The Congress and the government have declined beyond belief in the past year.
In contrast to the nightmarish 2010 closing, the previous year had ended brilliantly for the Congress and the Manmohan Singh government. Crushed by scams and scandals, and pilloried by critics and friends alike, both are on the run today but end-2009, the Congress was on a roll, topping its Lok Sabha blockbuster with victories in tough State elections. The United Progressive Alliance, shrunk to miniature size after the polls, seemed to know who the boss was — or at least that was the outward impression, Mamata Banerjee's signature eruptions notwithstanding. And after five difficult years, the Congress seemed to have finally entered into a comfort zone with the government, with each willing to acknowledge the role played by the other in getting a second successive term.
Incredibly, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi had pulled off the social sector-economy division of labour that was trashed as hare-brained and unworkable when the idea first came up: If nothing else, competing egos would ground the project. Yet as the year was rung out, it was evident that the aam aadmi programmes, despite the official roadblocks and patchy and half-hearted implementation, had found resonance with the target groups. The feedback was inescapable for anyone tracking the 2009 election. For its part, the economy stayed robust, defying world-wide recession and predictions of doom. The conflicting imperatives of social justice and high growth appeared to have been at least partially met — ironically, not in spite of the divergent visions of the Congress chief and the Prime Minister but perhaps because of them.
Indeed, the outstanding impression of 2009 was this harmony. To the outsider, the Congress troika — Rahul Gandhi, as first family heir and showing faint promise, naturally took the third spot — was far and away the best on offer: sober, dignified, and remarkably detached from the politics of ambition, the leadership was Teflon-like in repelling scandals and criticisms which only too readily attached to party and government.
As against this, 2009 was a year of ignominy for the Bharatiya Janata Party. Unrelenting electoral setbacks, ideological confusion and an open and protracted succession war pushed the party to the edge from where pulling back seemed impossible. The BJP's general election performance was its worst in two decades, and it won no State election through the year. This is how the Congress and the BJP stacked up electorally in 2009: The UPA was ahead by over 100 seats in the Lok Sabha, winning 262 seats to the National Democratic Alliance's 159 seats. The Congress' own tally was 206 seats to the BJP's 116 seats. Of the 992 seats up for grabs in the States, the Congress alliance won 440 and the BJP alliance 125. The Congress alone won 360 seats to the BJP's 79 seats.
Number-crunchers argued that the Congress had won its 206 Lok Sabha seats on a thin vote base of 28.55 per cent. However, no other party came even close to this; the nearest rival, the BJP, was 10 percentage points behind. Also consider the odds: no government since 1984 had returned after a full term in office. More to the point, no government had returned judged on its performance rather than because of an overpowering emotional issue — Indira Gandhi's assassination, Kargil war, etc.
The Manmohan Singh government went into the 2009 general election in the backdrop of back-breaking prices and the world's worst slowdown since the 1930s. Yet the voter response — at least in Uttar Pradesh where this writer travelled — was amazingly free from the expected anguish and rancour. Asked which party they wanted at the Centre, eight out of 10 people named the Congress, though feeling no affection for the local Congress candidates and not even wanting to vote for them. Clearly, the “decency” quotient of the party's leadership and welfare measures such as the (Mahatma Gandhi) National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and loan waivers had won out, even if only temporarily, against any inflation-driven hardship. At a backward qasba in Sambhal in western U.P., a poor, unemployed Muslim boy, Mohammad Faheem, said he backed Dr. Singh for Prime Minister because he had confidence in his leadership: He had managed the domestic economy at a time of international financial chaos.
What a compliment from the aam aadmi and what a let down just one year down the line. The Congress leadership has tumbled headlong from the high perch while the BJP, facing its worst crisis since inception, has begun its slow climb to the summit. As of now, it is an improbable mission but the BJP is a fighter, ever willing to see light at the end of the tunnel. Consider how badly mauled and stranded it was in 2009, and then again consider how far it has travelled on the road to recovery.
