Does BJP’s double-engine sarkar achieve its basic claim of better growth? Data says no

Or, does the claim of double-engine sarkar implicitly mean that the state government will opt for policy choices that the Union approves of or, worse, demands?.

After all, this is what people see in their lives; and if they are making compromises on their political dignity and structure by buying the double engine claim, at least the rate of change in per capita state net domestic product should be greater in states with the said double-engine sarkar...

What is tragic from the chart above is that Indias largest state, Uttar Pradesh, despite being a poor state with a per capita net domestic product of a mere Rs 47,066 (at constant prices for 2011-12) is at the bottom in terms of its ranking in growth as well..

While citizens of both these states must demand better from their respective state governments, its not a tragedy if their already prosperous citizens are growing slower than the national average..

So, when politicians come around next time claiming that electing a double engine government is good for growth, citizens should probably ask why these engines are often pulling them in opposite directions, whether politicians really know what results in growth, and why India has this strange problem where the richer states grow faster than poorer states regardless of who forms the government..

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