The Hindu : National : Regional parties act as ‘safety valves’ in coalitions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 03, 2007
ePaper

National

National

Regional parties act as ‘safety valves’ in coalitions

Ashok Dasgupta

Deshmukh for consensus on policies to reassure investors

NEW DELHI: In the present era of coalitions, regional parties are here to stay on the strength of their local agendas although at the national level they will have to function within a common agenda to ensure the country’s economic growth. Even within the limited mandate of coalition regimes, the regional parties act as “safety valves,” said representatives of various political parties at the India Economic Summit 2007 here on Sunday.

The three-day summit is jointly organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Setting the tone for the opening session, “Will regional politics reshape the Indian economy,” Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh said India was going through a coalition era, with regional parties becoming vehicles for national parties to reach out to people. “Regional parties represent the aspirations of the regions, grow on regional issues and are vehicles for national parties to reach out to people.”

Coalition governments, Mr. Deshmukh felt, have to work within certain parameters and a synergy must be found to address local and national issues.

To a query whether coalition regimes would weaken the country’s external position in the long run, he said that when it came to national interest these parties forgot their political differences and joined hands.

Congress spokesperson and Member of Parliament Abhishek Manu Singhvi said India’s experience with coalition governments had exploded many myths associated with such regimes. Pointing out that coalition governments were genuinely an articulation of regional aspirations, he said: “A country as diverse as India cannot be governed without the existence of regional parties that act as safety valves.”

Although the existence of coalition regimes meant that the government had to backtrack on certain issues of importance, at other times, it stood its ground despite opposition from partners. “Good economic growth is indeed possible in the era of coalitions. The country has been on a growth trajectory during multi-party rule.”

Outlining the history of growth of regional politics since Independence, Communist Party of India leader D. Raja said the existence of regional parties had led to a decentralised political domain. Indians, he said, were not pessimistic and they always made every effort for better governance and better alternatives.

As to what could ensure the success of coalition regimes, he said: “The coalition must confine itself to the limited mandate and not go beyond — if it tries to go beyond the mandate, there will be problems.”

On inequality in society, Mr. Raja said: “Indian society is a caste and class-based society, where Dalits and tribals have been marginalised.” The government, therefore, targeted “inclusive growth” in the 11th Plan to bring the poor and marginalised into the social and economic mainstream.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley pointed out that most regional parties were controlled by regional heads and increasingly by their families at the cost of development. Most of them were yet to overcome their local mindset and attain a national ideology.

Attributing the growing clout of regional parties to the declining strength of national parties, Mr. Jaitley was not quite sure whether regional parties had the “quality and capability” to govern at the national level.

As regional parties were usually caste-based, he felt that their pre-dominant agenda was to consolidate the caste base and national parties aligned themselves with these parties to create a win-win situation.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National