When Narendra Modi labels others a "failed product," it raises a question that cannot be ignored: after more than a decade in office, has his own government delivered on the promises that brought it to power?
In 2014, Modi campaigned on an ambitious vision for India. He promised Achhe Din, millions of jobs, a manufacturing boom, the eradication of black money and corruption, and a better future for every citizen. He positioned himself not merely as a politician, but as a transformative leader who would reshape the nation's trajectory.
More than 10 years later, many of those promises remain subjects of intense debate. Critics contend that grand narratives, aggressive public relations, and divisive political battles have too often diverted attention from unmet expectations and unresolved questions.
The time has come to look beyond slogans and examine the record itself. This article takes a closer look at some of the most significant promises of the Modi era and asks a fundamental question: what was promised, and what was delivered?
1. Achhe Din: For whom?
Indians were promised Achhe Din — better living standards, affordable essentials, more jobs, and greater economic security. More than a decade later, many families are asking whether those promises have translated into their everyday lives.
For millions of households, the cost of living has become an increasing burden. Petrol prices have climbed, LPG and commercial cylinder costs have risen substantially, and persistent inflation has pushed up the price of essential goods and services. As household expenses have increased, the budgets of families and small businesses are under growing strain.
Consumer inflation surged during several periods after 2014, particularly when food prices spiked. At the same time, employment opportunities have not kept pace with the aspirations of India's young workforce. The government's own labour-force surveys put youth unemployment at 10.2% in 2023-24. While lower than the 17.8% recorded in 2017-18, the challenge of creating sufficient quality jobs for a rapidly growing workforce remains unresolved.
2. Make in India: Where are the promised jobs?
Make in India set an ambitious target of raising manufacturing's share of GDP to 25% and creating 100 million additional manufacturing jobs by 2022.
Industrial investment and growth in selected sectors are welcome, but they must be judged against the original commitments on manufacturing output and employment.
Equally important is the question of self-reliance. Despite the Make in India initiative, India's dependence on Chinese imports has continued to grow in several key sectors. Imports from China rose from around $70 billion in 2018-19 to more than $101 billion in 2023-24, making China India's largest source of imports. Much of this consists of industrial goods, machinery, electronics, telecom equipment, chemicals, and manufacturing inputs that Indian industry continues to rely on.
Critics argue that this growing dependence sits uneasily alongside the promise of transforming India into a global manufacturing powerhouse. If Make in India was intended to reduce reliance on foreign manufacturing and create large-scale domestic employment, the continued rise in imports from China raises questions about how much progress has been made toward achieving those goals. China's share of India's industrial goods imports has increased from 21% to 30% over the past 12 years, underscoring the challenge of building domestic manufacturing capacity at the scale originally envisioned.
3. Smart Cities: The promise versus reality
The Smart Cities Mission was launched in 2015 with the promise of transforming urban India through modern infrastructure, improved public services, better mobility, enhanced digital governance, and a higher quality of life. The initiative initially targeted the development of 100 smart cities across the country, with thousands of projects worth several lakh crore rupees announced under the programme.
Critics argue that the Smart Cities Mission has produced pockets of improvement rather than a comprehensive urban transformation. Delhi regularly faces severe air pollution, Mumbai experiences annual flooding during monsoon, and several major cities continue to struggle with water shortages despite years of investment under Smart Cities initiatives.
The ultimate measure of success is not the number of completed projects or funds spent, but whether cities have become meaningfully more liveable, sustainable, and efficient for the people who live and work in them. If citizens continue to struggle with congestion, pollution, flooding, and inadequate public services, questions about the mission's overall impact are likely to persist.
4. Demonetisation: At what cost?
The 2016 demonetisation exercise was presented as a bold strike against black money, counterfeit currency, corruption, and terrorism financing. It was also championed as a catalyst for India's transition towards a less cash-dependent digital economy.
Yet the policy imposed significant costs on the economy. The sudden withdrawal of 86% of the currency in circulation created widespread disruption, particularly for informal workers, daily-wage earners, small businesses, farmers, and others heavily reliant on cash transactions. Long queues outside banks and cash shortages became a defining feature of the months that followed.
The policy's effectiveness in achieving its primary objectives remains contested. The Reserve Bank of India later reported that approximately 99.3% of the demonetised currency returned to the banking system, prompting questions about the extent to which black money held in cash had actually been eliminated. While authorities argued that demonetisation helped improve tax compliance and financial transparency, critics contend that the returns fell short of the original expectations used to justify the exercise.
Digital payments have undoubtedly grown since 2016, but attributing that growth solely to demonetisation overlooks other important drivers, including the expansion of smartphones, affordable mobile data, UPI, and broader digital infrastructure. For many observers, the increase in digital transactions does not by itself offset the economic disruption experienced by millions of citizens and businesses.
A policy of such unprecedented scale should ultimately be judged against its stated objectives. Nearly a decade later, the debate over demonetisation continues to centre on a fundamental question: did the benefits achieved justify the economic and social costs that accompanied one of the most far-reaching monetary interventions in independent India's history?
