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Full Text of Dr. Ram Puniyani’s Speech:
Bharatiya Janata Party: Political Agenda-Economic Policies
BJP has emerged as the major political party during last the decade. Though it has ruled as a part of
NDA (National Democratic Alliance) its imprint on the Government policies has been very strong. The NDA allies have content themselves to playing junior partners to BJP and barring keeping out the core Hindutva
agenda, Ram Temple, abolition of article 370 (Related to autonomy of (Kashmir) and Uniform civil code, they have let the BJP agenda prevail in most of the social fields and in the political governance of the country.
Power in the Center:
From a small north Indian-Hindu Political party, its transformation as a major player began with its Ram Temple campaign. This campaign crystallized itself after Mandal
Commission implementation. Implementation of Mandal Commission was a move on the part of VP Singh Govt. to implement an affirmative action for the weaker sections of society in the form of reservation in the
government jobs. BJP essentially has support base amongst the urban upper classes/castes and represents their interests in preference to the longings and aspirations of weaker social groups. The campaign was
accompanied by a subtle anti minority slant and culminated in the demolition of Babri Mosques, one of the biggest shames for the Nation. This was followed by intense communal riots in different parts of the country,
this in turn led to the consolidation of its base and the rise in its electoral power. Every communal violence leads to its strengthening. By a gradual intensification of its electoral support it came in the
position to be the largest political party despite polling a miserly 23% of votes in the last Lok Sabha (Parliament elections).
Political Ideology:
BJP is political wing of RSS the core
organization, which controls different political and quasi-political formations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and the like. Most of these organizations are the ideological affiliates
of BJP. It is these organizations, which spread, hate against minorities, Muslims and Christians, on a regular basis. These organizations also have branches in different countries including US from where they
collect funds from the NRI Indians on the pretext of social work. Most of this fund goes in spreading the Hindutva ideology, which bases overtly on spreading hate against Muslims and Christians in particular.
Hindutva basically stands for a Hindu Nation, where the modern democratic norms are done away with and the pre-modern social relationships are imposed in the modern garb. Hindutva is not just religion it is a
political ideology based on the Brahminical Hinduism and the Aryan Hindu culture. Its comparison can be done with the political ideologies held by Ayatollah Khoemini or Taliban. It is very oppressive to low caste
and also to women and aims to abolish the democratic liberal space. BJP aims to bring in all this once it has the power in the center on its own majority. It also wants to impose homogeneity in cultural and
religious arena. This ideology treats Minorities as aliens and questions their patriotism. In effect this ideology reduces them to second-class citizens.
Masterminding Hate
The intimidation of
the minorities has reached worst proportions during last two decades. BJP along with its associates have regularly demonized the minorities. This lays the basis of the violence against them, which in turn ghettoizes
them. The ghastly expression of this came in the form of Post Bari demolition riots, burning of Pastor Graham Stains and later the Gujarat carnage. This is doing incalculable harm to Indian society and Indian
Nation. The bonding between communities which came up during freedom struggle and got sustained in first three decades of republic, are being torn apart and atmosphere of fear and mistrust is being forged due to the
Hindutva ideology of this organization.
To buttress its divisive impact on the society its Government has changed the earlier textbooks in schools, especially in the discipline of History and Social Sciences.
During early eighties the attempt was to rationalize history. BJP has totally reversed this process and has communalized history. The impact of this amongst the growing children will be immense and is fraught with
serious disaster.
The rule of this party at the center is the one, which promotes the state units to be aggressive against the weaker sections of society. Despite its claims the communal divides are growing
and this is leading to the weakening of the Nation as a whole. The earlier direction, which Nation had, seems to have been hijacked in an adverse direction.
After exploding the nuclear devise it has also
changed the security scene in the worst direction and relations with Pakistan have been mercurial, ever changing depending on the political calculations. Its aspiration to change the democratic constitution was
manifested when it appointed a constitution review commission. Fortunately due to popular pressure the commission also could not come to any recommendations as desired by its ideology.
Its worst was
displayed during the Gujarat riots. The local BJP unit led by Narendra Modi played a very devious role in bringing about this tragedy and in sustaining the same. The state responsibility in the rehabilitation work
during the riots and post riot relief was conspicuous by its absence. Even the deliverance of justice to the riot victims is totally missing and some of them have to out from Gujarat n order to seek the semblance of
justice. The Gujarat unit of BJP is duly backed up by the central BJP led coalition in these acts of violation of democratic and constitutional norms of our country. It also supported the efforts of its affiliate
Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in spreading the hate against Christians in particular in remote places the effect of which came in the form of burning of Pastor Stains, attacks on Nuns and missionaries in remote villages and
also in getting the destitute Adivasasis in their participation in the Gujarat violence as the foot soldiers of Hindutva politics in launching assault on the minorities.
Economic Policies:
Lately through advertisement blitzkrieg it has put forward the slogan of India Shining and it is being attributed to the economic policies by the BJP. The major economic initiatives in the present direction were
undertaken by the Rajiv Gandhi earlier and in more full form by Manmohan Singh in Narasimha Rao regime. These polices aimed to remove all the state controls on the economy, which were earlier, posed to build India’s
economic infrastructure as it came out from the colonial rule. To provide the heavy industry and infrastructure the state through public sector had to intervene. It was on this base that the private industrialist
could build up the industrial network. The educational policies laid during this phase laid the foundation for the growth of Software industry and India’s ability to produce the software professionals in large
number as the leading Nation in the world.
