Only the Food Bill and other pro-people reforms can end the Congress party's hand-to-mouth political existence.
Remember the old Ajit joke in which the greatest Bollywood villain of all time asks his henchmen to use “liquid oxygen” against the hero? “The liquid won't let him live and the oxygen won't let him die,” he explains. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can be forgiven for feeling a bit like he's caught in the middle of a forgettable 1970s movie. The United Progressive Alliance government he runs is all at sea and each week seems to push him further away from the shoreline. But even as ill winds buffet him from all sides — the latest tempest emanating from somewhere in West Bengal — none of the political forces ranged against him really wants to see his rickety boat capsize. Just when he is about to be swallowed up by all the liquid around him, he gets a tiny bit of oxygen.
So it is that Mamata Banerjee demands a rollback of the train fare hike announced by Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday, and also his scalp, pretends to flirt with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the idea of a ‘Third Front,' only to pull back and declare that she will not after all abandon the UPA.
No early polls
Though the temptation to go for early Lok Sabha elections is great given the Trinamool Congress's exceptional performance in the West Bengal Assembly polls last year, Ms Banerjee is probably factoring the consequences of a four-cornered contest in which the Left could well recover lost ground. Even if she fancies her chances — the Congress is in such bad shape in the State that it may not take away many votes — the fact is that the TMC alone, with its 19 MPs, cannot bring the Manmohan Singh government down. Other constituents of the UPA like the DMK may be seething over the 2G probe and the Sri Lanka issue but Karunanidhi will not want to risk the dilution of his strength in the Lok Sabha or the loss of a ‘friendly' government at the Centre at a time when his family and associates in Tamil Nadu are being vigorously investigated by the authorities there. The same is true of the Bahujan Samaj Party, whose 21 MPs provide outside support to the UPA. With her safe haven in Uttar Pradesh captured by the Samajwadi Party, Mayawati has every reason to keep the Congress in good humour at the Centre.
Ordinarily, one might expect the Bharatiya Janata Party to be in a hurry to topple the UPA and precipitate fresh elections. But its poor performance in Uttar Pradesh and the growing electoral weight of allies like the Janata Dal (United), the Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena within the National Democratic Alliance make it wary of rushing headlong towards an uncertain political outcome. Add to this the unresolved leadership question and the BJP ends up also wanting to ensure that the Prime Minister — though under constant attack — receives as much ‘oxygen' as he needs to keep his government alive for now.
But if his government faces no imminent danger and Dr. Singh is likely to finish his second term as Prime Minister on schedule in 2014 — though dogged by uncertainty throughout — the prospects of the UPA getting a third innings do not look promising at all.
State elections may well be fought on local issues and the defeat of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa — as well as its seat-of-the-pants victory in Uttarakhand — need not necessarily be taken as a referendum on the Centre's performance. But Assembly elections do tell us a lot about the big national picture because they provide an indication of the strength and health of the party organisation at the State level. The poor showing of the Congress in the recent elections as well as its chronic weakness in crucial States like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, is the product of a number of historical factors but the failure of the party to build strong State-level leaders there is surely top among them.
The inability to select a consensual Chief Minister in Uttarakhand, the one State the Congress wrested from the BJP earlier this month, is symptomatic of the same structural weakness. In other States where the party has a good base, like Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, or even Karnataka, the absence of coherent leadership does not augur well.
New agenda
Rahul Gandhi appears to recognise that dynasts cannot be a substitute for organic leaders in a situation where other parties have a much stronger connect with the people than the Congress has. He has attempted to redress this from the bottom, working to build a semblance of democratic organisation and functioning within the Youth Congress. His reforms have had mixed results at the grassroots and have had hardly any impact on the mother party — pun intended — which continues to be run in the old, centralised, top-down way that led to its gradual estrangement from the electorate in State after State.
If further proof were needed of the Congress party's disconnect from its traditional or potential supporters, one should look no further than the way in which the Muslims of Uttar Pradesh voted in the recent Assembly elections. At a time when India's Muslims want nothing more than a level playing field and an end to the biased attitude of government officials, particularly the police, the Congress waded in with insulting tokenism, making wild promises of quotas and quotas-within-quotas that actually led the community to feel more insecure because of the predictable backlash the BJP tried to fan and benefit from.
The Congress can perhaps get around the structural weaknesses in its political organisation and outlook, as well as the taint of corruption, because the BJP is also hobbled by its own kind of dysfunctionality. But what it cannot do without is a policy overhaul that places reforms which favour the well-being of the ordinary citizen at the centre of its socio-economic agenda.
