The manifesto of the BJP, which leads the National Democratic Alliance that lost power to the current UPA government 10 years ago, has a lot to offer to the digital industry, but remains remarkably silent on a few key issues such as Aadhaar, CMS, and fixing IT Laws. Importantly, the BJP has taken a strong stand against FDI in multi brand retail, which means that there probably isn't a single political party in the country which supports a nationwide implementation of FDI in multi-brand retail. There is no mention of e-commerce, but not allowing FDI in e-commerce would most likely be a part of not allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. The manifesto is occasionally vague on implementation plans, but it covers a vast range of issues, from digitization, participatory governance using technology, and we're particularly hopeful about the initiatives around Digital Health and Education, overhauling laws and mandating digitization of government processes. Some things, especially around e-governance and NOFN, relate to work that is already being done or has been initiated by the UPA government that has been in power for 10 years. MediaNama's broad take on this manifesto is that, apart from e-commerce, it is significantly positive from a digital industry perspective. However, we are vary of how implementation might be done in case the NDA comes to power, since specifics are missing: WiFi & Broadband - Wi-Fi facilities will be made available in public places and commercial centres. - Set up a National Optical-Fibre Network up to the…
