BJP’s IT Vision: A Critical Review
by Anshuman Goenka
Last week, LK Advani released the BJP’s IT vision with much fanfare in Delhi. It drew some publicity for a couple of days and a few critiques in some dailies from those who had read the document in full. However, during the week, any discussion on this was completely drowned by bigger challenges - a reported rift between senior leaders of the party, an irresponsible speech by a debut Lok Sabha candidate with a famous name, and the usual theatre of coalition politics.
At the prompting of a few friends, I spent an hour trying to understand what they have put together - as a lay person, since I am no IT expert. My first reaction was of surprise. After all, BJP is a political party accused of communal identity politics, led supposedly by a beleaguered octogenarian that could take India back in time and not to the future. It is curious therefore, that such a document comes from the BJP and not from the original harbingers of IT in the mid-1980s. It is more curious that this turn is neither worthy of a serious discussion in mainstream media. One was expecting more discussion on natural questions about whether this was mere lip service (ancillary to the party’s core identity politics) or a serious turn, whether it was feasible, and whether it was sensible policy. One was also worried about the wisdom of politicians poking their nose in the IT industry which had done as well as it has without any support or meddling.
Getting into the document, I was taken aback at the sweep of the scope - the document begins with a reference about using IT for telemedicine, financial inclusion, governance, new jobs and land records. A natural skeptic like me wonders whether technology is construed as that magic wand which will be the panacea to all problems in this country. But, the document then goes to cite specific statistics, quote topic experts (not many of whom are BJP-friendly) and outline next steps. The second striking feature of the document is its focus on social justice, laptops at Rs 10,000 and special focus for the disadvantaged groups. Will scale & innovation really be able to push prices low, or will there be backdoor subsidies? If there is an expanded government expenditure or mass procurement, will there not be obvious leakages? As a business professional with a belief that government failures are worse than market failures, I dread the thought of more subsidies and cynically see this as the neta’s attempt to win votes. These remain open questions. The third remarkable point is reference to citizen identification numbers and digital sovereignty. The skeptic worries whether this will lead to another avoidable debate on who migrated when from where, and be a source of divide. Such apprehensions cannot be brushed under the carpet but must be addressed.
One also wonders whether this was really the document one needed. For the economy, isn’t there a more imperative need to focus on finding some way to revive consumer confidence, business capex and capital flows? Would the concerns on social justice referred to in the document not be better met by universal primary literacy and primary healthcare ahead of any other goals? Isn’t police reform more important than identity cards? Like anybody else, I can think of many other areas that should be equal, if not higher, in competing with this vision for the attention of a new government.
Indeed, there are many places to find faults. Even if very little of what is said is finally implemented, should one not credit them for the boldness of this document and this initiative, especially ahead of the election, when the number of people who would respond to it are still not considered critical electoral mass? And can one, at all deny that this is a sharp break from the kind of communal politics that BJP has been accused all along of? It is unlikely to turn this election, may find only a few votes this time around, and may actually be bettered by a rival party, but if this is any pointer of electoral politics in India in the next decade, that alone makes me very happy.
Cover Story
by Anshuman Goenka
Yesterday, the “punch-up” between the two leading prime-ministerial candidates got direct & personal. Each made interesting points, but surprisingly neither addressed the questions raised by the other. Some heralded this as yet another arrival of an assertive PM. Quite frankly, I do not think the quality of the debate was uplifting and neither politician covered themselves with glory.
Since I am a Friend of BJP, I still remain curious about why the Prime Minister, or the Head of the Government, should not be the most important political authority in a country. I also think Advaniji wrong - in making his point that nowhere else in world is the Head of the Government under the cloud of an extra-constitutional authority. I can immediately think of Iran, where the Ayatollah has been more important than the ruling President.
The more interesting event was the release of the Congress manifesto. When asked whether Rahul Gandhi was not ready to be the PM, Sonia Gandhi raised the manifesto before the cameras, pointed to Manmohan Singh’s picture on the cover and said - “Aapne yeh cover dekha?”
That picture has been highlighted in today’s papers. Do you notice that the Congress President is deftly concealing the picture of someone else also on the cover, incidentally the same person who the Prime Minster painstakingly thanked for “nominating” him yet again? So, to answer the Congress President, we all saw who was on the cover, so please do not kid us.
Food for thought (6)
by Anshuman Goenka
Partha Mukhopadhyay, in yesterday’s Mint, writes very elqouently on what could/should have been done in the last five years on infrastructure. I was 29 when the UPA came to power and am 34 now: I see 30s as years of my peak productivity, and I feel very strongly about India’s macroeconomy & growth-supporting policies.
In the same paper, there is a very interesting reference to how the World Development Report sees the NREGS.
Finally, also see Anil Padmanabhan on the cold calculus that may be playing behind the theatre of the Third Front - does it have more logic than meets the eye?
Interpreting the IPL shift
by Anshuman Goenka
The Indian Premier League will be moved out of India. Evidently, its promoters which included high-profile businessmen & politicians have ceded ground to the concerns of the Home Ministry. In the news bulletins last evening and this morning, this has been the second item - after obviously the juicier news about the EC writing to the BJP about one of its candidates.