BJP during that phase of Industrial progress was operating has Bharatiya Janshang and was totally opposed to the public sector, when it was playing major role in
country’s development. It was a party, which also opposed all the social welfare measures undertaken by the Govt. wile calling for the development of Nuclear weapon as far back as in early fifties. During later
phase BJS mainly concentrated on the demonisation of minorities, Muslims in particular.
In the present phase of Industrial development, its affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch came up in big way to oppose the new
industrial policies. In a way it was a superficial effort to keep a section of its support base of small industrialist in its flock. They were not serious about this is very clear from their conduct during last six
years of the BJP rule. During this phase BJP not only undertook those policies, it pursued them with utter recklessness, and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch kept total quiet forgetting its earlier noises against the new
industrial polices.
The two major hallmarks of BJP’s implementation of economic policies were to do away with social welfare measures, in the area of education and health. India’s vast number of poor is
dependent on these two state sponsored measures, these being the only source of their access to health and education. Since this is not a section from where BJP seeks its electoral base it has been totally
unconcerned about this. And this serious flaw in the policies of the state Government is increasing the misery of poor to no end. The other major factor has been to pursue the policies in a way in which the urban
affluent benefit at the cost of urban poor and the rural masses in general.
Its claims about economic achievments are from the world of make believe. The economic indices of growth have been presented to show
them in a manner where they project themselves as the achievements. The real facts show something else. The farmers have been in acute distress and number of farmers committed suicides, frustrated by the policies of
the govt. The per acre yield has been declining. The cheap credit has not been extended to the farmers. The manufacturing sector has been on the decline, but the average annual growth of manufacturing has been
substantially lower in the five years of BJP rule than in the previous three-year period. The average growth rate of manufacturing was 9.4% in 1995-98, and only 5.2% in 1998-2003.
Growth fell sharply in almost all the leading 2-digit industry groups. Much of this growth has been both jobless and energy less, as cost-cutting measures and efficient practices in industry have been largely responsible. However, increased corporate earnings are not being translated into new investments. There is an almost total absence of investment demand in the economy. It is also due to the fact that there is much unused capacity, as much as 20%, in industry.1
The biggest victims of these lopsided economic polices have been the Dalits (Ex untouchables) and Adivasis, indigenous people. The state sector has to ensure that all sections of population are taken care
of. Since that is not happening, these two sections are being deprived of all the social and economic opportunities. This frustration of these sections gets channelised in the identity politics being promoted by
BJP. It is precisely these sections of population who are also being used as foot soldiers for anti-minority violence. Gujarat is an example, where it is precisely these two sections who were indoctrinated to act as
handmaidens of the politics of the hate, which stalked the streets killing thousands of innocents and destroying the property worth millions. The economic failure is on both the fronts, the decline in the real
growth of manufacturing and depriving the weaker sections of their dues.
No where to Future
With vast resources of Central Government BJP took up the, one the biggest wastage of state resources
for the promotion of its own self. A media campaign India Shining was launched as a prelude to the elections. It is estimated the over 700 crores of public money has been squandered on the image build up exercise
for the ruling party. The Election Commissioner Mr. Krishnamurthy objected to this expenditure of state resources but he was overruled on the legal grounds as the model code was yet to be implemented. Apart from the
economic waste it is most immoral act undertaken by this political vehicle of RSS. It will create its own economic implications and the scarce public resources have been wasted in a very blatant way.
It is
true that on economic front the core policies may not be different between various political parties in the electoral fray. But the implementation of the same also determines a lot. The BJP tilt towards affluent
sections is resulting the major imbalance in the social arena. BJP is at core a Hindutva party. It aims to bring in a Hindu Rashtra. In this coalition it was not in majority so it could not impose its agenda in
toto. Its bias towards the affluent is clear. It is just waiting for a chance to come to power in majority when it can usher in Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation) by bringing in all the retrograde steps. The sample of
such steps is visible in another of Indian states being ruled by BJP, Madhya Pradesh. Here a Sanyasin (celibate, holy person) is the Chief Minster and she has brought in all the clerical elements, sadhus and other
such creed in the social and political space. A cow worship based economy is being introduced. Many a places have been declared as religious places, meaning thereby that non-vegetarian food and alcohol will be
totally banned in these cities. Already apart from consumers of these, those trading in these items have been turned into unemployed, on way to destitution. BJP ruled Gujarat is already a Hindu State in some sense.
The massive pogrom against the minorities has intimidated the minorities, ghettoised them and has marginalised them in the worst possible way. This is accompanied by the gross suppression of democratic rights and
the rule of law. The victims of the violence cannot expect any deliverance of justice there and have to go out of Gujarat to seek justice.
Essentially BJP is not a party of modern era, the one, which can keep
all the economic and social progress in tune with times. More so it is very biased and partial towards a narrow social groups.
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1.Mimeographed Fact Sheet on Economic policies-2004, Mumbai
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