Rohan Shridhar
The pristine hills of Himachal Pradesh are reeling under the noise of the election bugle. As every other election witnessed in the state, this is a direct fight between the BJP and the incumbent congress. If one is to go by the historical voting patterns in the state a BJP victory is likely as no government has ever repeated itself. In the ongoing campaigns that are unravelling it seems that the BJP has a complete monopoly over the issues of corruption, development, economic growth, law and order and social harmony.
The continuance chastising of Congress and its leaders by BJP though somewhat reasonable, smacks of arrogant hypocrisy. It is interesting to see that in establishing a moral high ground, the saffron brigade is fighting night and day to scuttle any narrative about their transgressions. Any criticism levelled at saffron leaders, workers or organizations is met with dreadful disdain, violent abuse and if deemed too dangerous for the party’s liking, action in courts or investigations by central government agencies is inevitable.
Of all the subjects over which the Bhartiya Janta Party has complete domination, the one the party rallies around the most is corruption. While it is true that graft seen during the UPA regime was unprecedented in nature, for BJP to be rebuking Congress and its allies seems like the kettle is calling the pot black. Ever since the party has come to power in the Centre it appears that all investigating agencies under its command have been diagnosed with selective amnesia that has completely wiped out Vyapam from their memory. The admission and recruitment scam that took place in BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh is alleged to be perpetrated by a group of senior politicians, government officials and businessman.
The entire scheme hatched by this unscrupulous nexus may be the greatest rip off executed against the hard working, aspiring and ambitious youth of the country. More than 40 people associated with the scam died in mysterious circumstances and some of the accused include senior ministers, IAS officers and even a former state Governor. The unparalleled nature of associated deaths, sheltering of high profile suspects and a lack of initiative shown by investigative agencies as well as the state government to lay bare the facts is perplexing even by Indian standards. The wrongdoers, all of whom are linked with the BJP or many of its affiliate organizations, have with Vyapam shown that the saffron brigade is more than capable of running a well-oiled mafia, greasing the palms of all in power with impunity.
Flawed development narrative
To masquerade all around Himachal as a messiah of BJP oriented development the party ironically chose Yogi Adityanath the current CM of Uttar Pradesh as one of its star campaigners. The man doesn’t seem lacking in confidence and was more than eager to virtuously lecture the innocent people of HP about the wonders of his vision of development, just sixty days after 290 children died in a single month at a medical hospital based in his home constituency of Gorakhpur. It is an insult to the collective pride of Himachalis to be lectured by a communal conman on the wonders of progress, when he himself heads a state which is considered the most backward in the country.
Marketing a dismal female literacy rate of 57.18%, a per capita income of only 36,250 rupees, an infant mortality rate as high as 64 and a GDP growth rate of mere 5.6 percent, UP should be competing with the likes of Sub Saharan nations. Himachal boasts of a nationwide high female literacy rate of 75.9 percent, a per capita income of more than 1,04,000, an infant mortality rate of 35 and constant growth rates of 7 percent over continuous periods. An average Himachali is three times wealthier than his counterpart in UP. The misguided maverick that is Yogi and his saffron army should humble down and learn from the soft spoken hill folk some tricks to revive the fortunes of his dismal state.
On all the subjects of common concern being championed by the BJP, it is quite evident that there are significant chinks in the saffron armory. The execution of demonetization, a blatant attack on the financial and economic liberty of Indians and haphazard execution of GST have shattered their narrative as the lone bearer of progress and economic growth in the myriad of Indian politics. Non-government component of GDP constituting more than 90 percent of the economy has slipped to a mere 4.3 percent the lowest since 2013. Capacity building in industry is at an all-time low with manufacturing growth restricted to a dismal 1.17 percent and construction at a poor 2 percent. The two sectors constitute around 85 percent of the industry.
The BJP is neither anti-corruption, nor pro development. It has faltered miserably on economic growth and yet it is miraculously controlling the narrative on all the important matters largely due to the sheer unimaginable scale of incompetency shown by the Congress party. Had the congress leaders been a tad bit sincere in their commitment to voters, party and country they might have given the BJP a run for its money.
(An associate at a Mumbai based think thank, Rohan Shridhar writes articles on political, financial and social subjects)
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity