Modi to Pledge More Jobs, Roads to Woo Citizens: India Votes

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will pledge to build new roads, ports and airports, create additional jobs and improve the ease of doing business in its manifesto, as it seeks to retain power in India’s general election that begins next week.

The BJP will also promise to take its flagship programs -- providing toilets, electricity connections, houses, cooking gas, crop insurance and loans for small businesses -- to more beneficiaries by allocating additional resources, said K. J. Alphons, a member of the party’s manifesto committee.

“The big thrust is going to be on innovation, education, ease of doing business, creating more jobs,’’ said Alphons, 65, minister for tourism, in an interview. “One of the focus areas will be providing basic infrastructure.’’

BJP, which is leading in opinion polls, is offering competitive giveaways to stave off a challenge from the main opposition Congress party, led by Rahul Gandhi, which promised in its manifesto to rid India of poverty by 2030 by providing income support to the poor, waiving farm loans and creating jobs.

With elections poised to start in days, the BJP -- which is yet to announce its manifesto -- is banking on the support of around 220 million Indians it says have directly benefited from the government’s flagship programs, as well as a 750 billion rupees ($10.8 billion) income support program for small farmers and lower taxes for middle-class.

“Our big focus is on job creation. Our focus will be to allocate largest amount of money to poor people to build a basic foundation for their lives like houses, toilets, electricity and healthcare," said Alphons. “Congress writes slogans every 10 years. But for the Modi government that’s not how it works. Every idea that we have taken up works.”

India improved its ranking by 23 spots in the World Bank’s 2019 Ease of Doing Business survey to 77th place among 190 countries. Still, Modi has been criticized by the opposition for not fulfilling his promise of creating 10 million jobs each year -- a pledge that helped him win over India’s youth in the 2014 election. The ruling party denies this charge.

Elections will take place in seven phases between April 11 and May 19, with results to be announced on May 23.

WHAT TO WATCH:

• Congress promises to provide 72,000 rupees ($1,046) annually to poor families
• India’s communist party to halt sale of state companies if it wins elections
• Modi to address a public meeting in Uttarakhand on Friday.

POLITICAL ALLIANCES:

IN THE MEDIA:

• Gandhi’s assets rose to 158 million rupees from 94 million rupees in five years: PTI
• For 30 years, no Muslim lawmaker from Gujarat in Lok Sabha or lower house: ToI
• Election 2019: How India voted in the last five years may offer a clue: BQ

ELECTION & MARKETS:

• Outcomes in the eastern and north eastern region of India will have a significant bearing on post-poll government formation, Amit Khurana, head of equities at Dolat Capital Market, said in a March 26 report.
• BJP leadership believes the electoral results from the region will help it compensate for expected losses in other states, said Khurana
• How to diversify as India vote rocks most-expensive Asian stocks

OPINION POLLS:

LATEST COMMENTS:

• “I am telling you, an inquiry will be initiated after elections and the other chowkidar will be in jail," Gandhi said in a rally, referring to Modi’s exhortation to everybody to become a ‘chowkidar’ or watchman. Gandhi was referring to the probe on the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal.
• "Right from its inception, the BJP has never regarded those who disagree with us politically as our ‘enemies’, but only as our adversaries," former BJP president L.K. Advani said in a blog.

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVES:

• Congress Party Reminds Modi What Reform Looks Like: Mihir Sharma
• A Murky Flood of Money Pours Into the World’s Largest Election
• The Wrong Way to Fight Fake News Ahead of Elections: Editorial
• Why India’s Election Is Among the World’s Most Expensive
• Inside India’s Colossal, Colorful, Tough-to-Predict Election
• Modi Hopes $27 Billion Bet on Women Will Swing Election His Way

ECONOMY:

• India Central Bank Cuts Key Rate to Boost Flagging Economy
• India’s Central Bank to Issue New Rules on Bad Debt Resolution

EARLIER STORIES:

• India Opposition Leader Gandhi Pledges to End Poverty by 2030
• Modi vs Who? India’s Ruling Party Pushes Presidential Election
  Quotas Set to Change the Balance of Power for Women in India
• Young, Angry and ‘Untouchable’: India’s Low-Caste Threat to Modi
• Tackling Rising Hate Speech in the World’s Biggest Election
• India’s Gen Z Voters’ Call for 2019 Election: More Jobs, Please

QUICKTAKE:

• Your Guide to India’s Upcoming General Election
• Why Election Goodies Await India’s Struggling Farmers
• Why India’s Lower Castes Could Hold Key to Election

To contact the reporters on this story: Shruti Srivastava in New Delhi at ssrivastav74@bloomberg.net;Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Arijit Ghosh

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