You may have heard of the politics of vengeance. But if you wish to see the economics of vengeance in action, start following Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
Raje is rewriting the history of Rajasthan by erasing memories of every action and decision taken during the past five years. In her tearing hurry to get rid of everything to do with the Congress raj, she is discarding everything from the Gehlot era, without a proper debate on the merits and economic impact of the decisions.
Gehlot had contested the previous elections on his development agenda and free doles. Raje understands the pitfalls of taking away from people what is already in their pocket, so she has not yet made any attempt to discontinue the Gehlot-era doles. But she has rejected most of the other projects that Gehlot had initiated for the long-term financial and infrastructure development of the state.
Economic vengeance? Reuters
Raje has already tossed out the go-ahead Gehlot had given to FDI in retail. Next on her agenda, going by the noise she and her bureaucrats have been making, is the Metro rail project in Jaipur as well as a proposed refinery in Barmer.
On the sidelines of these big-ticket decisions, the new government has denied permission to a multi-crore residential project in the heart of Jaipur, ostensibly because of the promoter's proximity to Gehlot. It also tried to withdraw a case the previous government had filed in the Supreme Court in support of the controversial Jal Mahal project. But its effort was thwarted by the apex court.
The argument behind the volte-face on allowing foreign investment in retail is in consonance with the BJP's opposition to the decision. The BJP is known as a party of Brahmins and Banias, so its reluctance to let foreigners compete with the neighbourhood kirana stores is understandable, even if it makes the party resemble anti-middle class.
Though it was expected, the timing of the decision has given Raje-watchers another opportunity to point out that she seems to be taking her cues from Arvind Kejriwal.
By default or design, Raje has already earned the tag of a copycat CM by following Kejriwal, if not in spirit but at least in principle. The latest ban, curiously, has come just a few days after the Delhi government imposed a similar fiat.
The rejection of the refinery near the oil fields of Barmer—is also on the anvil. Raje claims that the deal does not benefit the state much and it would be better to discard it. With the Lok Sabha polls on the horizon, Raje may keep the final decision pending. But from the noises emanating from the government, the refinery appears dead and buried.
The axe is likely to fall on the Jaipur Metro project as well. It would, however, be interesting to see under what ruse she scraps it since the first phase has already been completed and around Rs 10000-crore have been spent on it. Raje is of the opinion that the project could have waited till 2020. She has been critiquing the implementation because of its impact on the city's skyline because the tracks have not been laid underground.
Though the BJP is justified in reversing the decisions, primarily because it had contested the Vidhan Sabha polls on these issues, many feel that the policy of dumping big-ticket announcements without a proper debate will only set a bad precedent.
Decisions based on political vendetta and electoral promises could lead to wastage of money—as a ban on the Metro project will send the wrong signals to investors who prefer continuation of economic policies.
The Congress, comatose as it is after the mauling in the elections, has made feeble objections to Raje's attempts to scuttle the refinery and abort the Metro. Its newly anointed state unit chief Sachin Pilot termed the attempts regressive. He has promised to hit the streets, but given the state the party is in at the moment, the opposition looks like a mere formality.
Left unchecked, the Raje roller is likely to demolish many other vestiges of the Gehlot era next.
It is well-known that Raje had very little respect for Gehlot's style of politics. But that she would discard his economics with such disdain is a story not many had expected to unfold in such a short span.
No comments:
Post a Comment