First and foremost, this means redrafting the proposed Right to Food Bill in line with the proposals recently made by a group of leading development economists, by jettisoning the misplaced pre-occupation with targeting. The HUNGaMA survey of hunger and malnutrition has painted a bleak picture of the impact chronic undernourishment is having on Indian children — a situation the Prime Minister called a “national shame” — and the time has come for the government to put its money where those hungry mouths are. In addition, it is essential that statutory minimum wages are paid for all workers in the rural employment guarantee scheme, and that a big push is also made on the public health front. Other initiatives, like a genuinely humane land acquisition and resettlement policy, or the sharing of mining profits with local communities should not be delayed any longer.
Questions about funding will inevitably be raised, especially with the Economic Survey and other official documents sounding a dire warning about the fiscal situation. But as an insightful column by Shankar Sharma and Devina Mehra in Mint argued on Wednesday, India's fiscal deficit is not such a bad thing because the debt/GDP ratio has been steadily declining thanks to the growth that public borrowing and expenditure seem to be generating. The binding constraint is not financial but attitudinal. The UPA has two years to reverse the damage it has done to itself by thinking of reforms only as concessions to the rich and wealthy. If it doesn't, it will remain adrift until a tidal wave comes along in 2014.
svaradarajan@thehindu.co.in
Keywords: United Progressive Alliance, UPA government, Congress Party, Assembly elections, national politics, Right to Food Bill
Dr Singh is not there to govern the country or take the nation one step forward in the areas education, health and wealth creation, or elimination of corruption or for the upliftment of the poor.
His one point is agenda is to keep the seat warm for the Heir-Apprent Rahul. He has been very successful at that.
The saddest part is that his senior colleagues verterans in the party seem to agree with his non-governance.
Compared to him EVEN Rahul will be better suited to wear the crown.
Mamatha Banerjee converted IR into WBR and now wants to
control it from the Writers Building. The Congress is so greedy
for power that they give in to all her stupid tantrums just to stay
in power. The Congress has proved that they least care for the
nation and they want to stay in power to fill up their pockets.
This part of the scenario has not been depicted by
Mr.Varadarajan and is one of the major reasons as to why they
give in to the street fighter. All their reforms are meant to help
their Party workers. Unfortunately they all have become rich due
to corruption and this is what is perceived by the aam admi.
Their Telengana turmoil is a good example of the bungling they
are capable of. A state which was up and coming has been
battling with bandhs and suicides making its citizens curse the
Congress every living day. This coupled with the shortage of
power and water is a recipe for being thrown out. It is unable to
control inflation and thereby causing immense suffering to
millions.
And what about the Lokpal bill.?Wont passing an efficient and robust Lokpal Bill help the image of the party and the PM.?The power in 2014 is up for grabs for the party which can make a reasonably powerful anti-corruption agency at the centre. I think it is the easiest way to retain the power in 2014. Afterall, Lokpal doesnot have technical limitations like the Food Security Bill has. It just needs a political will to do so. Another such area is Right to Education. I hope the government wakes up atleast noe by the threats it is facing for mere existence.
People seem to like regional parties. National parties have outlived their purpose. If India is to survive as an entity and ensure stability, both houses of parliament must be directly elected and a presidential form of government where the president is directly elected by the people appears to be the only alternative. This will also minimize the horsetrading at the center.
it appears no political party in India has the courage to face the people for a fresh election.Is it because of the fear that they may lose what they have?
The first and foremost reform that our country urgently needs is to replace the first-past-the-post electoral system to a fixed and mandatory vote share. Now, that should be at least 51% of the polled votes. That will usher in a new era where everybody in fray would get the common denominator right. So parties will have to focus on basic infrastructure and social security: education, health, water, roads, transport etc. There will be no space for sectarian and divisive agendas which seek out the most dominant minority vote share for an easy victory. This one reform will usher in the required virtues in our political parties.
One reader Mr. Mayur Varma has written his comment that the country`s
central government is being run by a regional party. It is true! The
main reason for this is the failure of the national
parties to live up to the aspirations of the regions. With the results
these regional parties have spread like cobwebs in the country. the
scenario is still worsening. It was a problem with BJP in the so
called NDA and got defeated in a no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha
by voting its own ally voting against. Now that BJP is band bagging
that Congress is lacking the tact of keeping the allies on board. Even
after their utter failure in UP letting the SP to come out with
colours, both are kicking them each other openly. There are few
genuine issues posing problems to the country; though they are
practically and same opinion but BJP is opposing for the sake of
opposing.So until these two parties learn well and behave responsibly
this regional parties menace can not go.
