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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local....

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local. This reversal owes much to policy. The recent rationalisation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which trimmed rates across categories from garments to home furnishings, has given consumption a timely push. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s September rate cuts, combined with income tax relief and easing interest rates, have strengthened household budgets just as inflation softened. The middle class, long squeezed between rising costs and stagnant wages, has found reason to spend again. Retailers report that shoppers filled their bags with everything from lab-grown diamonds and casual wear to consumer durables and décor, blurring the line between necessity and indulgence. The effect has been broad-based. According to Crisil Ratings, 40 organised apparel retailers, who together generate roughly a third of the sector’s revenue, could see growth of 13–14 percent this financial year, aided by a 200-basis-point bump from GST cuts alone. Small traders too have flourished. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) estimates that 85 percent of total festive trade came from non-corporate and traditional markets, a robust comeback for brick-and-mortar retail that had been under siege from online rivals. This surge signals a subtle but significant cultural shift. The “Vocal for Local” and “Swadeshi Diwali” campaigns struck a patriotic chord, with consumers reportedly preferring Indian-made products to imported ones. Demand for Chinese goods fell sharply, while sales of Indian-manufactured products rose by a quarter over last year. For the first time in years, “buying Indian” has become both an act of economic participation and of national pride. The sectoral spread of this boom underlines its breadth. Groceries and fast-moving consumer goods accounted for 12 percent of the total, gold and jewellery 10 percent, and electronics 8 percent. Even traditionally modest categories like home furnishings, décor and confectionery recorded double-digit growth. In the smaller towns that anchor India’s consumption story, traders say stable prices and improved affordability kept registers ringing late into the festive weekend. Yet, much of this buoyancy rests on a fragile equilibrium. Inflation remains contained, and interest rates have been eased, but both could tighten again. Sustaining this spurt will require continued fiscal prudence and regulatory clarity, especially as digital commerce continues to expand its reach. Yet for now, the signs are auspicious. After years of subdued demand and inflationary unease, India’s shoppers appear to have rediscovered their appetite for consumption and their faith in domestic enterprise. The result is not only a record-breaking Diwali, but a reaffirmation of the local marketplace as the heartbeat of India’s economy.

Ditching Marathi for Hindutva

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Hindutva

Change is an inevitable part of life, and the only constant, according to the Buddha. Failure to adapt to changing needs results in danger of becoming obsolete. But what if the change is merely a knee-jerk reaction to something, rather than a thorough conviction?


The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray has once again changed his stance within six months declaring that his party will be going solo for the state polls and would be a part of the next government.


The political landscape in Maharashtra is gearing up for significant battles in the upcoming assembly elections. The unpredictable leader’s decision to contest the assembly elections independently raised many eyebrows. Three years after its formation, Raj Thackeray’s MNS won 13 Assembly seats in the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly elections. The undivided Shiv Sena received a major setback in their bastion. The erstwhile Parel constituency which was the stronghold of Shiv Sena for years was won by MNS. Bala Nandgaonkar, the MNS leader defeated Sena strongman Dagdu Sakpal by sizable margin in that constituency.


Ahead of the 2014 general elections, Thackeray endorsed Narendra Modi for Prime Minister but at the same time he fielded his own candidates against the BJP’s ally, the Shiv Sena. Raj Thackeray’s confusing tactics prompted his core vote base to shift to BJP, resulting in a dismal performance for the MNS in the 2014 Maharashtra state elections, in which the party bagged just one seat. Since then, Thackery’s MNS has lost a considerable number of seats in several municipal corporations across the state. Ahead of the 2019 Assembly election, Thackeray briefly tried to join hands with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party.


Raj Thackeray has gone from backing Narendra Modi in 2014 to campaigning against the BJP in 2019 and started strongly peddling the Hindu cause. He also directed his workers to recite the Hanuman Chalisa in front of mosques if loudspeakers are not removed. Hindutva’ and ‘Marathi pride’ will be the pivots of the MNS, he announced. He changed the MNS flag to saffron and later announced a visit to Ayodhya. To keep his political existence intact he kept on changing the sides and shifting the role. As a result the party which got a sizable following in many districts of the state is presently not in a good shape.


It seems obvious that the MNS is trying to fill the political void left by the Shiv Sena when the party joined hands with the secular Congress and Nationalist Congress Party to form an alliance to take power in Maharashtra. But yet to make any impact in that direction. The frequent changes in the stand has cost the party a lot.

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