shed anti-industry perception-AAP

Fear of losing young voters makes AAP arrest leftward drift

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wants to shed the perception that it is anti-industry or private enterprise.

 

AAP’s ‘Economic Agenda’ document declares the party “is neither Left nor Right and will support every good idea, old or new, if it is in the interest of India”.

 

AAP, from the evidence of this document, doesn’t stand for all that many assumed it did. The document says the party believes in encouraging private enterprise, will promote a simple and progressive tax structure, encourage private sector investment in health and education sectors and opposes government dole. 

 

The AAP document says it does not support social security policies that “induce greater dependency” among the poor. It doesn’t specify such policies but terms these as “lip service”. It claims the party believes “the poor are best helped by empowering them with enhanced capability and the means to earn their livelihood with dignity”. It does, however, wants to explore the option of starting food kitchens, that is provide ready to eat food to abjectly poor.

 

The document says the party’s economic vision is “rooted in decentralized good governance, transparency, accountability and equity”. It says AAP will continuously refine its economic model as “it involves a growing cross section of Indians in the policy making process and incorporates evidence based learning”.

 

The party’s key leaders have launched an outreach effort to send across this basic message of AAP being anti-crony capitalism but in favour of economic liberalism. 

 

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s speech at the Confederations of Indian Industries (CII) on Monday in Delhi and chief spokesperson Yogendra Yadav’s interaction with leading industrialists in Mumbai on Thursday were attempts to dispel the perception that AAP was against private enterprise or big business.

 

Key strategist Professor Ajit Jha says the party’s list of Lok Sabha candidates is also an effort to fight the perception that AAP was a party of a particular ideological leaning. “Our aim is to put in motion a process of national renewal and for this we need people from diverse backgrounds to come on a common platform,” says he.

 

AAP’s first list had names of social activist Medha Patkar and former banker Meera Sanyal together while its second list is likely to have names like Adarsh Shastri and Rajmohan Gandhi. Shastri, a grandson of Lal Bahadur Shastri, quit a lucrative job at Apple to join the party. 

 

Rajmohan is the grandson of the Mahatma. Rajmohan’s maternal grandfather C Rajagopalachari was the founder of the Swatantra Party which in the 1950s opposed the Nehruvian socialist model of development. 

 

Interestingly, Patkar had led the movement against Enron power project in mid-1990s in Maharashtra while Sanyal was then with one of the banks helping finance that project.

 

The document’s other key points include a commitment towards job creation and doubling per capita national income in eight years by encouraging honest private enterprise and contain inflation between three to six%. 

 

The document says AAP will aim to increase tax to GDP ratio from 11 to 18% in eight years by enforcing better compliance and increase share of direct taxes to 65%. It is currently at 55%.

Significantly, AAP says it is not against Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) as long as they are fair. It also favours permitting insurance companies, pension and provident funds to finance infrastructure. 

 

AAP’s “Economic Agenda claims the party “believes in an open-minded, solution-driven approach that is not limited by ideological orthodoxies in both domestic and international economic governance.” Jha says 19th or 20th century ideological epithets should not be used to describe the party. He says AAP is in search of people like Jamnalal Bajaj, the industrialist who joined the independence movement as a full time activist, serving jail terms and undertaking fasts. Incidentally, Bajaj’s grandson Rajiv recently said he was a fan of Kejriwal’s.

 

The document is silent on the issue of FDI in retail or on the larger issue of foreign direct investment. However, Shastri told Business Standard a party committee was studying the issue. 

 

He claimed the party was principally “not against investments of any sorts”, whether Indian or foreign, as long as these were good for the country. He said the UPA government’s decision on FDI in retail was taken in haste but the party would “certainly review” its opposition to FDI in retail if on deeper analysis “we feel it is in the larger interest”. 

 

AAP’s economic agenda has job creation as one of its chief agenda. The document says India has over 10 million youth seeking jobs every year. It says AAP will foster enabling honest enterprise across agriculture, manufacturing and services and will be geared towards creating increasing employment and livelihood opportunities.

 

It would seem India’s demographics with a majority of its population below 35-years and AAP’s largely urban electorate base may have compelled the party to undertake a drastic course correction to shed its anti-business and private enterprise image it earned after disallowing FDI in retail in Delhi and batting for water and power subsidies.

 

The vision document says AAP “believes that India needs to evolve a distinctive development model, given the aspirations of India’s citizens and the scale and complexity of its challenges”.

AAP'onomics:

 

Inflation

>> Contain inflation between 3 and 6%; Food inflation below general inflation

Tax

>> Simple, progressive and stable tax structure with lower tax rates and minimal exemptions

>> Tax to GDP ratio from 11 to 18% in eight years; increase share of direct taxes to 65% in eight years

>> Maximum devolution of funds to state and local governments

Trade

>> Review existing bilateral and multilateral agreements to negotiate greater autonomy for India

>> Priorities to bridge the Balance of Payment deficit

Public Distribution System

>>Not pay lip service to social security measures that induce greater dependency

>>Reduce number of BPL households without ration cards or access to PDS close to zero

Agriculture

>> Aim to increase agricultural productivity by 50% in below world standards crops

>> Facilitate formation of commodity co-ops, working along common shareholder principles

Manufacturing

>>Increase share of organized labour in workforce

>>Reduce work-related accidents by 50% within 2 years

Infrastructure

>>Promote PPPs in a fair and transparent manner

Technology

>>Make government 100% IT enabled

>>Install wifi hubs in public spaces in every city/town and village with free access

 

Other agendas :

>>Promote entrepreneurship so that it becomes the new engine for accelerating growth

>>Curb monopolistic and anti-competitive forces

>>Improve India's Ease of Doing Business rank to under 50 within  top 3 in emerging nations by 2022

>> Special focus on tourism with huge potential for growth, employment and investment

AIADMK leader pulled Rajya Sabha disrupted again,

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Disruptions continued in the Rajya Sabha Monday and ugly scenes were witnessed when an AIADMK leader pulled at the chairman's microphone and tore up some official papers of the house.

The upper house witnessed protests over the proposed formation of Telangana, while members from Tamil Nadu demanded discussion on the issue of Tamil fishermen.

When the house met after its first adjournment at 12 noon, members from Andhra Pradesh belonging to the Congress and TDP were seen gathered near the chairman's podium with placard demanding a "united Andhra Pradesh".

As the anti-Telangana members raised slogans, AIADMK leader V. Maitreyan, who was also near the chairman's podium, tore up some booklets that carry the details of business of the house.

Maitreyan was also seen trying to pull the chairman's microphone when Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned the house till 2 p.m.

The protests were even more intense when the house reassembled as Maitreyan again pulled at the chairman's microphone and tore papers near the podium. He was stopped by the Rajya Sabha staff.

The unruly behaviour continued till Kurien adjourned the house for the day.

Earlier, as soon as the house met for the day, protesting members were on their feet, trooping to the chairman's podium.

Chairman Hamid Ansari for a brief moment was seen just sitting back in his chair and watching members who tore up some papers. He then adjourned the house for 10 minutes, and then again till 12 noon.