BJP (5years) vs. Congress (70years)

The two main political parties in India, Congress and BJP, both have their strengths, weaknesses and contributions to the country. Following is a side by side comparison of their governments along relevant parameters -

Economy:

(1) In first 17 years after independence, Mr. Nehru established industrialization (steel plants, power plants), higher education institutes (IITs, IIMs, RECs, AIIMS), Atomic Energy Commission and INCOSPAR (renamed to ISRO in 1969)

(2) But for the first 44 years under Congress rule, India saw little or no economic growth. Till as recently as 1985, more than 90 percent Indians lived on less than a dollar a day . India’s GDP growth rate was mocked by West as “Hindu rate of growth”

(3) It was only in 1991, when the first Congress PM outside Nehru family, Mr Narasimha Rao broke away from Nehruvian policies and unleashed large scale economic reforms, that helped India grow in subsequent years

(4) After losing 44 years to lackluster growth, India’s GDP got an upward push only in 1990’s (under Mr. Rao of Congress) and got wings after 2002 (under Mr. Vajpayee of BJP)

(5) Business sentiment and investment environment improved under BJP governments. Other than Mr. Rao, Moody’s rating upgrade for India happened only under BJP PMs (Vajpayee and Modi)

(6) Under current BJP PM Mr. Modi, India’s ranking in World Bank’s “ease of doing business” improved by 42 places between 2015 and 2018. The jump of 30 places in 2017 has been the highest by any country ever

Basic amenities:

(1) As late as by 2014, more than 500 million people in India had no access to toilets
In 70 years, Congress increased rural sanitation coverage from 0% to 39%

(2) In less than 4 years, BJP increased it to 79%

(3) Since 2014, the BJP government under Mr. Modi constructed more than 62 million (6.2 crore) household toilets. 11 states and 322,000 villages were declared open defecation free and rural sanitation coverage increased from 39% (in October 2014) to 79% (in February 2018)

Infrastructure development:

(1) Highways

50% of all National Highways constructed since 1980 were built under 5 years of BJP (Mr. Vajpayee’s) government 

(2) Solar power generation

capacity installed by Congress from 2009 to 2014 (5 years) = 2.6GW
capacity installed by BJP from 2014 to 2017 (3 years) = 16 GW
Mr. Modi has upped the 2022 target by 5 times to 100GW thus making India the world’s largest clean energy producer 

(3) Metro Trains

Congress (Mrs. Indira Gandhi) inaugurated India’s first metro train project in Kolkata in 1984

BJP (Mr. Vajpayee) inaugurated Delhi Metro in 2002

Under Mr. Modi’s current BJP government, India has initiated 24 new metro projects all over the country 

Quality of leaders:

(1) In BJP, the quality of leaders decreases as one moves from top to bottom. Top tier includes Mr. Modi who is popular because of his proven record of honest and efficient administration as Chief Minister of Gujarat. Next tier includes a set of high performing cabinet ministers like Piyush Goyal etc. Next tier includes some of the non-performing and unpopular Chief Ministers like Haryana, Rajasthan and MP. Last tier at the bottom includes communal motor-mouths like Uma Bharti and Sakshi Maharaj etc.

(2) In Congress, the quality of leaders decreases as one moves from bottom to top. Bottom most tier includes eminent intellectuals like Nandan Nilekani and Shashi Tharoor. As you move up, next tier includes one of the most respected CMs in India, Capt. Amarinder Singh of Punjab. Next tier includes old timers but good for nothings like Digvijay Singh, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Kapil Sibal etc. Top tier includes Mr. Rahul Gandhi, whose only political achievement till date is the family that he happened to be born into