Wanted; A Leader For Indians

The General Elections–2014, Bharatiya Janata Party launched its campaign based on socioeconomic and aspirational politics uniting fragmented millions. After being elected leader of the BJP parliamentary party, Prime Minister-elect Mr Narendra Modi repeated his campaign motto of taking all segments of society along and promised development for all. He has a daunting task ahead. He needs to reform an economy suffering the worst slowdown since 1980s. His government needs to reduce fiscal deficit—which will help to bring down inflation and enable lowering of interest rates, which should be his second goal. Then, there needs to be modernisation and expansion of irrigation facilities to reduce dependence on unpredictable weather conditions, increase expenditure on R&D, facilitate connection between small farmers and final consumers, build adequate infrastructure for better transportation of food supplies and raw materials, and develop modern facilities for storage and distribution. People are impatient now. The public will not give our Prime Minister-elect much time to deliver. True, Modi has run a slick campaign but his economic policies are far from well-defined. He needs to remember that delivering at a state level is one thing; national level politics and economics is a whole new ball game altogether. So good luck to the man. Having secured a huge mandate where all sections of society voted for him, Modi must now be a Prime Minister for all Indians rather than sections—he would not be able to fulfil his growth and development goals unless he manages to unite not just the millions but the billion.

Continuing on the theme of daunting tasks and strong leadership, we have Mr R. Gopalakrishnan on the cover. He has steered companies through tough times and has four books to his credit; in this exclusive interview he talks of what it takes to be a good business leader. His words are not just for those in corporate sector. Though we have the usual fare of articles—I would especially emphasise on the Issue section. Finally, a salute to democracy and people’s choice, and hopefully, to secularism as well!