PM’s 100-day agenda may have to jettison core issues for coalition partners

Matters of defence and foreign policy are important, but the new government must address widespread discontent in the country. This begins with investing in the rural sector.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the NDA meeting the day after the elections results were announced | Photo: ANI

The Modi 3.0 government is different from its earlier avatars. The NDA governments in 2014 and 2019 had the BJP enjoying a majority in the Lok Sabha; in 2024, it has to depend on the support of coalition partners like the TDP and JD(U).

During the run-up to the elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed that he intended to roll out a 100-day work plan for his government. This was probably linked to the BJP’s unfinished agenda and the party’s prospects of crossing 400 seats, which did not happen. 

Now that the government is safely in the saddle with coalition partners, the 100-day agenda may have to jettison some of the core issues that the BJP had on its list but may not be preferred by its coalition partners. Yet, one can rest assured of the third-time prime minister’s astuteness and capabilities to get the coalition partners to agree to his wishlist.

Modi 3.0: Minor changes

Belying all guesses and grapevine gossip, the core team of the Modi 3.0 cabinet looks like a replica of the 2019 government with minor changes in the portfolios of ministers. Some candidates from the coalition parties have been appointed ministers while the BJP’s ministers who lost the elections have been replaced by winning candidates.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), one of the highest decision–making bodies of the government, remains the same as it was in the 2019 cabinet. This includes cabinet secretary VR Kotecha and defence secretary Giridhar Aramane as ex officio attendees, whose terms have been extended notwithstanding their advanced age. 

The National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval will also continue in his role. The NSA has been a part of the CCS since the post was created in November 1998 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Besides the CCS, there are other agencies like the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), which offers information and policy inputs to the government on matters of national security, strategy, and other defence–related matters. Such groups, especially the NSAB, should be broad–based and include more experts. They should invite inputs from think tanks with area–specific expertise, considering the multiplicity of conventional and non-conventional threats and challenges.

First task for new govt

There can be no alternative to a strong national security policy and a foolproof apparatus for its implementation. The first task of Modi 3.0 should be to work on the long–pending National Security Strategy, on the lines of the Nuclear Doctrine rolled out by the Vajpayee government after the Pokhran-2 nuclear test in 1998, which, incidentally, also requires a review.

The Prime Minister’s first foreign visit to Italy for the G7 meeting went well, drawing global attention to New Delhi’s stand on present conflicts and challenges to the world order. 

New Delhi has judiciously opted out of the joint communique issued at the end of a two-day summit to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, attended by over 90 countries including India. Modi 3.0 will probably continue to balance power blocs while upholding national interest and strategic autonomy. 

But none of these agendas can precede the issues of price rise, unemployment, agriculture, and rural distress. 

In rural India, where about 65 per cent of the country’s 1.4 billion people live, the BJP is reported to have retained only 126 seats compared to 201 in 2019. This was mainly due to unemployment, reduced incomes, and agriculture-related woes.

The coming assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana will be an opportunity as well as a challenge for BJP’s policies that will be announced in Budget 2024. Rural and social sector spending will have to be balanced with tax sops to urban middle class, who remain the most vocal BJP voters. They helped it retain 78 of the 90 seats it held in urban constituencies.

Combating inflation

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman can heave a sigh of relief over the improved GST collections, mainly thanks to improved compliance, higher tax rates, inflation, and buoyancy in demand. However, the target should be to achieve greater GST collections from the manufacturing sector than from consumer spending. 

Meanwhile, the industry and manufacturing sector is already bearing the burden of heavy taxation, the high cost of capital borrowing, and a lack of consumer spending. 

Consumer income has fallen and savings have been wiped out. Further, the price rise of food items and fuel is also affecting other FMCG products.

A growing economy usually features rising inflation, but the RBI may be tempted to use a higher repo rate to tame money circulation and thus curb inflation. However, this also escalates the borrowing cost for businesses and engineering and capital goods manufacturers that contribute to jobs, services, and foreign investments. 

The finance ministry does not have the comfort of putting off these issues until next year since growing discontent will soon have serious domestic consequences. As India seeks to become the ideal investment and manufacturing destination of the world, it needs a robust economic policy, lesser administrative control, and a non-regressive tax structure.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar rightly stated in May 2024 that India’s reputation has changed globally, and the success of its foreign policy is a manifestation of the country’s domestic policy. As such, there is an urgent need for course correction in domestic policies under Modi 3.0 by putting its best foot forward.

Seshadri Chari is the former editor of ‘Organiser’. He tweets @seshadrichari. Views are personal.

(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)