It seems India is governed by individuals rather than a system.Priority is given to the views of an individual.politicians are happy with the system,prime example is the recent U.P polls,BSP out,SP in,next time reverse might happen.It is patience that is required by the politician,rather than good motive.people are responsible for such a situation,people have to suffer.
Mr. Somnath Chatterjee stayed as the Lok Sabha speaker in spite of the chagrin of the CPM. His expulsion from the CPM hardly jeopardized his tenure. I am neither a legislator nor a lawyer. But i wonder why Mr. tribedi must go, when Mr. Chatterjee was retained as the speaker
Sir. Apt summary. This party is looking to use nation's wealth to create the next scheme to survive in the hope it gets votes as the vanity of the previous one has faded. The only thing left is to name it on a member of the family to build the family brand. Deficit is bad, whatever the logic or ratios. No one succeeds on perenial borrowing. Borrowing should only be directed to infrastructure building that enables more growth and pays for itself. There is no desire to plug leaks, black money. They negotiate agreements with swiss that prevents getting data before particular date in 2011 and only future data needs to be provided. Is it in nation's interest or done to protect someone. Selling family gold for building your house is ok. Will ruin you if used for gambling. Selling precious natural resources, divestments to fund schemes to survive a party to get votes is gambling. First fix deficit. No borrowings. Create surplus and use it for schemes to catch votes. Save this country please
Siddharth Varadarajan has presented a grim picture of the national scenario. It is true that we are in dire need of change which is eluding. We are controlled by an enormously big money-power and political power derived from it. But CHANGE is inevitable and is only a matter of time.
I point sir, its not just the UPA that in the sea, they have dragged
the country with them. And when the ship starts sinking they with
their billions will fly away leaving the country to drown. What we
need is a able leader who isnt afraid of criticism and hold the
country's requirements at the top. As of now there are only a few
who could take the mantle ... Nitish, Jaya, Modi. Nitish has started
good work in Bihar which left without him will lead the state no
where, Jaya is too dictatorial, we are left with Modi. Considering
that the only charge on him so far has been about Guj riots and the
fact that even after 10 year not even a charge sheet has been filed,
is equivalent to saying, let the man work.
The long/medium run costs of Food bill will be high food inflation!! The
author conveniently ignores this.
I can understand why Politicians are intellectual hypocrites. I wonder
why the Author is is the same company.
Allies like Mamata Banerjee make increase difficulties for congress at every BIT and BYTE.Getting full majority in West Bengal helped her to push more in central politics.Reaction after Rail Budget really not going to help TMC in national politics because people wants better services with increase in fare is not a big deal.Such treatment placed her out of league in past and may be in future also.
PM like Mr. Manmohan Singh seems to be helpless when you are leading with such people. Hope that Indian voters go for a full majority to a single national party either Congress or BJP, at least it makes 2+2=4 every time.
Except for total support from a section of the electronic media, there is nothing going for the UPA government. The UP election has shown that the "Family" is losing its grip on the imagination of the people and it may not be able to get another term for the UPA government. The Congress party's relations with its present allies has clearly weakened. There is also a probabilty that some Congress party leaders may be directly dragged into the legal wrangles on the vaious corruption scams. UPA's continuing in office, therefore, may become an Utterly Perilous Affair.
Ithink country has been ruled by the congress for a long time. Now it's a time atleast for amusement that the third front should come to power. Eventhough the third front will drag the economu down and create political instability ther is no other way now. Because congress and BJP doesn't have the mandate of the common man. Ithink congress should give way this time to the third front so that people can taste the third front coalition which was long time ago. Eventhough we need to have rationing for petrol under V.P. singh govt, laying our gold in the world bank to borrow money Indian politics has no other choice.
Who installed the failed Greek experiment of Democracy in India ? Elections do not reflect the will of the people - they only bring to power "representatives" the people pin their hopes on, who then end up dismantling it through corruption, complacency and mismanagement. Personal gain through self-preservation and dynastic rule drives these anti-national politicians. The vote bank drama does not serve the interest of the country, its people or the environment. Bhaarat should once gain go back to its Dharmic order, where the country is governed by Dharmic principles of Law and Truth, where secularism is not forced religious tolerance but of mutual acceptance, where humans, environment, animals are protected by a common ethic, where economics prosperity means long term sustainability not just double digit growth, where the nation is not mined out its precious minerals and natural resources to satisfy a foreign materialistic appetite.
