Bihar should be Modi's last election campaign. He must get back to work
#ModiInUSA, #DigitalIndia, #ModiAtFacebook, #FakebookMeetsFacebook, #ModiAtSAPCenter...
These are some of the hashtags which have dominated Twitter for the last couple of days owing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Silicon Valley and promotion of the Digital India campaign.
The attention and outreach generated by his Silicon Valley visit slightly overshadowed Modi's meeting with CEOs from Fortune 500 companies, which included IBM, DuPont, Merck, Starwood, Lockheed, Cisco and Marriott, amongst others.
Of particular significance is what actually transpired in the meeting, but that too, went unnoticed.
Though the CEOs praised Modi for his efforts to improve the climate for business and attract investment, a plethora of issues in India were also raised - complicated regulations, excessive permitting, confusing bureaucracy, poor infrastructure, overlapping local taxes. One of them even said "It's not an easy place to do business," according to the Fortune Magazine.
Back in India, BJP announced that they will address more than 600 rallies in the final campaigning stage, with Modi scheduled to address 20 in key constituencies.
If even after the feedback received from CEOs, Modi continues to be an election campaigner, it will clearly be, a lesson not learnt.
After BJP's resounding win in the Lok Sabha elections last year, which was attributed to Modi's terrific campaigning and enthralling speeches, there was a lot of hope that there would be a significant change in the way business is done in India.
Even after the Lok Sabha victory, Modi didn't cease to stop campaigning. Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir - In all these states, the BJP relied heavily on Modi to steer them past the finishing line.
While BJP supporters may go gaga every time Modi visits abroad and gets massive press coverage, the harsh truth is that things have not moved as fast as the speed of making promises.
Ask entrepreneurs, the hassles they have to face in getting regulatory permissions and clearances are troublesome. The agriculture sector is in deep distress with farmers committing suicide at an alarming rate. The real estate market is facing a downturn with millions of homes lying unsold and construction labourers losing their jobs.
The first year was a big disappointment as BJP failed to pass key legislations, most importantly the Land Acquisition Bill, primarily due to the Parliament logjams by parties who questioned Modi's silence on Ghar Wapsi and hateful remarks by Hindutva leaders amongst other things, which led to deviance from actual issues.
Several pro-BJP and Modi supporters too, have voiced their concerns over the slow pace of reforms.
Madhu Kishwar, a Professor at CSDS, tweeted, "If governance reforms aimed at ease of doing business had taken place in India, PM Modi would not have needed to go Silicon Valley to woo investors" and "Only way 2make India investment worthy is 2reduce nuisance value of govt & build world class infrastructure. Why Modi govt slow on this?"
Industralist Rahul Bajaj, who was an ardent admirer of Modi, recently said that the "shine seems to be wearing off" and government was creating roadblocks for itself in many of its initiatives, including in terms of ease of doing business.Therefore, it is time now that Modi should move out of his perpetual election campaigning mode, and rather, focus on delivering.
Considering that BJP has already finalised plans for Modi's rallies in Bihar, he will definitely go ahead with them, but going forward, he must drop his election campaigner hat and only focus on improving reforms and materialising his missions.
The outcome of the Bihar elections will have a significant impact on the BJP's electoral strategy in the future state elections. If BJP wins, it is likely that they would want to continue with the tried and tested formula of not announcing any chief ministerial candidate and projecting Modi as the front face.
Should BJP lose, which will be a second consecutive loss, they might consider a change.
But whatever be result in the Bihar, Modi must not involve himself in any further campaigning. BJP's penchant for Congress-Mukt Bharat and conquering power in as many states as possible on Modi's charisma could cost them dearly.
He must realise that being the prime minister, and having set such high expectations globally, he cannot afford to be complacent anymore. His failure to do so will only result in massive disappointment amongst the investors as well as the millions of youth who have voted him to power, in the hope of getting jobs.
If BJP is able to fulfill their developmental promises and the results begin to show, their work would speak for itself, rather than rhetoric and mesmerising speeches.