The spectacular parliamentary election win, for which the credit goes largely to Narendra Modi, suggests he will hit the ground running, as he has shown beyond doubt that he is a man of action and vision. He set out to win and he won. It is this that endeared him to the millions that voted for him.
To fulfil without much delay some of the aspirations he stoked, particularly of the youth, the unemployed and India Inc., he will have to pluck at the low-hanging fruits for which he does not have to approach Parliament or deal with contentious issues like land reforms, etc. He will immediately have to reach out to the states for their cooperation to get infrastructure projects off the ground to create employment and put purchasing power in the hands of consumers; curb inflation, which has burnt holes in the pockets of wage and daily-wage earners, by removing supply-side constraints and bottlenecks.
He and his government can announce rationalising of taxes, give incentives for releasing the productive capabilities and animal spirit of the burgeoning numbers of entrepreneurs in rural and urban India, curb wasteful expenditure and wasteful subsidies by targeting them to the right people, and remove unnecessary tax concessions given to India Inc. They can be better served by steps to promote the ease of doing business for global and domestic investors, and to curb corruption. This would mean taking quick and transparent decisions on projects that have been awaiting the nod of the government and bureaucrats.