The Congress' initial response to the flood of scams in the second term was typical. Rather than accept that it had horribly betrayed the people's mandate, it turned around and pointed to the BJP's own misdemeanours, speaking the self-defeatist language of “your corruption versus our corruption.” The point was: The Prime Minister and the Congress chief did not address reports of irregularities in the Commonwealth Games until it was almost too late. Forget documentary proof, the scam was evident to anyone who saw Delhi being turned inside out for no reason. But the leadership moved only after unmentionable amounts had already disappeared down a bottomless pit. The story was repeated with the 2G scam. Union Telecom Minister A. Raja's resignation and the rush of raids and seizures came after a stunning indictment by the Comptroller and Auditor-General left the government with no option. But even in a situation where the government was caught in a welter of accusations and attacked mercilessly by the Opposition, it refused to yield to the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe, raising questions, for the first time in a long and illustrious career, about Dr. Singh's proclaimed innocence.
The Prime Minister would know what it is to lose a reputation built over a lifetime. Well after the scams came to light, Dr. Singh was spared any personal criticism by the Opposition. Instead every Opposition politician, from the BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy to the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Sitaram Yechury, made it a point to mention the “integrity” and “incorruptibility” of the Prime Minister. But today, after the CAG report and the release of letters exchanged between Mr. Raja and Dr. Singh, not to mention the explosive and compromising contents of the Niira Radia tapes, there is confusion over the Prime Minister's conduct and, worse, over the state of the Republic.
Taken together, the revelations are deeply disturbing. The picture they paint of India is of a country at the beck and call of an elite group of colluders. In this climate, who can fault the cynicism and anger currently visible against all organs and estates of the state? Almost the first lesson a young student of civics learns in India is that Cabinet formation is a prerogative of the Prime Minister. Coalitional compulsions might allow for consultations but not for the process to be hijacked by dubious elements. Nonetheless, it is this awful lesson that the student of civics is likely to have learnt over the past two months. The impression of collusion is only reinforced by the new song on the lips of the powerful: The exposure of scams, not the scams themselves, mind you, have hurt India's image.
As early as 2007, the Prime Minister was aware that his advice on spectrum allocation was not being heeded. Yet after a fantastic election victory, which seemingly vested more powers in him, Dr. Singh allowed for the return of the same Minister who had defied him so brazenly. Why?
At the Congress' recent plenary at Burari, the Prime Minister and the Congress chief promised action against corruption and the close monitoring of flagship programmes. However, the assurances do not wash given what we know today. The flagship programmes are in a gargantuan mess. Minister for Rural Development C.P. Joshi is on record saying he will not pay statutory minimum wages to MGNREGS workers. His Ministry is fighting a court battle in Andhra Pradesh against the basic rights of workers. Corruption in material procurement has run the programme aground even in a pioneering State like Rajasthan. The super success of the Right to Information Act has not stopped the government from proposing killer amendments, including a 250-word restriction for applications.
Dr. Singh's reputation is under threat, Ms Gandhi has returned at the head of a National Advisory Council that seems unable to get its suggestions across, and Mr. Gandhi, who had briefly lit up the horizon with his democracy experiments, seems to have got lost. The Congress was decimated in Bihar while Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, from where the party harvested a bounty in 2009, look increasingly iffy. One year is truly an age in politics.
Keywords: Congress, Niira Radia tapes
Personally, I am surprised by comments that Dr Manmohan Singh is a person of great integrity, in-corruptable, etc. He has presided over a government that has been corrupt to the core & he is guilty of not doing anything despite having the authority & responsibility to prevent it. As Mr Advani has repeatedly said, Dr Singh is the weakest PM India has ever had. Is staying on as PM so important for him?. And for what?. He is as corrupt as Mr Raja & other ministers accused of swindling public money. It is time the opposition parties started demanding PM's resignation. If Dr Singh is really a gentleman as others claim him to be, he should gracefully quit & go right now. Office of the Prime Minister & it's authority are far more important to this nation than his Congress party.
