Lok Sabha polls 2014: Swadeshi Jagran Manch hopes for pragmatic approach by Narendra Modi government

NEW DELHI: The Sangh Parivar affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) is hoping that despite BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's pro-big business image, if a Modi-led government takes charge after May 16 it will be amenable to going slow on the issue of foreign direct investment in various sectors, tweaking the current regime's flagship rural jobs programme MGNREGA and setting more realistic targets on employment generation.

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch had in mid-January held a meeting with the BJP's senior leaders, along with the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Laghu Udyog Bharati, some of the Sangh Parivar's groups related to economic issues.

"It was at the intervention of the SJM that the BJP added the caveats to the introduction of genetically modified crops in India," said a BJP member. In its manifesto the BJP said, "GM foods will not be allowed without full scientific evaluation on its long-term effects on soil, production and biological impact on consumers."

The meeting with senior BJP leaders including Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha was encouraging to the SJM, which did not have much influence during the previous BJP-led NDA government. Former SJM head Dattopant Thengdi was often seen protesting on the streets what he termed the neoliberal policies of the NDA government and had even organised a huge rally in the centre of Delhi to protest against the government's policies.

Senior SJM member Ashwini Mahajan told ET, "The global change of perception on the effects of globalisation would guide the government rather than a blind following of the FDI trend. There is a need to revisit all the economic policy issues including international trade agreements, FDI, FII, Special Economic Zones and Free Trade Agreements."