Sir — The Congress, which ought to bear the onus of much that has gone wrong with the economy, is busy promoting a Santa Claus brand of giveaways and empowerment through ‘rights’ of every description.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which is the new pretender to power, is touting a brand of grievance and injured innocence, more as a requiem to public angst. It has no clue on policies for national economic resurgence. The BJP, a party of standing that has run Governments, and is now electorally spearheaded by Mr Narendra Modi, is espousing a brand of assertive governance, which is not an economic policy but an efficient vehicle with which to deliver one.
There is still time for Mr Modi to lay down specific policy milestones as a follow-up to the reforms of the 1990s. He can create a wave by switching over from a socio-political agenda to a socio-economic one. The Congress failed precisely because it took its attention away from growth and gambled on ‘inclusiveness’ for narrow vote-bank considerations only to fall between two stools. Given his promotional hype thus far, Mr Modi should be able to authoritatively reframe the winning agenda.