Economy: How well has the BJP Performed in Maharashtra and Haryana?

Let us look at the economic performance of the two States where election is due in two weeks time.

To do this, we rely on the RBI handbook of statistics on Indian economy which was released on September 15th. Click here to read it

Per Capita Net State Domestic Product (Current)

In case of Maharashtra, this grew 41% between 2014 and 2018. India grew at 45%

In 2014, Maharashtra was 5% higher than Karnataka, In 2018, Karnataka moved ahead by 7%

In 2014, Maharashtra was 11% higher than Telangana, In 2018, Telangana moved ahead by 3%

In 2014, Maharashtra was 1% lower than Uttarakand, In 2018, Uttarakhand moved ahead by 4%

In case of Haryana, this grew 65% between 2014 and 2019. India grew at 60%

While this is above average, Haryana underperformed states like Andhra (98%), Karnataka (78%), MP (75%) and Telangana (83%).

In Sum, we can say Maharashtra is an under-performer while Haryana is marginally an out-performer.

Question is what made Maharashtra an underperformer?

To check this, we benchmark with Karnataka which seems to have outperformed Maharashtra significantly.

In Manufacturing, Karnataka (with a smaller base) grew 52% between 2015 and 2018. Maharashtra grew 26%.

The other area where Maharashtra while performing well has underperformed Karnataka is the service sector (Real Estate, Professional Services, Financial Services). In many ways, Maharashtra's performance reflects the national challenges - struggling financial service sector and manufacturing troubles.

It is a known fact that the BJP is likely to win landslides in both the States. So this performance itself may not bother them much. One side note however is interesting.

Between 1991 and 2014, Maharashtra had voted out 3 Governments in 5 elections. This is likely to end at 3 out of 6 this year. In case of Karnataka, between 1991 and 2014, Karnataka voted out 5 Governments in 6 elections. Between 1997 and 2018, Maharashtra's per capita increased 10 fold while Karnataka's increased 16 fold.