The demand of BJP/NDA for the resignation of the Prime Minister is ridiculous, has no merit and is politically motivated.The PM, Dr.Manmohan Singh should not even think of resignation. He must continue to work for the well being of the people of the country who have given a mandate in May 2009 to the Congress party/UPA to rule for another five years under his leadership. The PM does not require a certificate of good governance from BJP, the people of the country have already given in 2009. Though there is always room for improvement but why do we forget that this govt has taken effective steps to take action against guilty. The Congress party has also mooted the idea of evolving a system to probe corruption cases in a time bound manner so why not accept it and make sure that this idea is converted into a law within next six months. In view of the matter already being probed by the CBI, the Supreme Court and also being examined by the PAC the demand of JPC is purely political. Why could the opposition not frame a list of questions and seek the answers from the PM in writing and then discuss them in detail in parliament which is the highest democratic forum. Let the common man also have a right to know such questions and their answers and outcome of debate thereon. The BJP had created hue and cry in July/Aug, 2008 by bringing in cash in the parliament purportedly given by Mr.Amar Singh to some opposition MP's to vote for the UPA on no confidence motion. A JPC was formed to investigate the matter. May we know the result / findings of that JPC. If the JPC has failed to come out with any concrete result on such a small matter in last more than 2 years then how do the BJP / opposition expect the JPC to arrive at the bottom of the controversy of 2G spectrum which is a very complicated and technical matter. The opposition should utilise their time and energy to get the 2G probe expedited at PAC level and at the Supreme Court level for the time being and await the recommendations / findings of PAC and the judgment of the Supreme Court. As a responsible opposition they should request the Supreme Court to ensure that the investigation by CBI and the final court verdict in the 2G spectrum case be completed within one year. A time-bound probe and final Court verdict will really help to punish the guilty and avoid/ reduce corruption in future. We all know that such matters of corruption have only been used for political gain alone and no one is serious to stop corruption and punish the guilty.
Excellent article. We in India have no choice but to chose between one corrupt party and another or yet another corrupt party. The fault really lies in the weaknesses arising out of our basic constitutional framework itself. As long as severe, exemplary and swift punishment is not the end result of a system, such a system can not produce corruption free governance. Fundamental changes are the need of the hour. There is , however, no real hope anything is likely to change in this country, at least not so in the foreseeable decades.
Good Article.Complements. Now what is to be done? 1.Why the culprits (of the scams)have not been arrestsed so far? They are left free to clean up all the mud? 2.The second job is to recover the scam money of Rs.180,000 crores and deposit the same with the Ex-checker. 3. The Election commision has to debar forever the corrupt politicians(and their relatives) or parties from contestion any elections in India (Loksabha/ Rajyasabha/ Panchayat etc..) 4. If the Congress does not agree for JPC the President can dissolve the Parliment and announce for fresh elections.Unfortunately the the President is also a dancing doll in the hands of the Government. 5. Like Nitish Government all Governments and the related leadres have declare their assets every six months to maintain the transparency and integrity.
Thats very well written. In fact, the recent developments have only said that our judicial system has gone to dogs, like every other system involving law and order... Policies are the results of whims and fancies of some politicians and bureaucrats... In short, the slow pace of justice is actually making people more aware of the fact that there isn't going to be justice anytime after all. The food inflation, the CWG scam, the Lavasa scam, the Adarsh Society scam, the Aarushi reports, the Radia disclosures, the Wikileaks cables, the 2G scam, the Vedanta policy debacle, etc... all have only reiterated that its a deep rooted conspiracy to loot the country. And the best part of it is the shameless and irresponsible way of governance. Naturally, a knowledgeable person as a PM (read MMS), is not the need of the hour. We need a strong leader-cum-manager. Someone who can steer the country and check misuse of power.
Manmohan Singh never acted as a honest man. He never took action against corrupt until it was too hot. No action was taken against Sheila Dixit, M.S. Gill (for CWG scam) Vilasrao Desmukh, Narayan Rane (for Adarsh) only because pressure against them was not too much. Enquiries against Natwar Singh, Shashi Tharoor were hushed up once the media pressure was gone. He got solace in company of first tainted Ministers and then tainted officers like P.J. Thomas. A person who is ready to stake the Govt. for Nuculear Deal can not take same stand against corruption if he is really honest
IT is naive to assume corruption has crept in the Congress regime in 2009/2010. It has been growing in geometric progression for the last 60years.Coalition politics whether RJD DMK or Shiv Sena.. we have had get-rich-quick politicians having enough cunning and planning to do this and public be damned. Media and sustained compaigns have now brought all this in the open. There has to be an anti-corruption revolution. This is not enough to be with the middle class, but from all grass roots levels of the population who may phsically resort to action like cooperating with each other and form cooperation NGO's who will lead the fight on sustainable basis.
