The full text of the speech can be found here and here.

Key issues from an Offstumped perspective that standout from the speech.

- There is a high degree of confidence in the BJP about the next election

- The Narendra Modi model of Minimum Government and Maximum Governance seems to be the template the BJP will tout

- One can see this template as the underlying theme in the different ideas that emerge in the speech. So when he talks of “elimination of abject poverty” he is not referring to handouts but “massive re-industrialisation” with a focus on  gainful employment, good living conditions and wealth-generation possibilities. Similarly when he talks of the Golden Quadrilateral or Education and Healthcare he is not talking of more massive government funded programs but of “employing the sharp knife of reform”.

- The speech re-iterates the fundamental issue with India – Lack of Governance and a commitment to “Good Governance that will ensure Inclusive Growth”. Once again the slum re-development plan of Narendra Modi is touted as an example of how this can be done.

But more than the policy details here is what stands out in the speech.

Govt’s performance must match the ambition of India’s youth

This is the bottomline folks for the next election. It is not about touting a phony youth icon in a not so young anymore Rahul Gandhi. It is about Performance that can match the hopes and aspirations of a young India on the move. An India that has no time or tolerance for incompetence, sycophancy and figurehead leaders.

A closing note on Populism, as Aryan a regular Offstumped reader points out this post from this blog on populism of the BJP.

Mr. Advani defends populism as a moral obligation but he qualifies his populism with a Modi template

“If by populism is meant efficient, corruption-free and well-targeted delivery of the most basic needs to the most needy sections of our society, yes, we will indeed practice more of such poverty-reducing populism”

Offstumped has no issue with such a template for Populism but would urge Mr. Advani and the BJP to take this template further.

If poverty reducing populism is the Dharma or moral obligation of the Government, Offstumped calls on them to recognize that Dharma is a handshake, a 2 way street. There can be no Dharma in the Ruler discharging his part if the Ruled dont discharge theirs.

For this moral obligation to have moral sanction, the BJP’s poverty reducing populism must be premised on this basic Dharma of Governance

the creation of an Ownership Society that perpetuates a Culture of Responsibility rather than the creation of a Dependent Society that craves for and panders to a Culture of Entitlement