The most significant aspect of the current Gujarat election is not whether it throws up a future prime minister, or whether it will make or mar the electoral prospects of this or that party in 2014. The most significant change of this election will be its impact on India’s political culture.

With Europe, China, Japan, Britain and a host of Indian and foreign big business firms openly endorsing Mr. Narendra Modi for reasons entirely commercial it was inevitable that corporate expertise would intervene in this poll as witnessed never before in India. Not surprisingly Mr. Modi’s deployment of experts to exploit the Internet for effective propaganda followed. However, apart from a new high in media management there is fallout of this campaign that can become a political game changer.

Mr. Modi’s grasp of development as his main electoral thrust led to similar expertise utilized for preparing the party’s manifesto. For the first time his election manifesto is not confined to populist sops but attempts to take a futuristic view based upon demographic and economic forecasts. Departing from tradition Mr. Modi has not simply thrown sops for the usual vote banks such as farmers and minorities. He has focused upon the emerging class that is being created by economic reforms. Increasing urbanization, increasing aspirations that propel new entrants to the middle class and an increasing youth vote have been addressed by his manifesto. These are people who will rise from the bottom of the social strata to become the consumers of tomorrow. But this aspect of the manifesto too is not the real political game-changer.

The real change of political culture manifests from how the electoral rivals of Mr. Modi have reacted to his manifesto. The Congress fielded Mrs. Sheila Dixit to release the Congress party manifesto in Gujarat. The Congress too has focused solely on development issues and attempted an alternative model to Mr. Modi.

Most interestingly, both the Congress and the BJP are attacking each other’s policies and manifestoes and not personalities and integrity. This is unprecedented. It is an old truism in India that election manifestoes count for nothing in the polls. That seems to be changing. For the first time politicians are discussing the merits of respective policies and are not simply bandying about populist slogans.

Does this portend that finally Indian democracy will become mature? With new generation voters accessing the Internet it might.