New Delhi (IANS) : The widespread emergence of regional political parties in India would lead to the country’s overall economic growth, speakers said at the opening session of the India summit of the Davos-based World Economic Forum (WEF).
Regional politics are a representation of the country’s vast and diverse society and they together put forward the aspirations of millions of people, the speakers pointed out.
“Strengthening regional politics would lead to a growth where everyone would be able to take advantage of it. Leaders are gradually realising that until you bring growth to the people, you lose chances of getting re-elected,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Dehsmukh told the gathering here Sunday.
His view was shared by D. Raja, national secretary of the Communist Party of India.
“Regional parties represent genuine aspirations of the people. Every second day India is producing billionaires. But still, according to the government, almost 78 percent still earns Rs.25 a day. So, until we address these issues and concerns, which only a regional party can do, we cannot grow,” Raja said.
Raja also said that the current naxal problem in the country, which is acting as a deterrent in the country’s growth and has stalled some of the large-scale projects in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, is due to socio-economic issues the people in these states are facing.
The government of the respective states should address the issues, he maintained.
However, according to Arun Jaitley, general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party: “India’s surging growth rates are not government or policy driven.”
He also said regional politics leads to good policies that help the country’s economic health in the long run.