TSI Special Survey - India's Star States

Call him what you will, the man in the street is nobody's fool. Even the most cavalier of India's politicians will vouch for that. He knows all too well that you cannot trifle with the electorate and get away with it without the scratches showing. When fed on mere words and no action, voters invariably strike back with all the force that Indian democracy has granted them.

For a government to secure popular approval, it is imperative for the rulers to mesh intent, integrity and execution and top it with consistency of delivery. On that account, the findings of the TSI-Abacus Market Research 'State of the States' survey aren't surprising at all. They provide evidence yet again of who calls the shots in a democracy. But do those who wield political authority in this country always recognize that truism? In an ideal democracy, political parties and leaders ride to the throne on the promise of good governance. A government’s performance is weighed as much on the basis of whether it has delivered on its pledges as it is on the more superficial considerations of caste and religion.

But do we live in an ideal democracy? Anybody's guess. Our myopic politicians often lose sight of the big picture and neglect issues that matter in the long run? The fine print of the poll manifestos is usually lost in the heat and dust of the campaign hubbub. Election promises ring hollow as vote bank politics moves centrestage, and the real deliverables – right to education, employment, healthcare, women’s empowerment, uplift of the economically disadvantaged, et al – are barely, if at all, articulated by the mandate-seekers.

In none of the states that are currently engaged in the process of electing a new Assembly is the story any different. The name of the game, for the most part, is bluff and bluster. The more brazen the better. In Uttar Pradesh, India’s biggest state both in terms of sheer size and the political ramifications that its Assembly election outcome has at the national level, the Congress has whipped out the minority card and announced a sub-quota for Muslims, the BJP has brushed the cobwebs off its mothballed Ram Temple dream and made it the cornerstone of its manifesto, and the Samajwadi Party has brought the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid out of the woodwork.

It is quite another matter that certain segments in the aforementioned political outfits have got their knickers in a twist even as the respective leadership has tied itself in knots in the bargain.

The Bahujan Samaj Party’s proliferating statues – monuments to Dalit 'empowerment' – may be under wraps until the elections but once the hurly-burly is done, their futility as a means to woo the electorate will probably be fully exposed.

The TSI Star States Special that you hold in your hands is an attempt to step back from the unfolding spectacle and understand what it is really that helps a government achieve success in various key areas of development and earn the confidence of the people it serves. There can be no alternative to political will.

It is political will that has enabled Gujarat to hold on to its pre-eminent position in all-round economic development and has kept Delhi rock-steady in its pursuance of the mission to rid the city limits of vehicular and industrial pollution and ensure urbanization without harming the environment. Political will has driven Chhattisgarh to get the best out of its much-maligned public distribution system, guided Bihar out of the dark ages on the law and order front and helped Kerala to keep healthcare in good nick.

The states that figure on the following pages either have strong chief ministers who mean business or are blessed with well-oiled administrative systems that allow them to push for meaningful reform measures wherever they are most required.

Several of these states are a source of hope for the rest of India: through their high performance on crucial parameters of governance, what they tell us is that the distortions that have crept into our complex democracy are not beyond repair when the ruling establishment decides to take the bull by the horns.

While the findings of the TSI-Abacus Market Research survey here separate the better Indian states from the laggards, the series of field reports and interviews on the following pages underlines the differences between the two.

STATE OF THE STATES The chart shows how the states of India fared in the survey. The survey was designed to rate these states on a ten different parameters of governance.