If BJP wins, will it adopt pro-market or Swadeshi policies? Here's NaMo's take

In a television interview yesterday, Bharatiya Janta Party candidate Narendra Modi was once again called upon to defend his government’s land price rates granted to industrialist Gautam Adani.

While talking to _Times Now,_Modi attempted to clarify the issue regarding different land rates granted to Adani and other industrialists like Tata, by saying that prices differed between Kutch, a desert land where Adani is based, and Ahmedabad, a thriving city where the Tata plant is located. He cited the conclusion of a Commerce Ministry-commissioned report that said the Gujarat government’s land acquisition policy is very transparent. “The policy does not favour anyone. The policy does not go against anyone,” Modi claimed.

When questioned about his earlier critical stance on subsidies, Modi replied, “I am fending for 11 lakh families from the state government’s budget. Can I let the poor people in my country starve to death? Will I ever let that happen? What use is the government’s funds? It’s for the poor and we are committed to using it for the same. A country cannot run this way.” He went on to add that in his opinion, the poor had first claim to India’s coffers.

Modi was also grilled about the BJP’s take on FDI in multi-brand retail. On being asked whether he would revoke FDI in the sector, Modi answered, “…the country is now going to face a huge shock in the manufacturing sector, and our youth will lose jobs. Therefore, the country’s priority must be to ensure job creation. Our policies must be implemented for job creation, and that will be our priority.”

He was rather vague when answering questions about his economic stance vis-a-vis that of the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Modi pointed out that the RSS focuses on doing good for the poor, while he “…cannot contradict anyone who thinks on the lines of improving the country’s economy.”

That gives Modi enough leeway to swing to either side. It is also very interesting to note that he did not explicitly answer whether he would be guided by a pro-market reforms approach or an RSS swadeshi model. For those of you thinking the BJP was all about pro-business and pro-economic reforms, Modi’s silence on the matter should provide some pause for thought.

Against the backdrop of the controversy surrounding the Election Commission’s denial of permission for his rally in Varanasi, Narendra Modi said he and BJP are being “troubled” by the EC and wanted the poll body to “answer” why that is the case.

“It is up to the Election Commission to answer why we are being troubled. Specifically, why a single party is being troubled, why Modi is being troubled. A lot has happened to me, but I don’t want to get into it right now. Let the EC take a decision,” the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said.

His comment came a day after the EC denied permission for his rally in Varanasi, where he is contesting for the Lok Sabha polls.

Nevertheless, he insisted that he was not targeting the EC, saying he had not uttered a single word against the institution. He said it is his party, the BJP, which has written letters to the EC, asking for adetailed explanation.

“I cannot say much about this (anger at EC) because the developments are taking place in Varanasi,” he told Times Now in an interview, referring to the protests being staged by his colleagues, including Arun Jaitley, in Varanasi against the denial of permission for his rally.

Jaitley, a close Modi aide, has been at the forefront of the BJP’s attack on the local EC officials and has written to the EC a number of times on the issue.

The EC yesterday dismissed allegations of a “lack of neutrality”.

Asked why he gave a caste-spin to Priyanka Gandhi’s ’neech rajniti" (low-level politics) barb at him, he clarified that the meaning of the word in Gujarati, the language he was most “familiar” with, approximates with the response he has given.

“Let’s assume I was misunderstood. But even their intention behind such usage of the words was wrong,” Modi said about targeting Priyanka.

The BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate said he had acted “tough” internally against party leaders like his close aide Amit Shah and Bihar leader Giriraj Singh for their remarkstargeting Muslims, adding that such action had led to an end to such statements.

“I was tough against this and that is why it stopped. If I didn’t oppose it through the internal mechanism, don’t you think it would have continued? Hasn’t it stopped? Did it stopor not? That means I have taken action and you can understand,” he said.

Asked if his attacks on the likes of Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Jayalalithaa during campaign might have harmed any future alliance with them in case a BJP-led NDA does not get a majority, Modi said, “Politics isn’t conducted on the basis of what is said in the course of election campaigns.”

He, however, insisted that BJP will get a clear majority and form the “strongest and most stable government” since Rajiv Gandhi’s government in 1984.

With inputs from PTI