Modi's Strategy for New India

The Modi government’s strategy for India’s development defies easy understanding. It breaks conventional categorization such as short-term vs long-term, rural vs urban, rich vs poor, and government vs people. Those who do not see the strategy as a whole or have a blinkered vision tend to perceive it negatively.

Even economists, to whom people look for guidance, are at loss. Instead of clarifying, they seem to be adding to the confusion. It’s not just that different economists have different takes on it, but some have been flip-flopping and reversing their stances.

So, what is this strategy? What is driving it: circumstances or a game plan? Is the strategy autonomously determined or is it subservient to politics? Are Modi’s various welfare programmes driven solely by political considerations or do they fit within a larger development paradigm? Is the strategy reactive and short-sighted or pro-active and forward-looking? What does it show us about Modi’s style of functioning?

Taking a broad-based and zoomed-out view, the book answers some pressing questions: how is the Modi government capitalizing on the unique situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic? How is the administration taking advantage of changing geopolitics? How effective have policies such as Make-in-India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat been? What about the mantra of minimum government, maximum governance?

While seeking to answer some of these questions, the book places Modi’s development strategy in perspective. The book provides a high-level view of the strategy which otherwise gets lost in discussions entangled in the weeds. By sifting development from politics that has invited much criticism, the book provides a perspective on politics too.