New strategies desire, new milestones from these new chief ministers in three states.
“A leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do and like it.”
— Harry S. Truman.
The top leadership of BJP has executed this quote. The senior leaders of the state aspiring to become chief minister were made to propose the name of new chief ministers, who are less experienced and do not have an individual following.
This is what was expected in my previous article dt 10 Dec with subtitle, “ new model to manage state may be in the offing. The only difference today is that the uncertainty of the word ‘may’ has gone.
For a change.
● These chief ministers are not dropped from the top.
● It is a selection by consultation with the legislature.
● As most of the sections of society have been given representation, the three new chief ministers should not have any pressure to appease any particular vote bank.
The theme of this issue is “new faces, new hopes” but the author is convinced that the time of ‘hope’ is over as soon as results are out. Now, it is time to deliver. These three chief ministers have to perform. They are expected to perform in such a way that a feel good factor should work in favour of BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.
The reasons for these expectations are simple.
● These chief ministers enjoy a clear majority therefore they are not burdened with Gathbandhan ki Majboori.
● These chief ministers have not spent crores of rupees in influencing or buying votes hence they need not play in the hands of any cartel.
● As these new faces are selected by the central leadership after deliberation with MLAs, chances are less that old veterans will play dirty politics with them.
● The ministers from Centre as well as a good number of MPs have joined as MLAs therefore liaison with center will be better and their experience will add value.
Challenges to be converted into opportunities.
● When compared with southern states, northern states are lagging behind in their contribution to national GDP. These states were once called BIMARU I.e Bihar, Madhya Pradesh which included Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh which included Uttarakhand. The term was coined to highlight poor governance, lack of infrastructure and negligible facilities for health and education.
● Uttar Pradesh has shown progress in the last 8 years when its GDP has increased from Rs 13 lakh crore in 2016-17 to Rs 22 lakh crore. As a result exports have more than doubled in the same period. improved Infrastructure, as well as law and order position, supported by ease of doing business has helped in achieving this milestone.
● The progress of UP reconfirms that better law and order, elimination of red tape and ease of doing business can inspire entrepreneurs to do wonders. Uttar Pradesh may be moving out of the BIMARU states. The moot question is why the remaining states will remain bimar.
The blueprint to financial success.
A study of the developed states indicates that any state which is dependent on agriculture for a major contribution to its GDP will remain laggard. Human Resource development is the key to prosperity.
Today a child born in south India has more probability to have vaccination, better nutrition, education, medical facilities and to celebrate his 50 th birthday and has less chances to lose the mother during childbirth. As a result people from these states are more employable in the service industry while people of Madhya Pradesh and eastern UP and Bihar and Chhattisgarh are employed as labour.Southern states get more money from NRIs. The IT revolution has rewarded these states more. Bengaluru ,Hyderabad emerged as places of choice to IT companies.
Gujrat on the other hand chose the manufacturing model. Water, electricity, roads, health infrastructure improvement supported by ease of doing business has attracted huge investments from top business houses from India and abroad. Buoyed by this success now it has focused on the service sector as well.
The chief ministers of these 3 states have advantage of comparative lower prices of land. Many Indian IT majors have shifted some of their BPO business to the Philippines to reduce cost. I was surprised to see the presence of Infosys and TCS there. If these states upgrade their Human Resource index and offer incentives in the form of SEZ and become competitive, chances are bright to attract investments in new IT Hubs.
This was done by ChandraBabu Naidu in the 1990s. First he developed the infrastructure and then invited Bill Gates to inspect the facilities. As Microsoft came to Hyderabad , others followed. Educational institutions like Indian school of business ( ISB), regulator IRDA opted for Hyderabad.
Challenges being faced by Individual states.
● Chhattisgarh: Despite 70 percent reduction in extremist violence and 90 percent reduction in death of security personnel, Chhattisgarh is still facing ambush attacks from maovadis terrorists. In December itself one jawan lost life and earlier 10 security personnel and a driver were martyred in a cowardly attack. Former DGP central reserve force said once The problem becomes more complicated due to,
● Dense forests: The absence of roads in the interiors of Chhattisgarh has stymied the operations of security forces.
● Asylum for the offenders: Police of neighbouring states had pushed Maoists from their states to Chhattisgarh, making it a concentrated zone of Maoist influence.