5. Doubling farmers' income: A promise left behind
Farmers were promised that their incomes would double by 2022, a commitment presented as a cornerstone of rural prosperity. Yet many farming households continue to struggle with rising input costs for fertilisers, fuel, seeds, and machinery, along with price volatility, debt, and climate-related uncertainties.
While some regions and farmers may have seen income gains, there has been no widely accepted evidence showing that farmers' incomes doubled across India by 2022. The gap between the pledge and the measurable outcomes continues to raise questions.
The prolonged farmers' protests that drew national attention reflected deeper concerns about farm incomes, market access, pricing, and economic security. For many farmers, the protests were a sign that longstanding grievances remained unresolved despite repeated assurances.
Ultimately, farmers judge governments not by announcements but by results. Higher and more stable incomes, fair prices, lower production costs, and greater financial security are the real measures of whether rural prosperity has been achieved.
6. Black money: What happened to the promise?
The BJP's 2014 campaign made the recovery of black money allegedly stashed abroad a central political promise. Narendra Modi's remarks about the possibility of Rs 15 lakh reaching every Indian's bank account became one of the most enduring symbols of that campaign.
The Rs 15 lakh figure was linked to the hypothetical distribution of recovered black money rather than a formal entitlement. Nevertheless, it created a widespread expectation that large quantities of illicit wealth hidden overseas would be identified, recovered, and redirected for the public good.
More than a decade later, questions remain about the scale of recoveries and their impact. The debate has been further fuelled by data from the Swiss National Bank, which showed that Indian-linked funds in Swiss banks rose sharply to approximately CHF 3.54 billion (around Rs 37,600 crore) in 2024, more than triple the level recorded in 2023 and the highest since 2021. While these figures do not by themselves represent black money, and include funds held through banking and financial institutions, they have nonetheless renewed scrutiny of claims regarding overseas wealth and illicit financial flows.
Indians are therefore entitled to ask a straightforward question: how much undisclosed wealth held abroad has actually been identified and recovered, how much has flowed into public coffers, and what independently verifiable outcomes demonstrate the success of the campaign against black money?
7. Development, the Rupee, inequality and India's social fabric
Economic progress must ultimately translate into better living standards, quality public services, greater opportunity, and a more secure future for all. Questions also remain about the quality of life experienced by millions of Indians.
India's ranking in the Global Hunger Index has been a subject of debate, with the government disputing the methodology and conclusions of the report. Regardless of the ranking itself, concerns around hunger, child nutrition, and malnutrition continue to affect millions and deserve sustained policy attention.
The Indian rupee has weakened significantly against the US dollar since 2014. While exchange rates are influenced by a range of global and domestic factors, a weaker rupee can increase the cost of imports, particularly crude oil and other essential commodities, adding to inflationary pressures and raising costs for households and businesses.
At the same time, concerns about economic inequality have become increasingly prominent. While India has produced unprecedented wealth and a growing number of billionaires, the benefits of economic growth have not been distributed evenly. Various studies have shown that a disproportionately large share of the nation's wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small minority, while millions continue to struggle with stagnant incomes, rising living costs, and limited economic security. According to reports on wealth inequality, the richest 1% of Indians now own around 40% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% own only a small fraction.
Beyond economic indicators lies an equally important question: the health of India's social fabric. India's greatest strength has always been its pluralism, constitutional democracy, and the ability of people from different religions, languages, cultures, and communities to coexist within a shared national identity.
Yet increasing prevalence of communal rhetoric and polarising political discourse has deepened social divisions and eroded trust between communities.
Political competition is natural in a democracy; fostering division among citizens is not. A nation cannot achieve its full potential if social cohesion is weakened by constant polarisation and suspicion.
The final question
No government can solve every problem, and no administration should be judged solely by whether it fulfils every promise it makes. Economic transformation takes time, public policy involves difficult trade-offs, and governments deserve credit for genuine achievements where progress has been made.
But the BJP's rise to power in 2014 was built on more than a promise of incremental improvement. It was built on a pledge to fundamentally change the way India was governed, to deliver Achhe Din, create jobs at scale, eliminate black money, double farmers' incomes, strengthen manufacturing, and improve the lives of ordinary citizens.
After more than a decade in office, citizens are entitled to ask whether those promises have been fulfilled. Have living standards improved as promised for the average family? Has employment kept pace with the aspirations of India's youth? Did demonetisation achieve its stated objectives? Was farmers' income doubled by 2022? How much black money was actually brought back? Has economic growth benefited all sections of society, or has the gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen? And why has communal polarisation become such a persistent feature of public life?
These are not partisan questions. They are democratic questions. They do not weaken the nation; they strengthen it by ensuring that those who seek power remain answerable to the people.
Ultimately, governments are not judged by slogans, branding, or political marketing. They are judged by outcomes. A vision for the future is important, but credibility comes from delivering on promises made in the past and present.
Before dismissing others as a "failed product", any leader should be prepared to account for their own record. In a democracy, the highest measure of leadership is not the ability to shape a narrative, but the ability to improve the lives of the people who entrusted it with power.
Vijay Thottathil is a Congress worker and Indian Cultural and Arts Society (INCAS) Dubai’s Kozhikode district president.
Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.