Why This UP Election May Be A Game-Changer For Bharat

The stock market ended up on a buoyant note on Thursday. Global cues apart, the investors had a lot to cheer.

The reelection of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh -which is as big as Brazil in terms of population - sealed the fate of the 2024 Parliamentary election and ensured policy continuity towards sustainable growth and transformational change in the Indian economy.

That such assurances came at one of the most turbulent phases of world history, adds an international perspective to this election.

It was practically a referendum to the Narendra Modi government in Delhi that had done an outstanding job during the pandemic and was now tasked to protect Indian interests in the emerging global order where the Russia-China axis challenged the supremacy of the US-led NATO.

After 30 years of globalization, the world is standing on the verge of being divided again. India cannot join any camp. It has to come up as a new power centre - both economically, militarily – that will not give in to totalitarian, expansionist forces and will lead the democratic world in this region.

Difficult job indeed. But that’s what a strong government, backed by people’s mandate, is cut out to undertake.

Strong UP to make stronger India

It doesn’t need any economist to tell that the turnaround of UP, which is home to 15 percent of India’s population, is crucial for transforming India into an economic power.

Surprisingly enough, except for some brief interventions by Kalyan Singh (September 1997-November 1999) and Mayawati (May 2007 – March 2012) governments; the agenda more or less missed the attention of the policymakers in the state as well as the Centre, for the majority of the 75 years of Independence.

Starting with Jawaharlal Nehru to the incumbent Narendra Modi; UP produced eight Prime Ministers cutting across party and ideological lines.

Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and the entire Nehru-Gandhi clan were elected from here time and again. India’s fifth Prime Minister Charan Singh was also the fifth Chief Minister of UP. V P Singh was the 12th Chief Minister.

But Uttar Pradesh became an epitome of lawlessness, riots, religious and caste conflicts and last but not least the home of the maximum number of poor in India.

Well-known socialist leader Chandra Sekhar won successive elections from Ballia and became the eighth Prime Minister of India. But his eastern UP lived in abject poverty and a complete lack of development.

The vicious cycle was broken with the arrival of Modi in the Centre in 2014 and Yogi Adityanath becoming the Chief Minister in 2017. Five years is no time to make a highly backward State (excepting areas closer to Delhi) an economic powerhouse. But it was enough time to establish the intent.

The long-pending Saryu Nahar canal irrigation project was implemented in barely four years. It will irrigate over 14 lakh hectares of land in nine districts in eastern UP, which now enjoys expressway connectivity to Delhi. A gas-based fertilizer plant also started operating in the region.

Till 2017, UP had as many airports as Tamil Nadu, despite being twice in the area and three times in population. It was a pain to travel through the roads of UP when compared to neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.

The ‘double engine’ government worked at unprecedented speed. Mayawati built Noida -Agra (165 km) expressway in Western UP. Akhilesh Yadav (2007-12) took it to Lucknow (300 km). Yogi extended the expressway network by 640 km to the East and the South.

Kushinagar, an important Buddhist site in the east, has an international airport. Two more international airports are coming up – including Jewar in Noida, in the outskirts of Delhi - to take the total to five. Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti scheme aims to convert Noida into a logistics hub, followed by Varanasi.

The change is most visible in law and order. Till 2017, night travel was a strict no-no in most parts of UP. All that is history today. The change was appreciated by voters, particularly women voters, who played a crucial role in the reelection of the Yogi government.

Triggering growth in the hinterland

Good law-and-order and rapid infrastructure creation should go a long way in helping Uttar Pradesh attract investments in the days to come.

The work has already begun in this direction. The dedicated railway freight corridor, National Waterway development and PM Gati Shakti together will ensure efficient port connectivity.

On the manufacturing side, Yogi’s bid to attract investment in defence equipment manufacturing can be a gamechanger for UP.

The Defence Corridor has already started getting big-ticket investments. The trend may consolidate in the next few years as the emerging global scenario makes it imperative for India to reduce import dependence, drastically.

Either way, the development push in UP is potent enough to trigger a cultural shift in the entire Hindi heartland which has long been prisoner of caste politics without much regard to development and quality of life.

The impact is already felt in Bihar. Following the footsteps of the Yogi government, the Bihar government recently bid for expressways. The first such project was awarded. Bihar has corrected its law-and-order issues. Hopefully, it will now do more on the industry and infrastructure front.

Together UP and Bihar contribute 22 percent of India’s population and are the biggest culprits in bringing the nation’s human development score down. Better governance can save India lot of ignominy.