How Politics Changed in 30 Years of Reforms

CMs became powerful, women voted more, west & south marched ahead of north & east

- Renuka Bisht & Jiby Kattakayam

Perhaps the most symbolically powerful impact of reforms, which began in 1991, on Indian politics was the absence of the word ‘socialism’ from Congress’s 1996 manifesto.

The 30 years from 1991 have seen a dramatic transformation of Indian politics, much of it a result of forces unleashed by new economic policies.

To begin with, the number of successful political parties jumped. BJP, Shiv Sena, BSP, SP and RJD all formed their first governments in the 90s. As the number of parties in Lok Sabha went from 25 to 40 between 1991-96, the theory was also that politics would fractionalise endlessly. That proved false.

We pick here some of the defining changes of the last three decades.

CMs on the global stage: Economic liberalisation enabled CMs to don industry-friendly avatars. As Table 1shows, individual states could woo more investment during 1991-2001 than all of India the decade before.

Karnataka’s tax concessions and incentives spurred the IT industry’s growth there. Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu strode in reformist colours at the global arena, even founding the satellite township of Cyberabad/Hitec City.

Narendra Modi ascended to the national stage through Vibrant Gujarat summits which no CM could have facilitated with the pre-1991 curbs on investment and industrial licensing. Today’s powerful opposition CMs owe their rise in part to those changes 30 years back.