PM and Congress president: Always on same page!

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh staked his Government for the first time in July 2008 when the Left withdrew support on the nuclear deal with the United States. Three years down the line, no one for sure knows how many nuclear power plants are coming, whether they will be set-up at all given the protests everywhere and what happened to the lofty arguments put forward by the spokespersons of the government and the Congress party in favour of nuclear energy.

Now fast forward the time by a little over four years. In 2012, the Trinamool Congress, obviously a valued ally of the UPA, withdrew support on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail, hike in the prices of diesel and putting a cap on the number of subsidised LPG cylinders. The Prime Minister and his Government may not be required to seek a vote of confidence, like it did in 2008, even after the withdrawal of support as the numbers still favour the UPA with the continued support of Samajwadi Party and the BSP.

But what is worrying is the way UPA behaved, like a salesman, first to hawk the nuclear deal and then to sell FDI and diesel price hike to the people. In the last three years, not a single Mega Watt has been added to the nuclear power capability. Now after the political positioning of the TMC and the hardening stand of the UPA, people are questioning whether the so called renewed thrust on liberalisation — what PM Manmohan Singh has promised — would be actually followed in letter and spirit. People don’t believe it will. Once bitten, twice shy. The economy has gone from bad to worse despite an economist PM and no liberalisation was followed ever since 2004 and it is indeed difficult to accept that government would do in the rest 19 months of its tenure what it couldn’t do in almost 8 and a half years.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde would like to believe that people have a short memory. Mr Shinde you may be right when you say that people do not remember who scored how many runs in the cricket match played three weeks ago or the script writer of a movie released a month ago. But politics is not a quiz show like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’. Do not underestimate the people and question their memory. They do not have so short memories that they would forget the acts of omission and commission of the Government, its follies, shortcomings and attempts to take them for granted.

The managers of the government and spokespersons recently put forward the theory that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are on the same page on economic reforms. The question which should be asked is whether they were ever on a different page on any of the issues which the Government handled in the last over eight years of UPA rule in its two avatars. There was no difference at all between the organisation and the Government and the myth that there were differences was propagated simply to send conflicting signals to the people. You can’t be in the Government and also pretend to oppose it. That is plain and simple.

Remember the Batla House encounter. Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh talked about irregularities in the encounter and questioned the theory of the police and the Home Minister. Obviously, he could have taken on the Government only with the backing of the top bosses of the party and that means Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Then Digvijay took on the government on the tackling of the naxal issue and also arrest of Muslim youths from Azamgarh. Had Digvijay done all that without the backing of the Congress leadership, he would have been out of the party long ago. But he still remains a General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and enjoys the support of his top bosses. It is a different matter that all this strategy failed to translate into votes in the Assembly polls as people saw the bluff.

The diplomatic fiasco of Sharm-al- Sheikh in Egypt in July 2009 is another pointer. The mention of Balochistan in the Joint Statement of July 16 between India and Pakistan raised the political temperature in the country and forced the Opposition to stall the proceedings in Parliament. Congress acted as an Opposition and remained tight-lipped for a quite a while just to take the wind out of the Opposition attack. All was forgotten, the moment PM came back and spoke.

Obviously, the PM and Congress President were on the same page throughout. The PM never denounced the joint statement yet the party merely played along, exposing the myth being propagated that the government and the party are separate and were on a different page for a while.

Except Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, almost anyone who matters in the party, is in the Government, occupying a ministerial position. Those who hardly matter remain in the organisation. There are only three leaders worth mentioning who remain in the party and that too due to compulsions. Janardan Dwivedi wanted to become the HRD Minister in 2009. He couldn’t, so he remains a General Secretary. Digvijay Singh had taken what he calls a political sanyas for 10 years after being routed in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections in 2003. He remains another General Secretary, continuously trying to position himself as a “Left” leaning Congressman. Ahmed Patel enjoys more powers in the position he is in right now than he would have enjoyed in the government. So he remains the political secretary of the Congress President. Is there any other important figure in the organisation left out of the Government?

So the Government keeps floating test balloons at regular intervals, waits for the reaction and allows its own party to distance itself from the decision for a while till people forget it. When there is fierce Opposition to a decision like putting a cap on the number of subsidised LPG cylinders per year, the party asks states ruled by the Congress to increase the cap. When people oppose diesel price hike, Government thinks of a way out so that a rupee or two is decreased from the increased component.

So when I read a news item that on bringing in reforms, PM and Sonia are on the same page, I wondered when they were not. When I read about unanimity between the party and government on FDI, again I started thinking of even a single instance when it was not. Congress and the Government should remember that it is too old a game of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Come out with innovations in 2012. The old political trick won’t work the way it did 30 and 40 years ago. (September 24, 2012) 

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Rahul Gandhi: Need for an image makeover

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

The Congress saw the mirror only for a fleeting second when The Economist showed it. The talent or lack of it of party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi was obvious to everyone for quite a while; but all these months and years Congress deftly turned a blind eye to it.