Well,2010 was a media year.All stories were made-up or revealed or hyped by media..None of the cases are of 2010,its only bad fortune of Congress that all popped-up at the same time. Just hope we'll see a more ethical media and will live in a better socity in 2011.
Brilliant piece, Vidya. We agree with you that it is difficult for the Prime Minister to remain unscathed in the face of endless corruption scandals. Ultimately, they make him look like an emperor without clothes. Corruption is the biggest internal security threat. Yet, it doesn't figure anywhere on Mr Clean's radar. In 'Mira and Mahatma', Sudhir Kakar describes an incident: Gandhiji abuses his wife Kasturba publicly in one of his daily addresses at Sabarmati ashram when he comes to know that she retained the donations received from supporters meant for national movement!
Because of the wrong economic policy of the Govt. in many parts of the country,the agriculture land is being used for setting up industries. 1.The rural labour force are turning towards the factories for better remuneration and hence created an acute shortages of labour for agriculture sector.2.Small farmers, instead of cultivation , now, are more interested in selling their small holdings for better price.Both the factors have created negative impact on agriculture produce.Thus the short supplies have pushed the prices of all food commodities.This situation needs to be corrected before it is too late.Agriculture land,under no circumstances,be allowed to be used for setting up factories or constructing buildings on large scale.
The fear of losing the power at Central has gripped fears for Congress more than need of good governance. No one would remember the visits of Obama and Sarkozy, rather every one will remember all the scams have happened during the year. If Dr.Manmohan Singh does not do anything to cleanse the courruption in the political system, nothing will help him to clean his spoiling image. To sum up Congress has gone through a turmoil and 2010 was not a good year for Congress at all.
Very good Article Vidya. If at all Congress want to have a future, let them come out of the clutches of the Nehru family and allow people like Dr Manmohan Singh to perform freely. Let the Nehru Family and their hirelings take a break for atleast a decade. This will be very good for our Mother nation and for the 'aam Admi'.
'Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely'. In the first term the Congress was dependent on many parties for support -- CPI,CPM which acted as opposition within the setup (for 5 years) as they did not share the power, nor the responsibility nor the under the table booty but always demanded the common minimum programme. After 2009 verdict it was clear the people of India gave Congress party a more power (without CPI/CPM) but rather it turned away from the common men of these counry. Inflation (indirect tax) levied on every person with the Congress cronies making huge money for themself.2 G scam is just a trailer..
The regime and the epoch that began with PV Narsimha Rao has ended- a regime that became a part of the New World Order of Thatcher-Reagon vintage.It is not sad and not unpredictable that this epoch has fallen on its own feet of corruption everywhere as the global phenomenon, and on the ideological ineptitude with which, incidentially it swore by and justified itself. This is no apologia for the corruption in the Congress; but the fact is that the very fundamentals of this regime were corruption, illogical reasoning, deliberate denigration of the traditional good and honest; and the great game-play in which the greed, violence, arrogance, and dominant behaviour have been the key operational points. This regime stood on the defiance of the common sense, and it now takes its results. People, thinkers, governments, partymen and leaders- industrial and political have all been taken for a ride very cunningly with a methodical display and celebration of the values which were never in history before considered to be the imperative elements of a civilized human behaviour.
It is clear from the statements and conduct of the Congress and DMK leaders that more facts and truth lies hidden in 2G Spectrum allocation scam. If the Congress wants to help the DMK by not probing further then fingers would point to Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh for their role in ratifying the decision of A.Raja, Former Telecom Minister to award the spectrum to specified companies. Hence unless a JPC is constituted to go in-depth, truth will not emerge. The Congress is also buying time as by the time the din dies down it would be time for elections and the loot could be used for election expenses of the Congress and DMK. The losers are ultimately the citizens.
The Congress is entangled into various corruption cases. It has little time to satisfy its coalition partners. How can it look at the aam admi who is more taxed than taxing.
Indeed, it has been a year of down for the congress party. After winning the Lok Sabha election with good margin,They could have really done some great work. Instead of that they have let the country down. In the present tenure of Congress government many big scams like 2G spectrum,Commonwealth game scam and many more took place.It gave a bad name to country.Prime minister is also responsbile for this, as he is the Captain of the team.
