As I get down to writing this Editorial, results of the elections are just out and it has been a momentous victory for the BJP with its clean sweep of the UP state, much to chagrin of its political rivals who have been grounded to dust by the avalanche of support for the PM Narendra Modi and his policies. It is a mid-term referendum for this Govt. that was besieged by the opposition to the surgical strikes and the demonetisation drive. Such a Tsunami was totally unexpected and even BJP’s hard-core supporters couldn’t have wished for better.
Now the Indian polity is maturing and the politics of performance and delivery is very much on the cards, gone are the days when you said something, meant a totally different thing and did totally unexpected. People will hold you accountable and are watching your very move and how you remain true to your colours. The People can’t be taken for granted anymore and want to see the change on the ground and not mere rhetoric, don’t even think of dividing the people on the cast lines which has been the politics thus so far.
This election result will be a turning point for professional politicians and their complete rejection by the people who seem to see through their game and their oft repeated claims which carry no weight among the masses.
So much for the politics, coming back to this month, the summer is upon us and how will the summer of 2017 pan out is the question of everybody’s mind. The run up to this may not have been smooth unlike a few years ago, but there is enough optimism in the market, because all the indicators rule that the time is ripe for the markets to grow unbridled.
This issue we have loads of stories from different parts of the world, like the Kenz story which is of two women battling all odds in a conservative country like Palestine and making a success of an online model. H& M the giant among LFS in fashion made its presence in India in 2015, we tracked their Kurla store in the Store Review section. Bhiwandi the Power Loom city is getting reinvigorated with the infusion of garment factories who are seeing an unbridled growth with large outfits with ample supply of cheap and skilled labour, easy govt. policies and infrastructure and warehousing and logistics. We uncover the story of success of this textile hub in our beginning series on Garment Hubs. Later we plan to bring you near to the other textile hubs from different parts of the country.
In viewpoint we dwell upon the vexed issue of designers and their creations getting copied by lesser brands without any qualms. Apart from our regular columns and features, there is ample reading for everyone to sit back chew and ruminate.
As I end this piece, my mind goes back to the election results once again, which I know will be the talk of the nation for several days to come.
