Indian General Election – Impact on

TRANSPORTATION SECTOR

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1. Introduction and Timeline

A general election is taking place in nine phases, the longest election in the country's history, from 7

April to 12 May 2014 to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha (Central Secretariat) in India. Voting will take

place in all 543 parliamentary constituencies of India to elect members of parliament in the Lok

Sabha. The result of this election will be declared on 16 May, before the 15th Lok Sabha completes

its constitutional mandate on 31 May 2014. The ruling party need magical figure of 272 seats.

2. Interesting Facts

According to the Election Commission of India, the electoral population in 2014 is 814.5 million, the largest in the world. There is an increase of 100 million newly eligible voters.

This also will be the longest and the most expensive general election in the history of the country with the Election Commission of India estimating that the election will cost the exchequer INR 35 billion (about US$ 580 million), excluding the expenses incurred for security and individual political parties.

Parties are expected to spend INR 30.5 billion (about US$500 million) in the election, according to the Centre for Media Studies.

3. Key Parties to Look for

National Democratic Alliance (NDA): It is a group of 22 parties, which is led by Bharatiya Janata Party. BJP is contesting 430 constituencies (80% of seats). The current Prime Minister Candidate is Mr. Narender Modi (Chief Minister of Gujarat).

United Progressive Alliance: It is a group of 7 parties, which is led by Indian National Congress. Currently, INC is the ruling the country and

Third Fronts: Fourteen political parties come together to form a convention of the parties not in alliance with the NDA nor UPA.

Left Fronts: It is an alliance of Indian left-wing parties. There are 11 parties part of Left fronts and Communist Party of India (Marxist) forms the largest part of it.

Aam Adami Party (AAP): It is newly constituted party and contested its first election last year in Delhi. It is planning to contest from all 543 seats and has fielded 199 candidates till date.

4. Poll Surveys (NDTV- Hansa Research - April 2014)

49

19

INC

92

BJP

226 61

8914 1322

30

NDA UPA Trimool Congress DMK DMK BJD YSR Congress TRS Others

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5. Transport Sector

5.1. Indian National Congress (INC) – Ruling Party >>>> Transport

India is growing very rapidly and transport is a foundational pillar of that growth. The Indian

Railways is the world’s largest rail network and currently carries 822.4 crore people a year.

During the UPA government, the total goods carried by the railways doubled to 1 billion tonnes.

The Congress-led UPA governments have built or upgraded 17,394 km of highways. There has

been a ten-fold increase in investment in road construction in rural areas. We will continue to

invest in creating an extensive and world-class transportation network which will connect

people across the country.

a. The Indian National Congress will launch a “National Road Transport Safety Programme”.

Road Accidents will be halved within five years by strong willed political commitment to

this Programme. The Programme will make every possible effort to change the road safety

culture while establishing clear road safety norms.

b. The Indian National Congress recognizes that the Indian Railways is the lifeline of the

Nation and is committed to railway modernisation. We will ensure effective

implementation of the recommendations of the Sam Pitroda Committee.

c. The Indian National Congress will ensure that all million-plus cities are covered by High

Speed Rail.

d. We have begun work on the Western and Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridors, which will revolutionise freight, transport in India, making it more efficient. The Indian National Congress is committed to ensuring these projects are completed in a time-bound manner.

e. We have over the last decade, used the Public Private Partnership model to unveil world-

class airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore and the Airports Authority of

India has upgraded several others. As the demand for air travel is increasing tremendously,

we will upgrade and create new infrastructure for air travel across the country.

f. The Indian National Congress will ensure adequate funding and timely development of Regional Rapid Transit Systems. The work of preparation of Feasibility Studies of Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors for the three prioritized corridors: Delhi- S o n i p a t - Pa n i p a t , D e l h i - G u r g a o n - Rewari-Alwar, Delhi- Ghaziabad-Meerut is already being done. We will ensure these are fast-tracked.

g. We are committed to investing in and upgrading the logistics, infrastructure and development of the port sector in India. We will continue to work in this direction.

h. The Indian National Congress will emphasise development of India’s inland waterways, which totals about 14,500 kms in length, along with coastal shipping. We will work to set up terminals at major ports and providing adequate road and rail connectivity to inland water and coastal terminals and non-major coastal ports.

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5.2. Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) – Opposition Party >>>> Transport

The BJP realizes the importance of travel for the vibrancy of the economy and social unity. The party initiate building 100 new cities; enabled with the latest in technology and infrastructure - adhering to concepts like sustainability, walk to work etc, and focused on specialized domains. Further, it is proposed to build quality integrated Public Transport systems in urban areas, discouraging usage of private vehicles. For specially abled people, the party will ensure disabled friendly access to public facilities, public buildings and transport. Transport:

a. Create a public transport system, which can reduce the dependence on personal

vehicles for transport, thereby, reducing cost, time to travel as well as ecological cost.

b. Launch an Integrated Public transport project which will include roadways, railways and

waterways.

c. Develop waterways for passenger and cargo transport.

d. Develop National logistics network for faster movement of goods.

Railway:

a. Indian Railways is the lifeline of the country. It will be modernized, strengthened and

upgraded to serve passengers as well as the country's economy. This will be done in a

planned manner focusing on national development, rather than political exigency.

b. Hinterland will be connected to the ports through strategic new Rail networks.

c. Agri Rail network will be established - with Train Wagons designed to cater to the

specific needs of perishable Agricultural products like milk and vegetables as well as

light weight wagons for salt movement.

d. Tourist Rail - including Pilgrimage Rail.

e. Railways Modernization, inducting of state-of-the-art technology.

f. Special focus on developing skilled human resources to meet future demand.

g. Prioritize Safety and invest in long required overhaul of stressed infrastructure, strict

norms and warning systems.

h. Modernize and equip all stations with requisite infrastructure and public utilities.

i. Convert all unmanned crossings into manned crossings in a phased manner.

j. Initiate R&D for indigenous railways, coach design and signals.

k. We will launch Diamond Quadrilateral project - of High Speed Train network (bullet

train).

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5.3. Other parties

There is no special focus is given by other parties in the election manifesto. Aam Adami Party not even mentioned about anything related to Transportation. Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party gives little focus on rural roads and highway connectivity.

6. Conclusion

As per the current surveys finding, it is predicted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) may

come into power with majority. The following transportation project will get momentum whether

NDA or UPA come into power:

- Integrated Public Transport System

- High Speed Rail Network

- Bus Transport System

- Modernization of Railway Sector

- Development of Waterways

- Freight and Cargo Transport

- Regional Rapid Transit Network (if UPA comes into power)