The Congress and the government have declined beyond belief in the past year is true. The UPA government is more seems to have been concerned with not constituting the JPC in 2g spectrum scam than looking at the difficulties of the aam admi. While price spiral of vegetables and other essential commodities, food inflation are the common man's lot on the street, want of remunerative prices for his produce are the lots of the farmers, while the Congress is busy packing leaders and CM's involved in corruption cases. Many more scam skeletons are tumbling out of the cup board of the Congress.
In all it is the common man at the receiving end.
The prformance of the Governmet and the Party in POWER has been beautifully summarised.Diagnosis may be correct but nobody or Party seems to have Remedy.There is basically bankruptcy of character among Leadership.Efforts are made by sychophants to pose solution to get attention of the top leader who is topless.There are 4 attributes necessary for Leadership. Knowledge, Skill, Attitude and Goal.Our PM has knowledge of Economics and experience in Banking;not of Politics,Mass contact and Industry and Rural people. He can identify with the Educated and ELITE but not with the commonPeople Aam Aadmi.That is why there is chasm between theory and practice.Madam who is in the steering is surrounded by self-centered people who are always busy to please the top.Policies have 2/3 Prorities--1)Minority support 2)Backward class upliftment. Noble gestures. But can a country be propelled by appeasing technology; country needs MEN of character who must have principles and track record of doing SOCIAL good of all India import.Public acceptance of leadership qualities is required which will enable the leaders to stand on their own Conviction which sub serves our GOAL i.e National growth and development.Attitude must be positive and all inclusive.PM must represent the PEOPLE,elected and not nominated by a party in power which is dependent on other Unscrupulous power Brokers,regional Leaders without All India Vision. Leadership is Functional and not a status symbol.It cannot be inherited or transferred like property.
Simply flitting from one obvious observation to another without even an attempt to analyze why this precipitous decline shortcharges the readers of your esteemed newspaper. Where does the buck stop? What is the way forward? Who will bell the cat?
Bouquets to The Hindu, for publishing, as well as Vidya Subrahmaniam for the perfect analysis of the scenario at the top political level succinctly presented in 'A year of down and down for Congress' without any bias.
It is not the spate of scams that has hurt the Congress and the Prime Minister most. It is their total unconcern for the unprecedented price rise and the consequent woes of the people that has exposed their political insensitivity and knocked them down from the high pedestal of public esteem. The scams however have severely damaged Dr.Manmohan Singh's personal reputation since he has apparently been largely a mute witness to all the murky happenings on the spectrum allocation. The media also cannot escape blame since it did not act as the fouth estate when the assets belonging to every man, woman and child of this country, i.e the 2G spectrum, were being sold off by the government for a song. Media also has been very soft so far in taking the government on about its utter insensitivity to people's woes in regard to the ever-increasing prices of everything they need. Alas, the people would await more miseries in the year that will be on at midnight tonight. A sad thought ineed!
It is what is expected when a prime minister is an appointee and not an elected leader. He serves at the pleasure of Sonia Gandhi. Every citizen knows that the corruption has spread in India like a cancer, especially at the political leadership, yet the Congress wants the country to believe that the Prime Minister has no knowledge of it. If that is the case, is it not reasonable to declare that the prime minister is incompetant and ask him to resign? Having said that, what alternative India has other than my corruption versus your corruption. If only there is no corruption and the country is adminstered efficiently, India would have been way ahead of China and would have set a superb example of democratic success.
The end of first decade of this century would definite be remembered for the near collapse of democratic institutions of a country like india. Winter session of the Parliament has been stalled doing no business whatsoever. The rulling Congress party leadership has set no standard with respect to dealing with rampant corruption and nepotism in govt. CWG 2G,Niira Radia tapes episode all the more made it worst. What a pity,that a country regitering high growth trajectory in economy ,has been brought to disrepute by its political brigade
The Congress has only itself to blame for the current state of affairs. The people have a right to good governace without any corruption. The Congress has let the country down very badly. Criminal politicians in collusion with corrupt officials have been allowed to brazenly loot the country and the Congress is seen unwilling/unable to stem the rot. The country deserves better.
Well done Vidya. You have summed it very well. However, I am not sure that India will accept the BJP as a better option! What ails India is the lack of political will by all parties to 'make it rich' in one term. The Communists are no better. Indians are ready to elect a party-less visionary, who campaigns on 'give me one term and I will serve India with total transparency'. Has Nitesh Kumar not taught us a lesson!
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