Circumventing the issue of whether or not the BJP would support the current government’s attempts at liberalisation and economic reforms in its last year of existence, leader of the opposition L K Advani instead made an impassioned speech advocating competition, reiterating his party’s commitment to continuing economic reforms if voted to power. He added that BJP will “take bold and decisive steps to change this situation – to enhance the value of ‘Brand India’ – if people give us the mandate.”
Speaking at the release of “Super Brands” which lists Indian brands with a global presence, Advani avoided any specific mention of support to reforms led by the current regime. Instead he criticised the present regime’s alleged inability to develop infrastructure to encourage businesses, red tapism and corruption. “I am told it takes 17 forms for somebody to start a new business,” he said.
He said that the term 'brand' was now being used in political parlance too. “Political parties and leaders are also supposed to have a ‘brand’ value. Insofar as this concept is not used losely in politics, I think that the true reputation of a party or a leader should be judged by the credibility they enjoy,” he said.
Advani also said that competition was the true friend of quality and declared himself firmly in the corner of more competition and an open market. “When Jet Airways and other private airlines came, Indian Airlines also improved. When private telecom companies came, MTNL and BSNL also improved. Of course, a case can be made that government-owned airlines and telecom companies need to improve much more,” he said.
“Competition is a foe of complacency. I say this out of my own political experience. If you are complacent, you cannot compete. This is true not only about business, but also about every sphere of life,” he added.
He said that liberalisation had created great Indian brands which had a transformative power. “It is these great Indian companies — Tata, Reliance, Aditya Birla Group, Moserbaer, Infosys, Wipro, etc — that have enhanced the reputation of India as an emerging economic power. I believe that the national pride associated with this phenomenon has tremendous transformational power,” he said.
He appreciated the fact that Super Brands listed not only business brands but also brands like the eye hospital Shankar Nethralaya and media houses.
