Non-BJP ruled states in top than 18 BJP-ruled states

New Delhi, July 27: According to a new study, 18 of 29 states governed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (or) its political alliance home to nearly 63% of the nation's population, only 1 BJP-ruled state - Himachal Pradesh, made it to the list of 5 best-governed states in India.

The public affairs index (PAI) 2018, developed by Public Affairs Centre (PAC), a Bengaluru-based think tank, figured out the state governance using 10 broad themes, 30 focus subjects, and 100 indicators, according to its website. These include law and order, economic freedom, environment, transparency and so on, which is the 3rd edition of the index.

The top 5 states in the order of their ranking are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. Among all,

1. Kerala - Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front,

2. Tamil Nadu - All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK),

3. Telangana - Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and

4. Karnataka by a Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress combine.

The top 10 list includes all the southern states -- none of which are governed by the BJP. 4 states in this list are governed by the BJP and 2 by its chief opponent, the Congress (singly or in a coalition). Andhra Pradesh, ruled by the Telugu Desam Party, was placed 9th.

These ranks are serious because BJP came to power on the promise of delivering development through its 'sabka saath', 'sabka vikas' (development for all) campaign.

"The election manifesto, which revolves around the bottom line issues of good governance and development, discusses in detail the party's focus at engaging in the concerns of price rise, corruption, black money and policy paralysis," quoted the prime minister's website - narendramodi.in, the day his party's election manifesto was released on April 7, 2014.

The PAI index has ranked 30 states, including Delhi. The accumulated rankings of the the top 2 states -- Kerala and Tamil Nadu -- have remained the same over 3 years.

Himachal Pradesh topped the list of small states with a population less than 20 million. Of the 12 small states that made it to the list, BJP heads or is a part of, the government in 8. Goa and Tripura made it to the top 5. The non-BJP exception is the Congress-led government in Mizoram, placed 3rd after Goa and Sikkim.

Among the 18 large states (with a population over 20 million), the top 4 were south Indian states, followed by BJP-governed Gujarat and Maharashtra. Bihar deteriorated at the bottom in the list of large states and the overall amass ranking.

Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were the other states at the bottom of the PAI index for large states. All the bottom 4 large states are BJP-governed.

BJP-governed states, led by Gujarat, have most economic freedom. "The theme of economic freedom explores the effort undertaken by the state governments to improve the business environment in the state," the report said.

Maharashtra was ranked 2nd in economic freedom. Telangana, placed 3rd before Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, was the only state without a BJP government in this category. Bihar was ranked last among the large states on this aspect.

"BJP has come to exemplify the economic and political right. They want to present the party as one which promotes business which makes it easy for investments to come in," said Narayana.

The southern states may not do as well as Gujarat in ease of doing (or) promoting business but Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have done well in attracting foreign direct investment, Narayana pointed out. States like Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh just provide land (or) speedy clearances but that makes for only "selective good governance", he said.

Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra (in that order) have the best record in managing crime and maintaining law and order among the large states. Haryana and Jharkhand rank the last in this list.
The top 5 safest states feature 2 BJP-ruled states, including Gujarat, and three governed by others including West Bengal.

This theme scrutinizes violence, atrocities, and policing including indicators such as rapes, murder, dowry deaths per 100,000 population among other factors.

"It is interesting to point out that despite Kerala having a very high number of FIRs, in the matter of their disposal and conviction rate have performed well," the report noted.

Nagaland and Goa were the best amongst small states while Delhi and Tripura were at the last in this list, for the last t3 years. Nagaland was the best performing as per the collection of particulars in a ranking of 30 states.

Delhi, governed by the Aam Aadmi Party, is placed last in the list on 2 counts -- environment, and transparency and accountability.

Karnataka emerged as the best in the category among large states while Arunachal Pradesh was placed on top amongst small states. Gujarat fell 7 cuts from last three years to 10 and Telangana which has improved its position from 17 last year to 7 this year," the report noted.

Karnataka and Haryana were the top 2 states on the transparency scale. Kerala fell 8 places to 11th among the large states in this respect between 2017 and 2018. But Telangana's ranking improved 7 spots to 4th during the same period.