How double engine can mean development
When we travel from Mumbai to Pune by train, we come across a hilly Ghat section where the train has to climb up for some distance. On this stretch, just one regular locomotive engine fails to pull up the train at the requisite speed. Hence, before the Ghat section starts, an additional engine is connected to the rear, ensuring that the train moves apace and climbs the incline seamlessly. Obviously then, the term ‘double engine government’ indicates a special arrangement to overcome challenges and continue at a certain pace of development. The BJP has used this imagery to reassure voters that under a double engine government, the development agenda would continue without any hindrance.
Over the years, double engine has not remained confined to only being an addition to the contemporary political lexicon. Since 2014, the promise of double engine government has been a major plank for BJP’s electoral campaigns and one has to understand the logic behind it. While the validity of BJP’s argument could certainly be minutely examined in the context of ground realities, one wonders why the Congress never canvassed on this theme in the past.
The BJP’s argument is easy to understand not just because there is evidence underscoring it. Two other factors also underpin the logic—the obvious policy convergence and the BJP’s structured mechanism of monitoring state governments’ performances. But first, let’s examine the evidence available in public domain.
Let’s begin with health. The maternal mortality rate of Madhya Pradesh, which was 221 out of 100,000 live births during the UPA regime at the Centre and BJP government at the state (2011-2013), decreased to 173 in 2022 after nine years of double-engine government. Notably, Madhya Pradesh has ranked number one in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. The infant mortality rate, which was 54 per 1,000 live births during the UPA regime, improved to 43 in 2022.
On other socio-economic fronts, too, double engine seems to have had an impact. Under UPA, Madhya Pradesh’s record on average person-days of employment per household under MGNREGA was 43 in 2011-12. This was increased to an average of 50.03 person-days in 2022-23.The number of households availing 100 days of employment under the MGNREGA in Madhya Pradesh increased from 2,80,656 in 2011-12 to 3,22,434 in 2020-21—giving employment to nearly 50,000 more households.
Even an analysis of average growth numbers in different eras can shed light on how double engine helps. Between 2004 and 2014 the average year-on-year growth in capital expenditure in Madhya Pradesh was about 10.68 percent, whereas from 2014 to 2023 it went up to 14.23 percent. This happened because the conditions for farm production improved. The annual increase in the gross irrigated area went from 5.5 percent during 2004-2014 to 7.48 percent in the six years thereafter. This impacted foodgrains production—it was at 22,978 thousand tonnes in 2013-14 and saw a sharp increase to 32,844.2 thousand tonnes in 2020-21. Niti Aayog’s numbers show the production of rice, pulses and wheat increased between 40 and 50 percent, forcing the state to undertake enhancement of its foodgrains storage capacity—from 59.2 lakh metric tonnes in 2013 to 167.86 LMT in 2021 in the double engine era.
The impact of double engine is reflected well on overall economic numbers, too. The gross state domestic product of Madhya Pradesh, which was `4,34,729 crore in 2013-14 is projected to grow to more than `13,00,000 crore in 2023-24. Same is the case for per-capita income in the state: from `0.59 lakh in 2013-14, it has now more than doubled to `1.4 lakh during 2022-23.
When the same political party rules at the Centre and also a state not only does it reduce the chances of political slugfests, but it can also enhance the scale and pace of development. In 2021, while campaigning for assembly elections in Tripura, Prime Minister Modi had rightly pointed out that thanks to double engine, it had transformed from being a power-deficit state to a power-surplus one.
Policy convergence with the Centre can give an edge to any state government. It becomes easier for state governments to push their cases in sync as the doubting Thomases automatically get silenced. There are scores of examples of the recalcitrant approach of certain state governments ruled by adversaries of the dispensation at the Centre leading to bottlenecks and obstacles. Whether it is the new National Education Policy or the jobs scheme, there are many states who seem hell-bent upon taking a partisan view and opposing most of what the Centre wants states to work upon.
Most critics of the BJP usually rush to point out that the double engine has failed in Manipur. This is nothing but oversimplification. Those who know the history of inter-community conflicts and social divide in Manipur would know that thanks to double engine, the situation in a state known for months-long blockades and strikes could be brought under control. Synergy in the approaches of decision makers in Delhi and in Imphal has helped in multiple ways.
Over a period, the double engine concept has caught the imagination of the people. So much so that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, willy-nilly accepting the logic, recently commented that the country needs a double-engine government, but led by a non-BJP alliance.
However, BJP’s idea of double engine can’t be compared with any other party parroting the same language. This is essentially because BJP’s structured mechanism of following up on expectations from the party is unparalleled. Unlike all other political parties, the BJP has dedicated departments looking at good governance and policy research. Through this apparatus the BJP conducts conclaves of all its chief ministers wherein not just senior party leaders but the PM himself participates. These meetings serve the purpose of analysing threadbare the performance of state governments, understanding their issues and above all motivating others to emulate some formulas adopted by another BJP-ruled state government. Best practices get a better play.
(Views are personal)
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
President, ICCR, and senior BJP leader
(vinays57@gmail.com)