the foreseeable future, a state intervention for poverty alleviation,” he said, a message aimed at India’s millions of poor.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows there is overwhelming support for rural-jobs and subsidized-food programs that were centerpieces of Congress’s policy agenda.

Congress has criticized Mr. Modi for being too close to big business. “His brand of liberalism is crony capitalism,” India’s finance minister P. Chidambaram said Monday