● Lack of governance: The minimal presence of the administration in the interiors of South Bastar has ensured that Maoists continue to have influence in the region and enjoy local support through a mix of fear and goodwill.
● Tribals caught in the crossfire between security forces feel alienated and it has allowed the Maoists to tap into discontent and to retain a presence in the area.
North east extremists have joined the mainstream and a new era of growth is taking shape there. If the new chief minister is able to engage youth in skill development and seeking employment in a similar fashion the extremists will find it difficult to recruit new cadres. dealing with iron hand will be effective only when local support is not available. Development and growth is the antidote to this menace.
● Madhya Pradesh: The state is peaceful and has made good progress on the agriculture front due to Narmada valley projects; these projects have helped Gujarat and Rajasthan as well.
There has been protest and litigation against these projects on account of compensation and rehabilitation. It has delayed the implementation and a fully constructed dam at Mandleshwar has been abandoned. The new leadership should take up these issues on priority.
it is a laggard on Human Resources development as well as industrialisation and there are serious concerns.
● Lack of connectivity is the biggest challenge as a result big companies avoid coming to Madhya Pradesh and smaller companies can not survive on their own. The success of well connected Mandi deep and Pitampura reinforces this fact. Being in central India puts it in an advantageous position which needs to be exploited by providing support.
● Madhya Pradesh is gifted with national forests, hills, rivers and historical monuments but most of these tourist places are not supported by good infrastructure. If one looks at the tourists attracted by Khajuraho one can understand the scope of untapped potential. The state has projected itself as a tourist hub but it has to improve a lot. The way U.P exploited the Kumbh mela is worth emulating.
● Education and health facilities: this is one area where MP has to work hard. I have personally experienced that getting good candidates for management positions is very difficult and organizations find it difficult to retain the talents employed. Families prefer staying in metro cities as they are not able to sacrifice children’s education and other amenities.
The MP chief minister has to take advantage of agricultural growth and consolidate its position by focusing on building infrastructure and providing assistance in setting up industry. As the state has limited resources, public private participation may be the way forward.
● Rajasthan: State of Rajasthan is blessed with the discovery of oil in Barmer district which provides it huge royalties. It has attractive tourist destinations which have enjoyed global recognition for a long time. Jaipur has successfully been placed as an IT hub. Despite all these successes,the state still lags behind on many counts.
● A frail financial situation caused by reckless freebies distributed to influence voters may pose a serious challenge. Withdrawing will hurt the sentiments and continuing will hurt finances. It will be a tightrope walk.
● Law and order situation poses a big challenge. Whether it was Nupur sharma controversy or gang war among goons, Rajasthan was chosen to settle scores. Recent murder of Karni Sena head Gogamedi is proof enough.Sachin Pilot raised the issue of leaking of papers against his own government. The new CM has appointed SIT to investigate the same. It should be taken up to a logical end.
Why the success of this model is important.
Post independence our constitution envisaged an India which would have been free of discrimination based on caste, sex, region,language or religion. However politicians used the policy of divide and rule using the same issues. As a result the castes which were not found deprived in 1947 and could not get the benefits of reservation started fighting for the same. It is unfortunate that governments after governments kept inventing new Dalits, other backward classes regularly. Nobody felt ashamed that when the country is growing and has become a major economy of the world, poverty is being alleviated yet new have nots are being created to pursue vote politics . Nobody tried to bell the cat of reservation seekers. It was the height of absurdity to see the so-called downtrodden looting the cities in Haryana.
Selection of chief ministers in this way is different and creates a hope for working in harmony. If this experiment fails then the country will be back to square one. Bihar sushasan babu has released the genie of caste based census. Congress tried to do the same in Rajasthan and failed. The following stanza depicts the real solution:
“To build a nation,
feed their minds.
To sustain a country,
nourish their hearts.
To raise people,
cultivate their souls.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo
Conclusion.
It is not only the 3 chief ministers who are being tested but also those ministers in the central government or members of Parliament who resigned to retain their position as members of the legislative assembly. A new model in managing states has been implemented. The seniority as well as hoarding of elected MLA has gone for a toss. Every experiment needs success for survival. The general election is not far away. Last time BJP won the same despite losing the state election. No leadership will like to face the opposite. Performance is the key.
By Rakesh kumar
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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