How UPA itself is fueling Narendra Modi's ascent to mass appeal

You can trust the inimitable Jairam Ramesh to say it as the Gandhi dynasty sees it. The Union minister summed up his party's economic philosophy when he told a leading newspaper that reviving the proverbial animal spirits should be done in a way to ensure that the animals don't become man-eaters. Implicit in his statement is a deep suspicion of entrepreneurs, the reflexive socialist notion that private profit is dangerous. It, therefore, follows that the wild beasts of the private sector must be kept on a tight leash by the Government. It is only fitting, given the wildlife metaphors, that the Ministry of Environment, Ramesh's den from 2009 to 2011, has performed the task of enforcing the new leash-raj for Indian industry.

In reality, it is the Government that has morphed into a man-eater. It has killed private enterprise. It has chewed away at economic growth, reducing it from 9 per cent to 5 per cent. It is omnipresent in every sphere of a citizen's life, extracting bribes to deliver what is due, nothing extra. Worse, it shows no sign of changing habit. That a purportedly pro-market P. Chidambaram towed the party line so faithfully in his meek Budget suggests that the debate within the Congress is over. No matter what the Prime Minister says, India cannot regain an 8 per cent economic growth trajectory as long as it is guided by a Government-first principle. The tenure of UPA 1 was an aberration. The economy flew high on the animal spirits of over-exuberant financial geniuses in the West. That era is over. The sources of growth must now come from within India, but outside Government.