Political Diary
New Delhi, 10 March 2012
UP That is India
POLL POINTER TO
FUTURE POLITY
By Poonam I. Kaushish
History, it is oft said, has an uncanny knack of repeating
itself. India
is replete with such instances. From Alexander, Qutabuddin Ibak, Mughals, Nadir
Shah and British all have plundered the country and established their rule.
Thanks to weak non-performing corrupt rulers, moribund Central governance with
regional satraps ruling the roost. Today, post the five State Assemblies result,
history is all set to repeat itself!
True, it’s rare for the Centre’s foibles to impinge on
Assembly polls which are fought on State and local issues. But after its
debacle in the just-concluded elections, the Congress-led UPA can no longer
pretend that a year of scams spiraling prices, policy and administrative
paralysis and non-performance has had no effect on its fortunes in the States.
The BJP too has been unable to take advantage of this perception, allowing
regional satraps to emerge as the main beneficiaries of people's disenchantment
with the UPA.
Indeed, UP which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha and Punjab
stand testimony that the polity has turned bi-polar, with two provincial
players Samajwadi and Akali Dal pushing the two national parties to the sidelines: In UP it was a toss between Mulayam and
Mayawati wherein the SP won 224 of the 403 seats (29.2% votes), BSP 80 (25.9%),
BJP 47 (15%) and Congress a mere 28 (11.6%). In Punjab,
while the BJP piggy-backed on the Akali with a declining vote-share the Congress
lost. Sending a strong message of regional assertions.
Paradoxically, the national Parties’ loss has provided the
perfect handle for the regional Parties to blackmail, bully and extort their
demands, especially from the UPA. Already, UPA ally Trinimool’s Mamata has
sounded the bugle of revolt by rallying a group of non-Congress, non-BJP Chief
Ministers of Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra.
All have opposed crucial Central initiatives, FDI in multi-brand retail, Lokpal
Bill, National Counter-Terrorism Centre and Food Security Bill. The Samajwadi’s
victory will only add more ‘regional’ heft to the nascent ‘Federal Front’
Also, there is talk of a mid-term Lok Sabha poll. An
election now instead of 2014 would suit Mamata, ditto Samajwadi and the BJP too
would hope to ride the anti-Congress wave. Thus, all are willy nilly extracting
their pound of flesh, made easier by the total collapse of the political moral
fabric revealing the naked lust for power and gaddi. Whereby, from the
periphery of competitive politics, the regional players are no longer willing
to play the second fiddle to any national Party instead have become the
lifeline for them.
Predictably, the Congress has only itself to blame. It has
come to be perceived as arrogant, reflected in Rahul Gandhi’s UP
‘WE-gave-money-to-the State-they frittered-it speeches’ which spelt
self-importance and conceit. This thread is palpably everywhere, cavalier
treatment of States on various issues, reactions to Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption
movement, attempts to control and stifle dissent et al. Add to this a casteist,
communal, populist agenda. The Rajya Sabha elections next month and President
polls in July could see the Congress-led UPA lose further ground.
Raising a moot point: Is it not time we rethink our model of
democratic governance? Whether coalition politics is really the answer as India readies
itself to don a super power status in the new uni-polar global fraternity? Or should one change to a two-Party
system?
Importantly, given the dynamics of politics in the present
fragmented state, there will be an inherent compulsion for the Parties to come
together, so as to be a recognizable force. Nothing objectionable. But when it
comes to alignments, there is a chasm between ideologies and objectives. As UPA
II exposes when a national Party cohabits with strange regional outfits for all
the wrong reasons to attain power, it fails to realize that it could end in an
anti-climax.
Tragically, national interests get wantonly dumped in quest
of power. It has nothing to do with
taking the federal structure of our polity a step forward. Brazenly, forgetting
that federalism does not mean blackmail, nor does the word coalition imply an
alliance with all and sundry – with anybody and everybody. Bringing things to
such a pass that who ever sits on Delhi’s
gaddi can only do so with his
regional friends. For it is they who really control the vote-banks.
In this political cauldron of uncertainty, the important
this election has giving to the regional satraps
is not without the grave ramifications it will have on the unitary-federal
structure of the State. As long as the
demands of a regional ally are only confined to the development of concerned
region, it is fine. But catapulted to the national level, Parties which lack
national perception is not a welcome development. Their disparate character and
narrow political agenda carry an inherent and strong destabilizing element,
which can lead to recalcitrant Parties whether singly or jointly holding the
coalition and its Government hostage.
At the same time, this is not to suggest that regional
aspirations should not be reflected at the national level. There is merit that
regional outfits are a facilitator for decentralized political authority.
Nonetheless, this has to be done by the Parties keeping the overall national
interests in view.
What next? The Congress needs to introspect on its negative
and left-wing agenda, which harks back to the late 1960s and early 1970s. Time
to move beyond old-school minority quota politics. The world of 2012 is
different. And young India
doesn't identify with what worked four decades ago. To reclaim lost ground it
will have to put governance back on track. Let Manmohan Singh become a visible Prime
Minister while Rahul focuses on re-building the Party.
For the BJP it is yet another wake-up call. It needs to
desist from too-clever-by-half moves such as the aborted induction of
Mayawati's corrupt aide Babu Singh Kushwaha or attending functions of Bihar ally Nitish’s rivals. Though much of its core
Hindutva base remains intact, it has little to offer to new voters. Lack of
credible leaders could increase the disenchantment.
Till such time as both Parties don’t get their acts
together, the Centre will remain an ungainly coalition, increasingly composed
of regional and smaller parties who are more wedded to mohalla perspectives instead of reflecting national policy. The
best course is to move boldly to do the right things by trusting the people and
ignoring ill-informed political opposition from within and without.
Time for our national and 28 regional netagan to realize that symbolism cannot take the place of
responsive clean, efficient and modern governance. It is in everybody’s
self-interest to adopt a more unified outlook, less fragmented approach.
Remember Abdul Kalam’s words: When politics degrades itself to political
adventurism the nation would be on the calamitous road to inevitable disaster
and ruination. Let us not risk it. It is time all of us to introspect….so that India can
sustain itself and grow as a mature, healthy, vibrant democratic nation.” What gives? ---- INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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