The White Paper on economy tabled by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Thursday will form the bedrock of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s election campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as it sets about presenting a contrast between the Congress-led UPA rule that pushed the country to the list of “fragile five economies” and the BJP-led NDA that made mammoth efforts to bring the economy on track, said BJP leaders.

The BJP’s campaign thrust will be on how their government revived economy, made India an investment destination and won the confidence of the people, said one of the party leaders cited above, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The 59-page document will be publicised across the country in the coming days, this person added.

Also read: Reforms, clarity of leadership led to turnaround, what govt’s White Paper shows

“All state units of the party will be publicising the contents of the White Paper and go to the masses with not just the details of how the UPA rule left the country’s economy in shambles but the efforts that were required to pull the country out (of that quagmire),” the leader added.

At a time when chief ministers of several states, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, have accused the Union government of withholding funds, the White Paper will be used to show how efficient tax collection has helped states get their dues. “We did not sit back and cry… we got down to making reforms, made laws to improve the system and by giving the states their dues, we have ushered in reforms in all sectors,” the leader said.

The idea for preparing the document that took a month to draft was mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “In an interview sometime in 2015-16, the PM said there was pressure on him to bring a White Paper, but that he believed it would not help anyone, that investors would be scared to come to India, and citizen confidence would erode. He made a conscious call not to take out the white paper then,” the leader added.

Now, after a decade in power, the government wants to highlight the “effort that have been made, including overseas” to change perceptions and bring the country on track, the leader said. To be sure, the release of the document has been timed to maximise its resonance ahead of the polls.

Through the document, the party wants to showcase how the Prime Minister himself led efforts to usher in change and make amends. “While dealing with issues in the banking sector, there were multiple meetings to figure out how to resolve the problem of NPAs (non-performing assets); ₹18,000 crore was legally seized by the Enforcement Directorate and given to the banks to recover their money,” the leader quoted above said.

The document will be used by the party to underscore the legacy it inherited. “Take the example of the Kisan loan waiver, they did not follow the due process and ended up exacerbating the conditions of the farmers,” the leader said, referring to the farm loan waiver widely credited with the Congress-led UPA’s win in 2009.

The nationwide campaign will focus on the alleged governance deficit that left banks loaded with NPAs and resulted in the defence sector grappling with “critical shortage of ammunition and equipment”, which had an adverse impact on national security.