BJP should make Bengal’s industrial decline the focus of its state election campaign

As the West Bengal assembly elections get into top gear, it is fascinating how core economic issues are conspicuous by their absence in the electoral discourse. The state’s budget has assumed a nominal economic growth of 8 per cent while the national economy is set to contract by 4.2 per cent in this pandemic hit fiscal year. But, in order to counter and question this, the state’s BJP leadership will need the mindset to address economic issues, which it unfortunately does not seem to have.

Instead, the election discourse is predominantly in terms of Ram versus the religious minorities. After having made clear inroads into the middle and the upper middle classes, the state’s BJP is seeking to negate the strong hold that Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has on Muslim votes.

One would have thought that, given West Bengal’s lack of industrial growth and decline over the decades of Left Front and Trinamool rule and the fact that Bengali youth have been forced to look outside the state for jobs, the economy would have been an obvious choice for the opposition.

Under Left Front rule West Bengal followed a clear policy to work for the rights of workers and cultivators (Operation Barga), along with total unconcern for the needs of corporate investors. Militant trade unionism led to the closure of hundreds of factories. When the leadership woke up to this and actively sought out big ticket investments, Mamata Banerjee, through populist agitations at Nandigram and Singur against the Nano project of the Tatas, scuttled the programme.

And that is where the state has remained ever since – negligible big ticket investment and the spread of a pernicious grassroots political culture that makes it difficult for factory owners to operate amidst the demands of the ‘local boys’.

The BJP has a clear opportunity here. Nationally, the capitalist ideology of the BJP has launched the economy on a new path with focus on the private sector, seeking to improve the ease of doing business and with a road map for privatisation of public sector enterprises. Large investors, domestic and foreign, are welcome so long as they promote self-reliance or an AatmaNirbhar Bharat.

It should thus be easy for the West Bengal BJP to promise big ticket investment and make it a top electoral talking point. But instead, the issue is barely visible. The BJP could have capitalised on its record in attracting investment in states such as Gujarat and promised investment by big business in West Bengal too, with many quality jobs. But that has not been a key campaigning promise.

Perhaps the problem is that even if the promise of big ticket investment is made, there would be doubts as to whether if the BJP wins it can deliver on the promise. The fact is the state BJP is now dominated by those who have switched from not just the Trinamool but from the Left and the Congress too. Their ideology may well be just as populist as the Trinamool’s or the Left’s.

The new recruits to the BJP are unlikely to forget their grassroot workers, who will not just want to carry on with their rent seeking way of life but expect to enjoy political protection. It is difficult to visualise a new set of ministers (old wine in new bottle) firmly telling their local boys to keep off businesses and not make periodic demands as was their way of life during Trinamool rule.

All of which is a pity. There is scope for making the state a host for modern manufacturing and a key transit point for an efficient supply chain that can feed the economies of Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar.

Power, ports and roads are already in reasonably good shape in south Bengal, which has been the traditional manufacturing hub of the state. The much-needed catalyst is a business-friendly state government, ready to roll out the red carpet for investors.

It is also imperative for West Bengal to train workers who can deliver in a digitally driven factory, working alongside robots. This cannot happen in a day, but you have to start sometime. And the way to begin is to put all efforts into making Kolkata an IT hub.

As for West Bengal becoming an efficient supply chain link in the regional economy, with the centre announcing several new railway projects, it should get easier over time to ship goods from Kolkata and Haldia to not just neighbouring countries but also the Northeast through Bangladesh. Transit arrangements have already been initiated and a proactive external affairs ministry can give the idea a further push.

Perhaps the most important focus for promoting speedier economic growth in West Bengal is agriculture. The state is already an efficient grower of horticulture. It has long engaged in contract cultivation of potatoes for PepsiCo. With the agricultural reforms initiated by the centre, there is great scope for improving the incomes of the state’s farmers, who have mostly small holdings. They are not as dependent on sale of large crops at mandis and raising productivity in such farms which can’t go in for extensive mechanisation will be challenging but doable.

In fact, West Bengal can become a second model for agriculture driven growth after Punjab, in addition to reclaiming its past industrial glory. But that vision needs a particular type of political leadership. The current election campaign unfortunately doesn’t hold that promise.