The ruling party before the elections is happy to be ruling again…

The regional parties are happier…

The primary opposition party is beaming at its successes…

The people in support of, and those against the Modi sarkaar---are both, strangely, but completely happy…

The Election Commission is happy that it could execute such a mammoth exercise smoothly…

The spirit of Democracy is happy…

And, the third innings thus have commenced.

People on all sides, are waiting with baited breath. Will this government deliver on certain crucial issues which still await the attention of the government? Will the coalition partners spoil the show? Will Modi 3.0 be the end of the road for the incumbent rulers?

No one knows…

No one can know…

Citizens of India have known to spring surprises in the most unpredictable ways. Even otherwise too, we are a nation synonymous with contrasts! There are contrasting truths lurking around every corner of our economy, polity and society. Hence, while it has always been difficult to exactly and accurately gauge the leanings and moods of the people, a little of what mandate may lie in store in the elections after five years, will depend on the performance unleashed by Modi 3.0 during this term.

A M-U-S-T Do-It list for them ought to certainly include:

a thrust on Manufacturing

addressing the growing issue of Unemployment

reversing the Sluggishness in ensuring land & labor reforms, crime control and social cohesion

and very important, forcefully meeting the military and non-military Threats to India’s security.

India is presently the fastest-growing major economy in the world. However, while this is by far, no small a feat, a mammoth challenge is to keep the momentum of growth going. India’s GDP growth hit 8.4% in the financial year ending March and in the past one decade of the Modi government, GDP per capita has risen from about $5,000 to more than $7,500. The key to maintaining the growth rate lies in thrusting heavily on the manufacturing sector. The Make-in-India strategy needs intense impetus, so as to prevent any derailing in growth. While taking advantage of the simmering trade (and related to Taiwan) tensions between the USA and China, we can attract the giant global brands to shift their manufacturing base to India and set up alternative supply chains here. Moreover, manufacturing in the labor-intensive areas needs to be high on the agenda of Modi 3.0.

We need to manufacture more, so that we sell more and not only maintain the GDP growth but also, thereby create more jobs and better our Human Development Index (HDI) rankings. Jobs created and secured in the manufacturing sector shall augur well for the economy instead of half our population remaining engaged in agriculture, as is presently the scene.

At many fronts, several economic woes will have to be fought with, strategically, like crucial battles. Notwithstanding the impressive economic performance, the rate of unemployment has risen, by far, to 8.1 percent, as indicated in April 2024. Non-availability of jobs will not only nullify the advantages we hope to derive from having a large young population, but shall give rise to several other social issues. The psyche of an unemployed young force is known to be the ideal ground for fostering extremism in the society. The world is already strongly reeling under the sweeping and scary tides of extremism of all kinds. And the alarm bells sound shriller when we find that unemployment amongst the young population in India was nearly ten times higher than in the adults, in 2022-23.

If there are not adequate jobs and inflation continues to soar, the threat of despondency in the society and in the economy shall completely derail the growth story of India. The fact that the recently-held elections have made us swerve towards coalition politics, testifies the restlessness in the citizenry and how it has given us a less stable government than was expected all along.

Economic stability for the middle and lower classes is a MUST for any government, and particularly for this present government in the present state of world affairs. The poor and lower middle classes will have to be assisted in a stronger and better way than simply making them beneficiaries of schemes and programs worth billions of rupees. Focusing on raising the human capital; on making our labor sufficiently skilled and educated, is also the key to ensuring that our youth will not only get jobs but that they shall know how to keep them, and themselves grow therein. Although our economy has jumped five places to be the 5th largest in the world, and yet the contrasting truth is that our per capita income still remains the lowest among the G20 nations.

The government has no choice but to focus much more on creating jobs; boosting savings and improving the quality of life for the lower and upper middle-classes.

A much less-than-expected mandate for Modi 3.0, essentially necessitates a gearing up for the government, in areas where sluggishness has proved to be costly. This government, in its third term, just cannot afford not taking concrete and swift actions in several areas, such as: land and labor reforms, building on social cohesion and curbing alienation in any segments of the society and strongly dealing with menaces such as crimes, economic and cyber frauds, acts of terror and the like.

Of course, it will not be easy to usher in the much-needed labor reforms. The proposed agricultural reforms have already created strong ripples and polarized the society, while proving to be electorally damaging for the government 2.0. Similarly, the government had proposed to impose operating restrictions on unions; to make it easier to buy land for industrial corridors, rural housing, electrification and for defense purposes but the opposition parties and vested interests generated such rhetoric and stiff resistance that the reforms were placed on the backburner. For how long can any government play to the gallery and till when it should succumb to populism, is difficult to say.

A plethora of threats: both, military and non-military, stare at all of us glaringly and reiterate like never before, that our very survival as a human race, hinges on how we neutralize the threats. If not the regular and dangerous wars and conflicts, then the changes in the climate/environment could take us down, or the financial frauds and political upheavals could. The military threats posed by China and Pakistan may be external but damage has been internal and very damaging too. Terror attacks could be abetted by internal or external forces, and they are already resurfacing once again in Kashmir. They could nullify all that we have painstakingly achieved in the valley so far---notably: global interest, investment and tourism. Manipur is already a new hotspot where collusions between our own internal and foreign players are creating a havoc.

Just as there are no specific areas from where threats could emanate; no specific areas which could prove to be new festering sores, so also there are no certainties regarding the type of threats that could threaten peace and growth. Our vigilance has to be top notch not only at the borders but also otherwise comprehensive, or we would never know which foreign war or crises situations could just land on our doorsteps and destabilize our society and economy.

Conclusion:

Strangely, and even uniquely so—the outcome of elections in 2024 have gladdened almost all hearts in some or the other way. And yet, the challenges are going to be no less unique. The context itself is going to be a challenge---both in terms of the ongoing small & big; trade and military wars in the world and in terms of the fact that bold decisions by Modi 3.0 will not be easily possible now, thanks to the compulsions of coalition politics.

There will be the supporting allies to please so that they stay with the government. And, then there will be the select groups of citizens to please and appease, in view of the next general elections. Additionally, there is a plethora of other stakeholders such as the bureaucrats, the farmers, the backward castes/classes, the lobbies of the corporate world and the big external powers which incessantly attempt arm-twisting---all of which and whom will have to be kept unoffended by MODI 3.0!!!

And, in the process, will the nation’s true interests and all of us---who do not fit in any lobby---be safeguarded well by the guardians at New Delhi?

The M-U-S-T DO list necessitating some firm strategies to boost Manufacturing; to bring down Unemployment; to curb Sluggishness and to address Threats to security---could just set the tone; mark the beginning, of what should be an interesting and yet, a tough journey ahead for MODIfied Bharat 3.0!!!