Resolve Ram mandir through talks, debate Article 370’

Seshadri Chari, former editor of the RSS weekly Organiser and BJP national executive member, tells DH’s Sagar Kulkarni that Modi, in his second term, should focus on strengthening manufacturing and job creation, address farm crisis and be prepared for a failure of the political structure in Pakistan

Narendra Modi has won an overwhelming mandate. What should be his governance priorities now?

Narendra Modi has already spoken about his priorities while addressing party workers from the BJP headquarters. Essentially, this would be a continuation of the last five years of NDA government. The last five years saw initiation of a number of social projects aimed at poverty alleviation. So, like the Ujjwala scheme, housing for poor, initiatives to benefit farmers and Mudra loans, especially for those who do not have access to credit, were the highlights of his first term in office. But I think the thrust in the next five years should be on strengthening the fundamentals of Make in India, increasing production and boosting manufacturing so that there is greater job creation.

What should be Modi’s approach to tackle agrarian distress?

Farm distress is a complicated problem. On the one hand, it affects the farmers, but it has ramifications in other sectors of the economy also. If the farmer has money in his pocket, there will be overall improvement in the rural economy. There is a tendency to look at farming from the narrow outlook of its contribution to GDP. This outlook needs to change. In a country where more than 60% of the population depends on agriculture, there is an urgent need to lay more emphasis on agriculture. Successive governments have not been able to frame a comprehensive agricultural policy. I hope the Modi government, in its second avatar, is able to redress the grievances of the farm sector and improve rural economy.

The BJP government faced criticism for scrapping the Sub-Plans for SC/ST. How can the government adopt a more inclusive approach towards these communities?

I think there have been schemes for tribal welfare. Some of them suffered from inadequate implementation mechanism. These holes in governance should be plugged.

Although there was some fund diversion in some schemes, the same has been compensated through substitute schemes. But no doubt, we need a more concentrated effort to tackle the problem of connectivity, health, education and income generation in tribal areas.

Pakistan dominated the election campaign. What should change in how the government deals with Pakistan?

Our foreign policy cannot be Pakistan-centric. There is a gamut of foreign policy issues. It is a vast canvas. I think we have dealt with a number of issues that have emerged in the last five years.

When we are dealing with Pakistan, we are not dealing with one government or one country. There are different power centres in Pakistan. And when we are dealing with Pakistan, we are also dealing with China, we are dealing with Russia, the US, and many other countries. So, we have to strike a balance between all these countries which have their own self interests.

Going by the deterioration of Pakistan’s economy and the strength of its civil society, things could turn bad. India should appeal to the world community to be prepared for a possible breakdown of the political structure and constitutional mechanism in Pakistan.

What are the expectations of the RSS from Modi 2.0?

RSS work is not dependent on government. But RSS is keen to improve governance, because it impacts the entire society. There are certain priority areas like agriculture, women and child welfare, youth, health and education where RSS would like the government to concentrate.

What about Ram Mandir and Article 370?

Ram Mandir issue is subject to judicial decision. So, as long as the apex court is seized of the issue, there is not much the government can do. Ultimately, the Ayodhya temple issue has to be resolved through dialogue, cooperation and consensus. A politically strong and stable government at the Centre is better placed to resolve this issue. As far as Article 370 and Article 35A are concerned, the matter needs greater debate in the public domain and creation of awareness about the origin and redundancy of these provisions, which were essentially temporary in nature.