- In the last few years, two competing models of governance & development are developing in the country – the Delhi model (now also being implemented in Punjab) and the UP model.
- While the Delhi model banks on freebies and minority appeasement, the UP model delivers on good governance, law & order, investment, spiritualism.
- PM Modi came to power at the centre banking on his Gujarat model, and now the leaders in the state must develop an alternative to project themselves as future contenders for the post of the highest executive chair in the country (Prime Minister).
Yogi vs Kejriwal
Two people who are succeeding in this are Yogi Adityanath and Arvind Kejriwal. When they came to power in respective states with a huge majority, they had to struggle with the mess left by previous governments. Kejriwal asked for financial help from the centre for cleaning Delhi’s mess and his party CM in Punjab is asking for 50,000 crore rupees to clean Punjab mess, whereas the Yogi government deployed the state’s resources to develop one of the most efficient governance models.
Today Yogi Adityanath is the most preferred choice for future PM among the people across the country. When BJP came to power in UP with a full majority in 2017, very few people in the political establishment had the idea that the party could choose Yogi Adityanath-head of Gorakhnath math as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Also Read: Meet the rejuvenated cabinet of Yogi 2.0
His appointment was criticized by the left-liberal establishment and many people questioned the credentials of the saffron-clad priest as an administrator. Some people who were sympathetic to BJP but had a more modern outlook argued that Yogi Adityanath might be able to achieve the Hindutva project but would fail on the Governance and political economy front.
A person clad in a saffron robe was not a CM material in the eyes of political pundits trained in Nehru’s socialist and secular Lutyen’s establishment. But BJP and RSS stood behind the man who was the first choice of the majority of the elected MLAs and Yogi was anointed as the Chief Minister.
And five years down the line, he is the second most popular CM in the country. The Yogi government is delivering efficient welfare, but focusing more on investment in infrastructure and incentives to companies to deliver jobs and development.
Also Read: After regaining power Yogi Adityanath eyes his unfinished dream of $1 trillion economy
On the other hand, AAP is betting on the same old theme of government jobs and the Garibi Hatao model of Congress. Since coming to power, The Bhagwant Mann led AAP government in Punjab has ordered 25,000 government jobs to be created in the state and services of 35,000 contractual employees to be regularised.
The Yogi government has organized various investor summits and expos in the last few years to attract private investment. And these events have been quite successful, with the promise of investment worth 4.68 lakh crore rupees in the UP Investor summit and more than 70,000 crore rupees in the defence expo organized a few months ago.
UP has the existing capacity to replace China as the ‘factory of the world’ with a population of 22 crores and young demography. With the outbreak of Coronavirus and anger towards China, the companies of developed nations that have manufacturing units in China are looking for other avenues.
The question of reliability of the Models
The Yogi model is more implementable across the country and will prepare the nation for the future rather than the old Congress model that Kejriwal is trying to adopt with minor tweaks. Also, the Yogi model is one of Atma-Nirbharta rather than seeking funds from the centre to deliver freebies. Kejriwal model may be viable for a small time in smaller states & UTs like Punjab & Delhi which are already prosperous but not in a larger state like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, or Madhya Pradesh.
