By Gaurang Sheth:
272/543 is the number for 2014. Its all everybody is fighting for. In fact, for the very first time I see the common man taking an interest irrespective of what he understands out of politics, and that’s amazing. But the question is, who is going to get that magic number.
Now, lets have a look at who are in the race. It seems that all eyes are on the BJP. It’s not just Modi, it’s also because of the disastrous performance at the center by the UPA, scattered leadership, horrible coordination between level 2 team, negative publicity, and other parties in the UPA whom they are trying to save to stay in power, and many more.
The Congress alone has no chance but as always, when it comes to making arrangements in consortium, UPA is the best with it’s tag of secularism. AAP is surely doing well and getting popular, thanks to the media that in just 2 weeks of its governance, everybody has started talking about it.
Here, what I would like to focus on is the AAP. The problem is that AAP looks like it’s in too much of a hurry and wants to prove everything in 6 months, which is dangerous. If you spend too much of what you earn, you will end up falling short. Doing things that make their work visible instantly and scoring points that create buzz is what it seems to be concerned with, rather than planned governance. They should strategize on how to actually generate more money and make the system work for the people. Its too early to judge and too early to handle such a big responsibility at central governance. I do believe that they can’t get 272 but if they can get somewhere between 30 to 50, it will change all the pre election arithmetic. BJP may struggle to reach less than even 150 to 200. The UPA will again be in a better position to form alliance. I don’t mind Congress or BJP with a clear majority, but if the situation remains the same as now, the central governance is going to be weak.
What we need right now is to understand that we are suffering from a major economic crisis, and solutions will take some time to take effect. Due to inflation, manufacturing costs are high and production is slow, Indians have become traders. The urgent need of the moment is to have a great 5 year plan which can promote manufacturing, increase export and get us back on track for services. I feel that somebody who has a fair idea about the same and can be trusted to take bold and inclusive step should be given a chance.