Indeed, the political pressure for reforming labour law might come when the farm/ non-farm transition acquires a critical momentum.

The unifying theme of all these arguments is that they are simple. They can be simply made. They are backed by simple data. Simplicity is the first requirement of political debating. If UPA-II decides to seriously engage with the industrialisation debate, its key ministers will have this advantage.

This advantage was of course always there. None of these arguments was born with UPA-II’s election victory. But apart from SEZs, and in part because of them, UPA-I’s politics was reactive on industrialisation. Will UPA-II be proactive? That’s the key question for the next five years.

saubhik.chakrabarti@expressindia.com