Just in Time

     If there is someone that the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government should worry about, that someone is Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Modi who became the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001; has since then transformed the face of Gujarat, making it one of the most popular industrial hub of India. His popularity as a Chief Minister grew after the Godhra riots in 2002. His critics say that he is the main accused behind the riots, though, the evidence provided by them couldn't make any difference. After winning the elections twice in Gujarat, he has become the most appropriate candidate in the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) for the Prime Minister's post. However, he has a long way to go.

     The 2012 Gujarat election is seen as a Semi-Final to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The election is important in many ways since it will highlight the fate of two major parties of the country- INC (Indian National Congress) and the BJP. While the ruling UPA-II government led by INC is experiencing set-back because of the exposed corruption in the recent times, the BJP led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) is facing internal grudges for the Prime Minister's post. 

     One of the main reason behind UPA's second term in the government was the fast economic growth at an average of 8.04% that it reported during its tenure between 2004-2009. Despite the great recession in September 2008, the growth rate of India was 7.4% in FY 2008 which was a very healthy figure comparatively to the situations prevailing during that time. And yes, who can forget the Indo-US nuclear deal? This was the second main reason for UPA's return to the centre. The deal was very crucial to the country since it will provide India with nuclear power necessary for power generation. This deal was also important because it displayed Congress's power to continue at the centre after Left parties withdrew its support from the government. All was going well in the government until the end of the decade, when the first expose came out as 2G spectrum scam resulting in the creation of a blot over UPA-II's governance. Thereafter, the expose continued and the UPA-II government's popularity gradually reduced. The 18 month long campaign against corruption led by Anna Hazare against the UPA-II government and the subsequent failure of the government in getting a strong Lokpal bill passed in the parliament further reduced its popularity. 

     On the other hand the BJP led NDA is just another side of the coin. If Congress is surrounded by corruption the BJP too is not spared by it. The recent expose by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Arvind Kejriwal about BJP President Nitin Gadkari has shaken the party from within. Many senior leaders from the party are seen sidelining the BJP President for his alleged role in the Poorti scam. Another major issue that has troubled the party in recent times is regarding the right candidate for the Prime Minister's Office. While many in the party are viewing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the right candidate for the post, rumors are that Janata Dal United will withdraw its support from the NDA since it considers Narendra Modi a religious fundamentalist. Apart from this, many in the party also view L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari as a potential Prime Ministerial candidate resulting in a rift inside the party. As a major setback to BJP recently, two senior leaders of the party, Keshubhai Patel from Gujarat and B.S. Yedyurappa from Karnataka quit BJP and started their own party to counter the ruling BJP governments in these states. 

     Now, with both the Congress and BJP on the backfoot they have started appeasing the public with their movements. On one hand where the government has started introducing its reform measure to boost the economic growth in the country the main opposition party has also taken its stance well by attacking the government on various fronts. As part of the reform measures; the government has passed the most opposed bill of FDI in multi brand retail recently. Similarly, the introduction of the Cabinet Committee on Investment and amendments to the Land Acquisition Bill has received lauds from both the opposition as well as the business class. The Cabinet Committee on Investment will fast track the implementation of the infrastructure projects with a value of more than 1,000 crore rupees. On the other hand the Land Acquisition Bill will benefit the land owners where compensation will be double the market price in urban areas and four times in rural areas. 

     There is an old saying, "Strike when the iron is hot". This proverb goes very well with the strategies of the government. It is so because the government has passed the bill on FDI in multi brand retail "Just in Time" when the Gujarat elections are on head. Though FDI in retail was opposed by majority of parties in the country, the government managed to pass the act with the external support from SP (Samajwadi Party) and BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party). With the bill getting the nod of the parliamentarians the government has definitely attracted the business community of Gujarat as well as the nation. The second game that the government played was the implementation of the Direct Cash Transfer Scheme just before the Gujarat elections. With the implementation of this scheme, it has mainly attracted Gujarat's rural audiences. Of course, another benefit of the scheme would be reduction in the cases of corruption. The third move was raising the cap on LPG cylinders to 9 from the earlier announced 6. This move, however, is a flop show by the government since the audience is already affected by the pseudo environment created by our "Indian Media."
     More or less, the opposition can only wait and watch until 2014 elections because the UPA government has proved its might as and when required; be it the Nuclear Deal or FDI in multi brand retail.