I don't understand, why articles are written on how Congress can be saved and how Rahul can do better? Why none talk of INDIA as a nation and what it needs, more than survival of Congress? Please focus on India and Indians and ignore others. Be direct in reporting and not indirect. Pro-people policies for survival of Congress - which kind of thought is this? Are we for Congress or Congress is for us?
On an average remakes, part 2s and part 3s are worse than the original
movies. UPA 2 has proved that this is true even in politics. Congress
the epitome of centralism by creating an invisible PM has only increased
federalism. Unfortunately, they just dont have leaders at the state
level to take advantage of this federalism. The next election will
mostly be a non-congress Rag-tag coalition; implying another 2-3 years
of confusion and wealth destruction (looting).
The Congress has so far frittered away the faith the public showed on them 3 years back despite having the resources. It is not that they do not have good, able leaders within their rungs, but somehow they have failed to capitalise on their ability and at times, good intent. A major reason for that is that they have not always been in good company. Mamata Banerjee is the worst ally anyone can think of, and is clearly a pain for the UPA. Even the Opposition have constantly given them trouble, largely through irresponsible tactics of hampering Parliament proceedings. Charges of corruption have been rampant, though it is wide knowledge that even previous goverments have indulged in it, if not more. The Congress better realise that time is running out for them. They need to be in touch with the people, now, more than ever before. First, they must rid themselves of the sycophancy that has come to define their politics. People will no longer accept it.
Mere road show is not a solution to the problems of the common man.That is what is now Rahul Gandhi is resorting to.Ordinary men are forcefully kicked out from the all developmental initiatives.Instead of imitating the western policies India should devise a policy of its own .Involvement aam admi should be should be ensured in all our developmental strategies.This should be done by strengthening the Agriculture sector .Labourers in the unorganised sector should be brought to the fore front of the manufacturing sector.Rural employment scheme can be utilised for providing job opportunities to the unorganised ones. Their working potential can be used in agriculture which in turn can help the growth of agriculture.Growth of GDP inversely proportional to the growth of hunger one is not going to benefit the nation in the long run.Our crorepati leaders should at least under this basic principle.I fully agree with the views of this article
Humanity's best friend is CHANGE. Antidote to the fact that change evokes is Knowledge. Visionary leaders surrender to Change (do not oppose it). India is becoming more flexible, more open and more accepting. Let us hope economically weaker sections (rather than Castes) are supported by society.
I feel deeply anguished at the sorry state of our country.We are living in a country where the govt. The center can't enforce any law etc without the consent of it's allies.It is paralysed and is forced to accept the unreasonable demands of parties like TMC.Mamata Banerjee should be ashamed of what she is doing.IR serously need some quick measures to make a comeback but people like her don't let positive things happen just for mere political ambitions.Mamta jee please try to understand that IR is the backbone of our economy.Don't play with it.Don't create hurdles in the path of progress and development.
If our govt. continues to behave like this,I am sorry to say but we will always lag behind other countries in the world and our people will always remain the inhabitants of a paralysed nation.
Sense of purpose has to be sticked to right from the framing of the policy upto its implementation at grassroot level. No doubt those at the helm of the affairs are exceptionally qualified in terms of envisaging a growth oriented policy. But that has to be milked with sincere selfless efforts in terms of execution. And this is missing in every flagship program of the govt, making the real picture vulnerable & acutely dismal. In a sense this has to do with the real sense of democracy being projected. Instead of going with popularist dynastic sentiments, we Indians have been so called obsessed with, we have to go for equitable participation which will in turn produce effective & sensible leaders at ground levels, who will not only be sincere in benefiting people with fruits, a policy in intended for, but also create a progressive senario on a broader canvas!
This analysis by siddarth should be placed an UPA table as they are loosing sight of our country's progress path.Economic reforms to boost growth and efforts to ease inflation rate of 9% is the dire need of hour as govt. is facing difficulties to set its house in order.Having performed badly in recent elections, only the budget to be presented by FM can save upa's sinking ship.The gloabalisation and liberalization policy once started by congress in 1991 needs a revival to placate every strata of society not only the riches.
