POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, 31 May 2008

Uncork The Champagne…

UPA FIZZ JUST RAN DRY!

By Poonam I Kaushish

Celebrations are normally great fun. Lots of masti, some khaana-peena and loads of mirch-masala gup-shup. A time to wipe the worries, dismiss the problems and rejoice in the vacuous rhetoric of a litany of achievements. Enjoy!

At the risk of sounding a party pooper, are you kidding? The festivity at the Prime Minister’s dinner said it all. Never mind the phony assurances served to the aam aadmi as the tastiest dish. The high point was the grand entry of dushman-turned- dost Samajwadi leader Amar Singh even though he came an hour late.

The relief on Manmohan Singh’s face was palpable as he scurried from his table to sit with his khaas invitee to the exclusion of all present. Forgotten in the euphoria was the irony that the 2004 gate-crasher at Sonia Gandhi’s dinner for the UPA allies had become the most–prized guest. Never mind that Sonia and Amar Singh did not exchange greetings.  Should we measure this as the UPA’s success or desperation?

Less said the better of the “there is no reason to party’ Left brigade who after much dilly-dallying attended the dinner because it didn’t want to loose its numero uno position of being the main benefactor of the Congress. It was worried that if it distanced itself now then other parties would occupy its prime place at Sonia’s high table.

Moreover, Messers Karat and Yechury could not stomach the fact that the Congress was seeking to replace it with the Samajwadi and other new allies. Which would put to rest its dreams of forming a grand Third Front. Thus, the back seat driving and tu-tu-mein-mein could resume later. Should we measure the souring of Congress-Left ties as success or failure?

What of the Grand Dame of Indian Politics. It was all dressed up with no invites of a promising future, no grooms and no swayambar. In the last four years it has lost 14 State Assembly elections out of 25. Since 2005, the only major wins for the Party have been in Haryana and Assam.

In 2007-08 it has lost critical states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and, recently, Karnataka. Worse, there is no Congress rainbow in sight in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Mizoram which go to the polls later this year and the general elections next year.  Should we make merry that the Party is looking at the situation (read power) skidding out of its hands?

Given the Party’s penchant for dynasties, it has insulated its ruling Goddess Sonia-who-can-do-no-wrong and ‘yuvraj deity’ Rahul against any finger-pointing backlash. If the ground beneath the Congress is slipping fast, very fast in State after State, blame it on intra-party politics, backstabbing and fighting between senior leaders, stick-in-the-mud recalcitrant allies, the moon, sun, stars et al. But not Sonia-Rahul. No matter that everything from A to Z is decided by the undaata, her alone.

Should we celebrate the tragedy that the raison de atre for the Party’s defeat is because the Congress has tied its kundalini to Sonia’s stars and refuses to see what the asli stars foretell: time has cut the dynastic umbical cord?  Yesterday it was UP, today Karnataka, tomorrow Lok Sabha, who knows?

This not the only problem. The link between the Congress’s electoral underperformance and organisational disarray cannot be overstated. Karnataka is only the tip of iceberg where former Chief Minister Krishna made no bones that the blame for the Party’s defeat rests squarely on the “central leadership. My not contesting was a crucial mistake. I would have led from the front and the situation would have changed.” This was a "grave blunder," he added. Are we to rejoice that another senior leader has joined the Arjun Singh bandwagon of cribbers? Recall, the Union Human Resource Development Minister was the first to indirectly question Sonia’s style of functioning and coterie culture.

Things are no better in the Party unit in Madhya Pradesh. Union Ministers Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia and former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh have to play second fiddle to handpicked ‘Sonia-stooge’ Suresh Pachouri, who hasn’t one electoral victory to his credit. In Chhattisharh, the Party is caught between the claims of warring Ajit Jogi and VC Shukla for the top slot. In Maharashtra governance has gone for a toss as the Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is busy keeping tabs on thorn-in-the-flesh leader Narayan Rane’s audiences with Sonia. What to speak of the near-complete decimation of its grassroots organisations in UP and Bihar.

Adding to its woes is the spiraling prices and rising inflation. Pulses, wheat, vegetables, tomatoes, potatoes, oil et al have become the bane of the aam aadmi. Bin bijli, bin jal, bin aloo (without power, without water and without potato). Whatever happened to the Congress ka haath aam aadmi ke saath!

Increasing unemployment, illiteracy, ill-health and suicides by farmers are the touchstone of the much-hyped and illusionary deal of roti, kapada aur makan. Look at the irony. Cellphones go abegging, yet people continue to beg for food. Do we measure success by the fact that the common man is being made to pay for the follies of the Government which waited much too long to read the signs of the agrarian crisis facing the country leading to spiraling prices?

Besides, the Congress defeat in Karnataka has not only rendered the Government lame duck but a domino effect has started surfacing in New Delhi. The UPA is branded as unpopular and the Congress a sinking ship. Already staunch ally RJD Chief Lalloo Yadav has castigated the Finance Minister for ‘giving short shrift’ to the aam aadmi and the plight of the farmers. He is reported to have said, “yeh GDP, FDP kya hai, aloo-pyaaz itna mehanga kyuin hai?” The other allies followed suit.

The Left has made up its mind to snap ties with the Grand Dame. But when and on what issue would be decided later. Till yesterday it was the nuclear deal today it has a plethora of issues: price rise, inflation and terrorism. Prakash Karat understands that the law of diminishing returns has set in and there are no political gains if they continue to support the Government. Do we cheer the curious political setting where the Left is confronting the UPA and also desperately looking for an exit route to re-establish its credibility? That too after enjoying power without responsibility.

Ironically, while all its allies have done their electoral calculations for the next round of elections, Sonia has yet to disclose her mind. Raising a moot point: Can such a Party hope to ride the crest of victory again? Sadly, as oft is the case, power breeds arrogance and absolute power breeds absolute arrogance. Ultimately, much will depend upon Sonia’s political will and priorities in the weeks and months ahead. If she can do no more than cleanse the stinking sycophancy cesspool and replace ‘I’ with ‘We’, the Congress could still stand a chance. Or else let the UPA fizz continue to run dry.  ------ INFA

(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)