Globalization and the Politics of Identity in India

Chapter 11

 

1. The party defined Swadeshi as ‘a self-reliant India asserting its national economic interests, not as an autarchy, however as a pre-requisite to meeting the challenge of globalisation’. The manifesto rejects ‘unbridled consumerism’ and advocates ‘sustainable consumption and growth’.

2. Digvijay Singh mentioned that the Congress miscalculated the voting patterns and was not able to read the voters’ minds. ‘Until the minorities, the weaker sections and the dalits are brought back into the Congress fold, it would be difficult to win election’ (Economic Times 1996). M. Veerappa Moily admitted that the wrong choice of candidate was responsible for the party’s defeat in Karnataka.‘We selected the wrong and the weakest candidates, who ...