SubscriberWrites: Does Indian politics have space for libertarians?

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It is important to first acknowledge the fact that Indian politics always had liberal voices and to recognize the great contributions they have done for India during their short spells in power. Today, the oomph of populism in our politics cuts across party lines and ideologies with each party promising to out compete the other. Never mind our shambolic public health and education, especially in the Hindi heartland, our almost bankrupt discoms, poor infrastructure in our cities which leaves our cities paralyzed during the monsoons. A brief look at the political parties’ manifestos’ in their elections will make one wonder if there is any difference in their political economy. Economically, there is no free lunch because someone is paying for it, and it eventually catches up with the public in the form of new and higher taxes. 

In the past, there was the Swatantra party that had redoubtable stalwarts like C Rajagopalachari, K. M. Munshi, V. P. Menon, Minoo Masani, and Gayatri Devi. Then there was Nani Palkhivala with his Forum of Free Enterprise. Their intellectual authority, and for some their parliamentary skills, enabled them to weigh in on various issues on our economy and society. And in the last decade of the 20th century and the early years of the 2000s, it felt as if there was an epoch of liberalism in our politics with the likes of Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, on one hand, presenting the 1991 budget which began the journey of economic reforms in India along with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh, Arun Shourie, and Yashwant Sinha carrying it forward on the other hand and not to be left behind with P Chidambaram presenting the dream budget during those coalition governments. It was the Vajpayee government to set up the disinvestment ministry and embark on large-scale privatization. That era marked the golden period of Indian economic reforms/growth, the rise of Indian civil society, and the project of slowly getting the government out of peoples’ lives. As that era faded, the voices carrying forward the baton of liberalism have been getting fewer and fewer to a situation now where almost none exist in our political discourse and especially in the parliament.  

Today there is a new wave of a combination of populism, and fiscal irresponsibility, masqueraded as ‘new welfarism’, sweeping through our politics and there is no one within the political establishment who is willing to stand up and warn the dangers our politicians are indulging in. There isn’t a single party that is willing to stand up and criticize the central government’s economic policy where Indians are paying their highest taxes since 1991 reforms. If at all some politicians and parties would prefer it be raised higher. Then there was a political consensus that emerged after the 1991 reforms of lowering trade barriers and high tariffs. Under the Modi government, every year import duties are raised, and items are put under import ban to ‘protect’ domestic industry; but there is no voice within the BJP or in other parties who are willing to criticize this. A quick glance at our state governments and the picture seems to be the same. As the congress ruled states revert to the old pension system there is no voice willing to question this anti-reform and regressive measure; Mamatha Banerjee’s policies in West Bengal and Arvind Kejriwal are more to left of socialists. Let us not forget, it was Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee from CPI who pushed West Bengal towards industrialization until its steam ran out because of Banerjee’s opposition to the Tata Nano factory in Singur. Down south, Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra has worked really hard since coming to power to drive away foreign investors and destroy the once newly planned city of Amravati and with no opposition, he seems to be having great success. 

Since Modi government’s decision on demonetization and faulty implementation of the GST, Indian economy has been on a decline which the pandemic has only made it worse, at this crucial juncture, India needs a liberal voice, or more explicitly a libertarian voice, that is willing to provide an alternative and a new vision to take the country forward which she desperately needs. 

Also read: Minoo Masani is India’s forgotten liberal who went against Nehru’s all-pervasive socialism

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