From swadeshi to Manmohanomics

BJP set to appropriate reforms agenda set by Narasimha Rao govt.

In a major indication of an ideological shift, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership is set to appropriate "Manmohanomics", the agenda of economic reforms set by former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh in 1991.

This is likely to be the thrust of the party's vision document, which is to be released shortly.

The party plans to accord priority to issues like allowing 74 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector, an open-skies policy for civil aviation and faster disinvestment, should it be voted back to power later this year.

The first two policies were deferred by the government earlier this year, though Intelligence Bureau reports suggested that there was nothing wrong in increasing the FDI limit in telecom.

Senior party leaders now readily admit that the economic policies initiated under former Prime Minister P V Narasimha were correct.

Thus efforts within the party will now be focused on packaging economic reforms well, to minimise opposition within the Sangh Parivar and to delink Sonia Gandhi's Congress from the achievements of the Nara- simha Rao government.

In the party's vision document, Sonia Gandhi's Congress will be ridiculed for its conservative and myopic approach to economic issues, which is inconsistent with the policies taken up by the Rao regime.

In contrast, the BJP will be projected as a forward-looking, modern and pro-reforms political party that reflects the ambitions of the Indian middle class.

That Rao has a battery of admirers even among the swadeshi elements of the Sangh Parivar, gives a new twist to politics.

The convenor of the ultra-conservative Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), Murlidhar Rao, acknowledged Rao's contribution, though he disagreed with the globalisation agenda that was followed up by the BJP.

The BJP's new-found love for Rao was also expressed by Advani when he discussed the government's consistency on economic issues with US Ambassador David Mulford.

That several leaders have been claiming credit for taking a consistent approach on economic issues is indicative of a strategic shift within the party.

If voted back to power...

• BJP plans to give high priority to 74% FDI in telecom, open-skies policy and faster disinvestment
• The party's vision document will ridicule Sonia Gandhi's Congress for its conservative approach to economic issues, which is inconsistent with the policies taken up by the Rao regime