One main reason for the pathetic display of disunity among the UPA II partners is that there is no mechanism existing with in to discuss the policy related issues before it is made public, whether it belongs to FDI, Rail Budget, Anna Hazare issues or any such matter, it seems that for Congress only concern is the first family which matters, the rest are redundant. A cursory look at the functioning of the UPA II indicates, elementary attention with regard to a simple joint family norms are not even practiced, so it seems to an average Joe looking at it from the sidelines.
The Cartoon is AWESOME!. Loved the way the letters U, P and A are tied by a rope. :-)
Dr. Manmohan Singh, Mr. Pranab Mukharjee, Mr. Chidambaram ,Mr. Sibal.
Even the die hard anti of the UPA would agree this is the best team in
the world of economy & polity. But seven years of comaraderieship not
only saw them failing to produce the desired result but more sorry
aspect is that they failed to even avoid the undesirable. India
constantly losing on all International fronts with USA,China, Iran,
Israel and even Pakistan all in some way or the other carving some leg
room for drawing every pound of flesh from Indian body wounded by
internal bullets. This team has of late become non-performing assets.
It's not because they don't want to perform but because they have been
held hostage by inter-party and intra-party conflicts. TMC, DMK, Harish
rawat team, TDP'S rebels all making life tough for them. But predicting
2014 is insane not to forget " a weak is a long time in politics". I
only pray may Indian polity not annihilate Indian economy as of today.
Best of luck DADA!
When one sees through all the clutter it is evident that Congress
stands for something, however poorly articulated it may be. It stands
for economic reforms. Much of what India has accomplished over the
last two decades and the relative optimism with which many Indians
view India is a result of what Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh did in
1991. It also stands for inclusive development - flagship programs
such as MNREGA, food security bill, RTE reflect that. Problems?
a) Implementation is mired in corruption. Scams seem to be their
biggest product. Actually the significant progress that has been made
goes unheralded.
b) Lack of internal democracy. Most of India is put off by dynastic
projection of Rahul Gandhi as the next leader. With 2 years to go for
elections, Congress needs to start its own "Primaries" at the state
level to find leaders from each state, and a way by which the state
level leaders can be further filtered to identify who is the prime
ministerial candidate.
It will be well & Good if the UPA 2 Goes sooner. As people are suffering very terribly . Middle Class has slipped into Poverty and are reeling under under nourishment ( due to very high prices of Food)
if UPA 2 continues or if it comes back , it will be a total disaster for India for generations
Well said Mr. Varadarajan. Indian Muslims want nothing more than level playing field, equal treatment by government agencies especially police and not be falsely implicated on trumped up charges and not be painted as traitors because of the miniscule fringe elements of disgusted, disenchanted and disgruntled youth who have turned towards terrorism. No community can be uplifted by charity but, empathy will be of great help.
A point well made, Mr. Varadarajan! Every second decision that this
government has taken over the last year - from price hikes to policy
initiatives to foreign government agreements - has been rolled back,
such that even the phrase 'political paralysis' has become an
understatement now.
Apart from the suggestions made above, I also hold that the Congress
needs a serious political manoeuvre at this point - the dependence on
the TMC needs to end and fast at that - the inane theatrics of a
terribly volatile CM, who still hasn't transitioned from street-player
to one in power, are holding this nation to ransom today.
This really seems anguishing that our government at the center is run by
a mere regional party,TMC.The UPA government is dancing to the tunes of
Mamta.Firstly,it was FDI and now rail budget.Aren't she aware of the
piteous economical condition of the railways.It's been 9 years since we
had a hike in train fare.The prices have gone up so bitterly in these
nine years ,then why should railways not hike it's fares.By being an
iconic figure among poor to just gain political gains over a bankrupt
railways is really sad.
But what is truly appreciable is the step taken by the
railway minister Dinesh Trivedi.He is almost on the verge of losing his
job.Hats off to the railway minister!!! .I think its time now for
Manmohan Singh to take stern steps .As he can't always give in all for
what the allies party demands.
Siddharth anaylsis of the sinking ship and the richest party of the
world is correct.But who should lead the wild seas is unclear hence
the delay is inevitable.From Telecom ministry,to finance
minitry,home,PMO and Railways all prove that workers/PEOPLE`S
participation is invisible.Team work stands eclipsed by crony
capitalism pressure in favour of 1%.Ministeries fail to operate as per
people`s need and are left to serve the rich alone.Awesome lines by
Charlie Chaplin: You need power only when you want to do something
harmful, otherwise love is enough to get everything done.
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