Can new ‘UP Model’ do what ‘Gujarat model’ did in 2014
In October 2017, marking six months of the freshly anointed chief ministership of Adityanath, the state tourism ministry had released a brochure of must-see tourist destinations in Uttar Pradesh. One omission that raised many eyebrows was that of the Taj Mahal. Coming a few months after Adityanath had publicly stated that the Taj ‘did not reflect Indian values’, there was understandable concern, especially from those in Agra who depended on tourism for a living. It was left to Allahabad West MLA Sidharth Nath Singh — then health minister before being shifted as MSME minister in the 2019 state cabinet reshuffle — to come out and state that there had been ‘some miscommunication which has undermined the Taj Mahal’ and that there were even ‘plans to construct an international airport in Agra’. One argument for the exclusion was that the Taj was an Indian tourist attraction, not ‘just’ an UP one, so didn’t need ‘special treatment’.
It seems that nearly five years later, as another round of assembly elections approaches UP, the ‘Taj is Indian, not UP’s alone’ rationale is being hitched on to a bigger framework. In 2017, the BJP-Narendra Modi’s ‘Gujarat model’ sales pitch was still a palpable USP. Replicating the development and economic model ostensibly humming under the Gujarat chief minister Modi from 2001 to 2014 across India under the post-2014 prime minister Modi was, indeed, a bankable project. But while that vikas model has certainly not expired, the theory of diminishing returns may have kicked in since 2017.
The UP vikas project may not yet be up and running as a stage show, it is, however, certainly the blueprint being advertised not just by the state government, but also by the central BJP leadership as well as the Modi government. Inaugurating the Rs 339 crore first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham earlier this week, Varanasi MP Modi was keen to recontextualise the Kashi Vishwanath Temple — not ‘just’ as a site for pilgrimage tourism in UP, but as one in India. Along with Ayodhya — where J P Nadda and chief ministers of BJP states went on a pilgrimage package tour — Kashi is set to be the 2021 version of ‘Taj is in UP, but is India’s’ calling card.
The ‘UP model’ is, of course, riding on the back of the classic ‘Gujarat model’ — expressways, FDIs, MoUs — with Sidharth Nath Singh in his MSME minister avatar this time trotting up numbers in investments and employment to impress both prospective voters in UP and stakeholders beyond the state. The efficacy of the BJP ‘double engine’ of governance is being pushed hard through another double engine — vikas and (revenue-generating) sanskriti. While the posse of BJP CMs extolled their Ayodhya visit as ‘spiritually exhilarating’ on Wednesday appreciating the development work done by their UP colleague, the prime minister, a day earlier at the Swarved Mahamandir —‘the world’s largest meditation centre where no gods are worshipped’ that is set to be inaugurated in 2024 — underlined how ‘su raj’ (good governance) is as important as ‘swaraj’ (self-governance), urging people to focus on education and skill development, especially of young women.
The Adityanath-Modi ‘double engine’ literally visible and humming in perfect unison in press release photos may be more obviously about Modi lending his arm for 2022-bound Adityanath. But it is as much about what this ‘synced’ model and its example holds for 2024-bound India going to choose a national government.
Today, Modi will be virtually addressing the last day of the three-day pre-10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2022 that is scheduled for January 10-12, 2022. Despite the Bhupendra Patel government trotting out the figure of Rs 2,359 crore for investment in MoUs in the agriculture sector in Gujarat, and the theme of the 2022 summit, ‘From Aatmanirbhar Gujarat to Aatmanirbhar India’, mirroring the ‘Gujarat model’ yet again for pan-Indian ‘customers’, its efficacy as a national template seems to have reached its natural limits in the fag end of 2021. Instead, there seems to be a freshness in the ‘UP model’ being worked out and showcased in real time by the BJP central leadership with the state leadership in tow.
Whether this new model will do what the ‘Gujarat model’ did in 2014 and in subsequent years is too early to know. But it is this dependence on ‘New UP’ clicking, rather than the recycled sparkle of ‘New India’, that the BJP is investing in. In this UP government’s success now lies this Indian government’s success. Which, in BJP-speak, would be: UP will show India the way. This is as much a carefully planned project as it is a leap of faith.
It seems that nearly five years later, as another round of assembly elections approaches UP, the ‘Taj is Indian, not UP’s alone’ rationale is being hitched on to a bigger framework. In 2017, the BJP-Narendra Modi’s ‘Gujarat model’ sales pitch was still a palpable USP. Replicating the development and economic model ostensibly humming under the Gujarat chief minister Modi from 2001 to 2014 across India under the post-2014 prime minister Modi was, indeed, a bankable project. But while that vikas model has certainly not expired, the theory of diminishing returns may have kicked in since 2017.
The UP vikas project may not yet be up and running as a stage show, it is, however, certainly the blueprint being advertised not just by the state government, but also by the central BJP leadership as well as the Modi government. Inaugurating the Rs 339 crore first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham earlier this week, Varanasi MP Modi was keen to recontextualise the Kashi Vishwanath Temple — not ‘just’ as a site for pilgrimage tourism in UP, but as one in India. Along with Ayodhya — where J P Nadda and chief ministers of BJP states went on a pilgrimage package tour — Kashi is set to be the 2021 version of ‘Taj is in UP, but is India’s’ calling card.
The ‘UP model’ is, of course, riding on the back of the classic ‘Gujarat model’ — expressways, FDIs, MoUs — with Sidharth Nath Singh in his MSME minister avatar this time trotting up numbers in investments and employment to impress both prospective voters in UP and stakeholders beyond the state. The efficacy of the BJP ‘double engine’ of governance is being pushed hard through another double engine — vikas and (revenue-generating) sanskriti. While the posse of BJP CMs extolled their Ayodhya visit as ‘spiritually exhilarating’ on Wednesday appreciating the development work done by their UP colleague, the prime minister, a day earlier at the Swarved Mahamandir —‘the world’s largest meditation centre where no gods are worshipped’ that is set to be inaugurated in 2024 — underlined how ‘su raj’ (good governance) is as important as ‘swaraj’ (self-governance), urging people to focus on education and skill development, especially of young women.
The Adityanath-Modi ‘double engine’ literally visible and humming in perfect unison in press release photos may be more obviously about Modi lending his arm for 2022-bound Adityanath. But it is as much about what this ‘synced’ model and its example holds for 2024-bound India going to choose a national government.
Today, Modi will be virtually addressing the last day of the three-day pre-10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2022 that is scheduled for January 10-12, 2022. Despite the Bhupendra Patel government trotting out the figure of Rs 2,359 crore for investment in MoUs in the agriculture sector in Gujarat, and the theme of the 2022 summit, ‘From Aatmanirbhar Gujarat to Aatmanirbhar India’, mirroring the ‘Gujarat model’ yet again for pan-Indian ‘customers’, its efficacy as a national template seems to have reached its natural limits in the fag end of 2021. Instead, there seems to be a freshness in the ‘UP model’ being worked out and showcased in real time by the BJP central leadership with the state leadership in tow.
Whether this new model will do what the ‘Gujarat model’ did in 2014 and in subsequent years is too early to know. But it is this dependence on ‘New UP’ clicking, rather than the recycled sparkle of ‘New India’, that the BJP is investing in. In this UP government’s success now lies this Indian government’s success. Which, in BJP-speak, would be: UP will show India the way. This is as much a carefully planned project as it is a leap of faith.
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