Resident Senior Fellow, Vivek Dehejia writes in Mint on the Congress' new economic policy. Excerpts below:

"As the nation moves closer to the next general election, due in 2019, parties are beginning to stake out their positions on economic policy, amongst other areas. An important piece of the puzzle was filled in recently with the economic policy resolution of the Congress party approved at its recent plenary meeting. This document gives us a reasonably good sense of where the principal opposition party stands, at least rhetorically, at this juncture.

The main takeaway from the resolution is that the Congress party is signalling that it wishes to go back towards the centre on economic policy, and away from the left, marking a distinct change, at least potentially, from the economic philosophy which animated the two innings of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The document avers that the party “believes in the twin goals of inclusive economic growth through private enterprise, a competitive and viable public sector and a robust social safety net through a strong welfare state”.

No one would be misled by this language into thinking that the Congress party is morphing into a centre-right political party, yet this language is refreshingly different from what we saw in 2004."

Read the full article here.