{"id":5768,"date":"2019-04-25T08:30:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T22:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/?p=5768"},"modified":"2019-04-24T10:04:53","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T00:04:53","slug":"indian-elections-its-all-about-the-economy-stupid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/indian-elections-its-all-about-the-economy-stupid\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian elections: It\u2019s all about the economy, stupid!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Voting is now underway in the world\u2019s largest democracy. With many of India\u2019s rural farmers affected by the government\u2019s mismanagement of the economy and the agricultural sector, their votes could be a decisive factor in determining the outcome of the elections.<\/p>\n

On April 11, India\u2019s 900 million eligible citizens commenced voting in the world\u2019s\u00a0largest democratic exercise<\/a>. Polling will\u00a0continue<\/a>\u00a0across the vast country until the 19 May and the counting of votes will commence on 23 May. The incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) are currently the favourites running against Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress (INC), the country\u2019s oldest political party. The election campaign has seen Prime Minister Modi focussing his narrative solely on the patriotic and often communal ideology of\u00a0Hindutva<\/em>\u00a0(hegemony of the Hindu religion), which stands in stark contrast to his 2014 polling platform of economic development. Arguably, the 2019 election results will be highly influenced by voters\u2019 dissatisfaction with the poor outcomes from the Modi government\u2019s economic policies, most visible in the agricultural sector of the country.<\/p>\n

The agricultural slowdown seen under the Modi administration will play an important role in determining votes at the ballot box. Although the farming sector, which employs roughly half of the 1.3 billion people in India, has been in structural crisis for the past thirty years, when the Modi government came into power it inherited a\u00a0favourable set of circumstances in the agriculture sector<\/a>. Agricultural output in the preceding years under the INC-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had been at a relative high due to elevated minimum support prices (MSP) \u2013 this is the price at which government purchases crops from farmers \u2013 and a\u00a0more buoyant economy<\/a>\u00a0in the ten years of UPA rule from 2004 to 2014.<\/p>\n

Since Modi took office in 2014, there has been growing rural distress which has now turned into rural dissent. This could pose a significant political challenge for the incumbent BJP government. In the four years since the Modi government took office, the average growth rate of the agricultural sector has fallen to\u00a02.4 percent<\/a>, down from\u00a04.3 percent<\/a>\u00a0in the preceding four years. Admittedly, not all factors causing the downturn are due to the incumbent government\u2019s policy failures.<\/p>\n

The three main factors contributing to the decline in the agriculture sector were the consecutive nationwide droughts between 2014 and 2016, the effects of the government\u2019s demonetization policy on the farmers and the falling global prices for agricultural commodities. The droughts were caused by the El Ni\u00f1o weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean. However, the government was accused of a \u201clackadaisical response<\/a>\u201d to these droughts as its actions were limited to a routine increase in compensation. Despite repeated pressure from the Supreme Court, it did not take any proactive steps in either declaring a drought or making improvements in delivering rations. The deflation of agricultural commodity prices was triggered by a large fall in global oil prices and was largely beyond the control of a national government. However, the demonetization policy implemented in November 2016, that made\u00a086 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the existing currency (\u20b9500 and \u20b91000 notes) illegal tender, severely impacted the cash-based agricultural sector. While the Modi government maintained that the demonetization policy was successfully implemented and necessary to curb \u201cblack money,\u201d\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0suggest farmers were amongst the worst affected by poor execution of this policy. It was implemented between the cropping seasons when the farmers were either selling their\u00a0kharif\u00a0<\/em>(autumn) yield or sowing their\u00a0rabi<\/em>\u00a0(winter) crops. This rendered them cashless at a crucial time, when they were also still recovering from consecutive droughts.<\/p>\n

An accumulation of these factors sparked agitation and protests across the then BJP-controlled states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, where farmers marched outside of parliaments. This prompted the government into action. Prime Minister Modi promised to\u00a0double farmers\u2019 incomes by 2022<\/a>\u00a0in an attempt to appease the agricultural sector. However, a\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0provided by NITI Aayog, a government think tank, states that farmers\u2019 real incomes will have to grow at an exceptional rate of 10.4 percent annually between 2015 and 2022 (more than three times its growth rate of 3.4 percent between 1993 and 2016) in order for them to be doubled by 2022. This seems quite unrealistic given their historic rate of growth.<\/p>\n

There are also further unfulfilled economic promises made by the Modi government in its 2014 manifesto that will likely impact its performance in the elections. Chief among these is India\u2019s current unemployment crisis: the unemployment rate is now\u00a06.1 percent<\/a>, its highest level in 45 years. The opposition has claimed this to be a \u201cnational disaster<\/a>.\u201d In addition, what benefits there are from India\u2019s economic growth are unevenly dispersed amongst the population. There are not enough jobs being created for the number of young people entering the workforce: 18.7 percent of urban males aged 15-29 and 27.2 percent of urban females in the same age group are without work. And India has an\u00a0unrivalled youth demographic<\/a>\u00a0that may play a decisive role in the election. Sixty-five percent of India\u2019s population is under the age of 35 and there will be 150 million young people who will be eligible to vote for the first time. Meanwhile, Modi\u2019s ambitious \u201cMake in India<\/a>\u201d initiative \u2013 which was aimed at creating more manufacturing jobs for the 1.2 million youth entering the job market and to make India a global manufacturing hub \u2013 has also failed to take off.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Modi has focused his 2019 election campaign on a Hindu nationalist agenda and the re-branding of himself from a\u00a0chaiwala<\/em>\u00a0(tea-seller) to a\u00a0chowkidaar<\/em>\u00a0(watchman). And all the while, carefully avoiding the issue of his government\u2019s economic mismanagement in his speeches and rallies. It is possible that due to weak opposition and lack of a clear alternative, Modi and the BJP will repeat their 2014 winning performance. However, the distress of the largest sector of the Indian economy cannot be ignored. In the 2018 state elections for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, states with high numbers of distressed farmers, voters have already displayed their dissatisfaction with Modi and the BJP by voting for the opposition INC. It will not be surprising if similar results are seen at the national level in May.<\/p>\n