The one sporting event which, largely, the nation enjoyed will now be held in a time zone where the IPL viewership will not be as high as it would be if the tournament was in India. This obviously means that the team franchises stand to lose. Now, the IPL team franchises are owned by wealthy people, but it was conspicuous that this morning, we read at least two of them defending this decision.
So, what does one make of this drama? We have finally admitted that as a country we will not be able to manage both the election and the tournament together. I agree with the priority accorded to the election over the tournament but find it unfortunate that we have to admit lapses in our security. Were something untoward to happen in the middle of the tournament, obviously the cost would be serious. But, think what this means for our image before the world, and before our own eyes!
More importantly, do not miss the real reason why the IPL has to be shifted: political one-upmanship between one who wants to promote the IPL (and whose state representatives offered security) and another who is acting on the behest of yet another, who in turn feels threatened by the high visibility that the IPL would provide. Does either think that one cannot see through this?
Food for thought (4)
by Anshuman Goenka
Among the most distracting trends of this election is the third re-appearance of the Third Front after the failures in 1989-91 and 1996-98. While my colleague RK Mishra wrote an interesting piece on this a few days back, among the best reads in today’s papers is Vir Sanghvi in today’s Hindustan Times, who spells out the complete absence of any reason or idea behind the Third Front.
The central character in the Third Front seems to be Mayawati who is today hosting a housewarming in Delhi to mobilize support for her candidature for the top job. Arati Jerath in today’s DNA shows why her tactics towards this are actually more nuanced than we make out from the more common reportage - worth a read except that I don’t understand why Arati should continually misspell Bhadohi as Badhoi.
Swapan Dasgupta has a balanced and interesting view of Naveen Patnaik in today’s Times of India. Nobody denies his impeccable integrity or his charming urbane manner, but with even all that it is fascinating how he emerged as a consummate politician.
Finally, among the blogs on the elections that are sprouting up all over the web, a must visit is Pratap Bhanu Mehta who writes Swaraj aur Swabhiman on Indian Express blogs. He does not appear to be a Friend of BJP, nonetheless I think for most of us here he makes a very interesting read.
Paid for a Song, or a Vote?
by Anshuman Goenka
Yesterday, every major TV channel had in its lead a story on the leader of the Samajwadi Party distributing cash in his village Saifai. It may be safe to presume that this was an ugly view for most right-thinking people.
Personally, I was more appalled at the cheek of the defense - we were told that this is a custom, that money was given not to bribe voters but to folk artistes who had gathered to beat drums and sing phaag on Holi. We did not see the singing on news channels, so do not know whether the distribution was limited to folk musicians or to anybody present. But it does look like a weak, ex post defense after being caught red-handed on camera! We learn that the EC served a notice and asked the district officer to make inquiries, but I will be surprised if there is a follow-up on this story and know what the inquiries lead to. If I go by the performance of the accused, they demonstrate complete confidence that they do not need to apologize, but can in fact concoct a cultural defense!
This is no isolated incident: On the same day, there was a similar story in Mumbai where an actor-MP was distributing money through the iron-grills of his own house. A few days back a similar charge was made against DMK candidates in a Tamil Nadu by-election, also televised. The DMK, if I remember correct, actually won that election. In July 2008, the cash for votes on the floor of the Lok Sabha led to a Parliamentary probe that exonerated the accused and pointed fingers at the messengers for bringing disgrace to that august house.
In most cases we see hundred-rupee notes being given out that should indicate for many the once-in-five-year votes is valued less than what many readers here will pay for two cups of coffee at Barista. That is just how devalued the currency of our democracy is in India 2009.
Importantly, we should think of why and how we came here. The incidents and the subsequent TV defense suggest that there is no more shock and the revulsion of such brazen breakdown of decency. And if a few of us are shocked or repelled, we do not count. Most importantly, it certainly shows that in the political calculus of the SP leader it does not count in his constituency, he seems supremely confident that his prospects would not be at all impacted by this taint.
Among Friends of BJP, we may have many grouses against some sections of the media, but I will argue that focused, independent media can provide a searchlight when all else fails. At least as lone, often helpless individuals, I hope it will never let our memories fail us. I hope our conscience will not become numb to truth, even as shameless and as repetitive as this. Above all, I hope, we never, ever fail to see the insult, the direct and personal insult, to our common sense by the temerity of that defense that our fellow citizens who accepted that money were being paid for a song.
One day, hopefully soon, we will count.
Food for thought (2)
Today, the Third Front will be announced in Tumkur. We are not sure who the cast of characters will be, what they will talk about and how they will impact our lives. Over the next few days, they will be a source of interesting news, and news that I find just as worrisome as what we hear from our neighbors. For a start, it is good to read, R Jagannathan in today’s DNA on this topic.
The obvious question this prompts is that for Friends of BJP in those areas where the electroal contest for #1 & #2 positions is between the UPA and the Third Front, what should be the choice?
