Gujarat Assembly Elections 2012: Narendra Modi woos neo middle class, not 'aam aadmi'

NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has attempted to consolidate his support among the fast-growing 'neo-middle class' through his party's poll manifesto, which appears to be tailored to boost his national aspirations as much as to cement his position in the upcoming state polls.

The chief minister, who appears to have become the front runner for BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha polls, has taken care to reach out to the section that has risen above the poverty line but still not made it to the middle class. The manifesto promises 30 lakh jobs and 50 lakh houses over the next five years, seeking to address the main concerns of the section that accounts for majority of the population in the state.


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Political analysts say the thrust on the new middle class presents a competing vision to the focus on the aam aadmi or the common man at the national level by offering a promise of development along with entitlements.

The chief minister, who released the manifesto in the presence of the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, on Monday, said his government would strive to address the aspirations of the new class that has emerged over the past decade. "A department will be constituted in the chief minister's office to oversee programmes for job creation, skill development and housing," the chief minister said. If the country wants to compete with the top nations, importance has to be given to skill, speed and scale, Modi said, adding, "Gujarat is the first state to plan out a skill development institute."

Experts say the new middle class is uneasy with the lack of opportunities, insufficient infrastructure and poor governance and likely to back credible leadership and effective governance. The next big electoral encounter in Delhi, they say, may well be between these two contending visions - the aam aadmi politics centred on just entitlements and the more contemporary neo-middle class politics, which offers entitlements along with a development paradigm.

"The neo middle class has already emerged as a formidable force in India. Constituting more than one-fourth of India's population, it may not grow rapidly, but political parties will certainly vie with each other far more vigorously than ever to placate this vote base. For sure, such actions will have an impact on the aam aadmi politics," said social theorist Ashis Nandy.

Modi, who made an aggressive bid to ensure that the neo-middle class stayed firmly with him, said he would strive to fulfil everybody's aspiration of "my own home in my area" through a special scheme. "We intend to spend Rs 33,000 crore for this project...We will also make public services in the field of education, health, transportation more efficient and widespread so that the middle class can rely on them and doesn't need to pay exorbitant rates for private services," he said.