AUTHOR<\/div>\n

Teesta Prakash\u00a0<\/strong>is a PhD candidate at the School of Government and International Relations and Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University where her research interests include Australian and Indian foreign\u00a0policy. She has previously completed a Master of International Relations at the Australian National University in Canberra.<\/p>\n

This article is published under a Creative Commons License and first appeared at Australian Outlook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Voting is now underway in the world\u2019s largest democracy. With many of India\u2019s rural farmers affected by the government\u2019s mismanagement of the economy and the agricultural sector, their votes could be a decisive factor in determining the outcome of the elections. On April 11, India\u2019s 900 million eligible citizens commenced voting in the world\u2019s\u00a0largest democratic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":5769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[233,246],"tags":[905,927,957],"class_list":["post-5768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature-series","category-india-and-south-asia","tag-india-economy","tag-india-election","tag-teesta-prakash"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Jill Moriarty","yoast_head":"\nIndian elections: It\u2019s all about the economy, stupid! | Griffith Asia Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Voting is now underway in the world\u2019s largest democracy. 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For Australia, India has emerged as a new partner offering hope for a more secure and balanced region. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Event - Perspectives:Asia"","block_context":{"text":"Event - Perspectives:Asia","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/category\/events\/perspectives-asia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"(L-R) Simon Elliot, Deputy Director, Collection and Exhibitions at QAGOMA, Dr Andrew Charlton, Member of Parliament for Parramatta and Professor Christoph Nedopil Wang, Director, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University. 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One of the most important, and yet subtle developments this fortnight was a shift in Australia\u2019s position on the ongoing border tensions between India and China.","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/category\/publication\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Griffith Asia Institute - Regional Wrap 54","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/REGIONAL-WRAP-900.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/REGIONAL-WRAP-900.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/REGIONAL-WRAP-900.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/REGIONAL-WRAP-900.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9957,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/southeast-asia-snapshot-57-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":5768,"position":2},"title":"Southeast Asia snapshot #57","author":"Griffith Asia Institute","date":"6 September 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"SOVINDA PO | In this week's Southeast Asia snapshot, Sovinda Po looks at the election of Thailand's new Prime Minister while Singapore gears up for its upcoming Presidential election. Meanshile US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines conduct joint naval drills, highlighting the importance of maintaining strong alliances and fostering regional\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Region | Indonesia and Southeast Asia"","block_context":{"text":"Region | Indonesia and Southeast Asia","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/category\/indonesia-and-southeast-asia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Southeast Asia snapshot banner showing a map of Asia Pacific with lines of networks as an overlay.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/sea-snapshot-900x500-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/sea-snapshot-900x500-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/sea-snapshot-900x500-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/sea-snapshot-900x500-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5292,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/australia-should-brace-for-a-volatile-year-in-foreign-policy-in-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":5768,"position":3},"title":"Australia should brace for a volatile year in foreign policy in 2019","author":"Griffith Asia Institute","date":"4 January 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"SUSAN HARRIS RIMMER | By the end of 2019 we should be able to assess how Australia is travelling with the grand plan laid out in the\u00a02017 Foreign Policy White Paper. In this, an election year, I examine the status of our most important international relationships. My verdict: decidedly shaky.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Feature series"","block_context":{"text":"Feature series","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/category\/publication\/feature-series\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/foreign-policy-volatility-900x500.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/foreign-policy-volatility-900x500.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/foreign-policy-volatility-900x500.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/foreign-policy-volatility-900x500.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10501,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/pacific-outlook-bulletin-24-january\/","url_meta":{"origin":5768,"position":4},"title":"Pacific Outlook Bulletin | 24 January","author":"Griffith Asia Institute","date":"24 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"TESS NEWTON CAIN\u00a0 |\u00a0 Political shifts all round The year has got off to a busy start on the political front. We have seen some significant political shifts across the region. In Papua New Guinea, the Prime Minister, James Marape has reshuffled his cabinet. This sees Justin Tkatchenko reappointed as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/category\/publication\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Griffith University Pacific Outlook banner - map of the Pacific region over a beach background.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/pacific-outlook-banner-900x500-copy-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/pacific-outlook-banner-900x500-copy-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/pacific-outlook-banner-900x500-copy-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/pacific-outlook-banner-900x500-copy-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10002,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/what-might-australia-learn-from-the-nijjar-affair-and-the-breakdown-in-canada-india-relations\/","url_meta":{"origin":5768,"position":5},"title":"What might Australia learn from the Nijjar affair and the breakdown in Canada\u2013India relations?","author":"Griffith Asia Institute","date":"25 September 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"IAN HALL | Justin Trudeau\u2019s\u00a0announcement\u00a0that Canadian authorities suspect India had some role in the killing of Sikh separatist leader\u00a0Hardeep Singh Nijjar\u00a0outside a temple in Surrey, British Columbia on 18 June was dramatic, but hardly unexpected. The Canadian media began speculating about India\u2019s possible involvement soon after Nijjar\u2019s murder, prompted by\u00a0leaks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Region | India and South Asia"","block_context":{"text":"Region | India and South Asia","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/category\/india-and-south-asia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Activists from the United Hindu Front shout slogans during a protest against Canadian PM Justin Trudeau in New Delhi, India","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/india-canada.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/india-canada.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/india-canada.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/india-canada.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"featured_image_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/indian-election-2-900x500.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}