Food for thought (1)
by Anshuman Goenka
We have a surfeit of election news today but one hardly knows what makes sense. In response to a suggestion by my friend Rajesh Jain, I will put down here 3-5 articles that I saw that said something new, thought-provoking & different. Like any other, this will be an election about personalities, but here I will try to bring our attention back to issues that should engage us.
To ensure that we do not get swung in the inputs to our own thinking, I will try to also include at least one article that does not say all good things about the BJP.
Among the dailies, Mint is running the best coverage on elections. Today they have three interesting pieces.
One, there is an interesting survey that shows what the choice is between experience and youth. A second one, shows how tardy our progress has been on education, perhaps the #1 social priority. Then, to cap it, check out Ananth Nageswaran, who shares with me both a respect and a disappointment with our current Prime Minister. As he says,
Intellectual stature is like option securities in one respect. If unexercised, it expires worthless. It differs from option securities in another respect. If exercised, it does not become void. It stands enhanced.
Alliances and Implications
by Anshuman Goenka
For Friends of BJP, this was a bad weekend. We lost a pivotal ally in Orissa, and my earlier belief that the core of the NDA has been intact through the 1998, 1998 and 2004 elections seems to be coming untrue. There are many ways of deliberating what could or should have been done. But as one who holds not a membership, leave alone any influence within the party one would have to wait for more news.
Later, we learnt that the alliance between the Congress and SP in UP has also ended. It is natural to draw pleasure in the dismemberment of an opposing political formation. But as I write this, these two stories bring home important truths and raise questions that any of us should seriously think about, matters that I believe are more important that our own affiliations today.
One, regional parties have a phenomenal and growing bargaining strength in national politics, starting the early 1990s. Two, alliance politics is fluid and parties can choose from being “secular, therefore anti-BJP” to being “anti-Congress and against dynastic politics” with little or no heed to a coherent, stable ideology. Three, in most cases the rein of the party is transferred genetically and not democratically. Each of these, in my view, is a sad but incontrovertible, truth.
They also raise some questions to which I do not have answers yet:
- What is the end game of region-based parties dominating national coalitions? Will they survive a second generation? The National Conference in J&K or the TDP in AP, but who will take over the TMC or BSP?
- Can a national party slowly enter a state with an alliance and over time build a popular base? BJP entered Gujarat as a junior partner of the Chimanbhai Patel-led Janata Dal in 1989 and has steadily built a fort in the state. Can this extend to other states, and if so, how?
- How does one confront a former ally who till yesterday one had supported? This applies to the BJP-BJD situation in Orissa. The imbroglio becomes more curious if you consider the possibility of a repeat alliance with the estranged partner
I will write my own thoughts on this during the week. But in the meanwhile, readers on this blog would have their own thoughts, which I would like to learn about.
On Role Models & Inner Party Democracy
by Anshuman Goenka
Aruvanpalli Puthiyapurakkal Abdullakutty comes from a traditional Muslim family in Kannur, Kerala - who have historically supported the Congress. While studying at SN College, he was drawn to the Communist ideology and became an SFI activist. In 1996, at age 29, he won a District Panchayat member election from Valapattinam. Then, in 1999, at age 31, he won the Kannur Lok Sabha seat from M Ramachandran. In 2004, he was voted again from the same seat - but this time his margin increased to 83,000 votes against 10,000 votes in 1999. We learn that he is married to a dental surgeon, has two kids and plays in the Parliament Cricket Team.
Although this is not the CV of someone who would be my natural ideological ally, I cannot but have a deep and grudging respect for someone who in my generation charted an independent political career. He is not a doctrinaire communist, remains God-fearing and even performed the Haj. Therefore, it is sad that we had not heard of him till earlier this year when we read about controversy around him.
Now, this is what Abdullakutty is reported to have said that landed him in controversy:
I will not pardon Modi for his communal agenda. But I will give full marks to his efforts for development. I don’t think there is anything wrong in that… Nano small-car project had gone to Gujarat because Modi gave the best alternative proposal, adding salt to the wounds of the Left Front government in West Bengal. “Modi has made Gujarat the “number one” investor-friendly state. One should learn lessons from Mr Modi on how to behave with investors
…the electoral mandate received by Sheila Dixit in Delhi and Hooda in Haryana are for development. The defeat suffered by Shibu Soren in Jharkhand could be read along with this… Kerala had lost 83 days last year on account of hartals, some of which were held at the local level. How could a state which allowed to lose 83 days a year be able to attract investment? It was to spark a debate on issues like this that I gave expression to my thoughts
In response, the CPI (M) served a notice on him in Jan-2009 and last week expelled him from the party. This was mentioned at some places in the Mumbai newspapers I read. But it prompted me to think of a few questions:
- If an MP makes development an issue and makes a balanced comment about it (note that he praises two Congress CMs and does not condone communalism), is such retribution fair? What does this augur for the quality of our debate?
- Till when can the success of BJP-led Gujarat be denied?
- While this news did come up in some papers, it was neither front page nor a television headline. Assume a counter-factual, where a BJP MP had praised a genuine achievement of a Congress and been thrown out. Would the press attention, in that case, be less, the same, or a lot more?
I would love to hear back your thoughts on these questions.