It still has a blind eye towards the first family of the party and would continue to have so but the critical article on Gandhi in The Economist at least spurred the party men and women to think afresh whether the Gandhi magic would indeed work wonders for them in the next few years.

It’s not that Indian media has not written on the obvious though not in as many words. That Gandhi lacks the magic, connect, charisma, and is sans the talent which a rising star is required to possess in politics, has been on and off been written in the media. His ability to get votes and so called USP of being a youth icon has also been exposed. Congress never took note of it earlier as it came from the Indian media. As The Economist is published from Britain, the place where Gandhi studied and worked for a few years, it immediately caught the attention. 

In fact, in Viewpoint, I have deliberated on the issue on a few occasions after having covered the news conferences, political rallies and gatherings of Gandhi from Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,  Rajasthan, Amethi and elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh for almost three years.

During the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, I covered the public meetings of Gandhi extensively for the news organization in which I was working then. It was strange to find that he delivered the same speech at most of the places. After covering two rallies, I knew what he would say. After three rallies, there was no iota of doubt that Gandhi had mugged his speeches and was not ready to modify it. Had the speeches been made 30 years ago, no one would have noticed it.  But when each speech is telecast live and there is media explosion, everyone would notice it which would only expose your limited abilities.

He soon became a nightmare for the journalists assigned to cover his public and political functions. The reason was simple. He was repetitive and journalists covering him got bored with his speeches sooner than later. There was nothing great to report as he hardly spoke on any contemporary issue and the problems of the day. All he did was to sound idealistic and make the right noises without ever being serious about it. Remember Kalawati and the dalit homes where he spent a few hours. All of them are still struggling to come to terms with life while Rahul is still “learning” what to do in politics and how to do it.

Here, I will quote The Economist. “But he has long refused to take on a responsible position, preferring to work on reorganising Congress’s youth wing, and leading regional election efforts, both with generally poor results. The problem is that Mr Gandhi has so far shown no particular aptitude as a politician, nor even sufficient hunger for the job. He is shy, reluctant to speak to journalists, biographers, potential allies or foes, nor even to raise his voice in parliament. Nobody really knows what he is capable of, nor what he wishes to do should he ever attain power and responsibility. The suspicion is growing that Mr Gandhi himself does not know.”

There is nothing in the article what the journalists who have covered Gandhi already do not know. In fact, the recent book by Aarthi Ramachandran, “Decoding Rahul Gandhi” is a far more objective and critical biography of the 42-year old leader. Aarthi had been a regular beat correspondent covering the Congress for quite some time and provides the analysis which can come only by a journalist who desperately wanted information from the subject, did not get it but knew the sources from where to get it to build the larger picture.

Gandhi has been rather reluctant in parting information or offering his views on what is happening in the country. He hasn’t held any press conferences in the recent past and no one knows his opinion on issues like Coalgate, inflation, 2G scam, diesel price hike or for that matter the performance of India in Olympics or the way ahead till the 2014 elections. Even during his press conferences, he used to draw a line and say that his role was limited to the Indian Youth Congress and the NSUI, the organizations of which he is in-charge as the AICC General Secretary. So, to know the views of the Congress on important issues of the day you have to depend on Manish Tiwari, Rashid Alvi, Renuka Chaudhary, Janardan Dwivedi and Digvijay Singh. As Rahul is above them in party hierarchy, he would not speak on the issues. His Lieutenants would do the job. Politics, obviously does not work that way. You have to communicate and if you fail to do that then you can always remember the assembly election results of Uttar Pradesh early this year.   

Journalists used to flock to Amethi, the parliamentary constituency represented by Gandhi in Lok Sabha not long ago as they expected to get a one-to-one interview with him. I also did the same. Repeated efforts notwithstanding, none succeeded. Now, they have simply stopped going there. “I am not interested,” seems to be the new message. This happened because Rahul took the media for granted over a period of time and built an image of a non-accessible politician who is simply not interested in you or your questions.

It is almost two months now when the announcement of Rahul playing a bigger role was made by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Rahul himself agreed to play a bigger role in either the party or the government, depending on his “two bosses”. Nothing has happened so far. All the vacant posts in the Cabinet have been filled. It is clear that Rahul does not want to become a minister.  In the Congress, a debate is on regarding the responsibility to be given to Gandhi in the party. The debate remains inconclusive. As the will of the party President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul is sacrosanct in the Congress, the delay is clearly a reflection on the way the Gandhi scion functions – procrastination, not willing to take responsibility and indecision.

No doubt he can become the Prime Minister the moment he or the Congress President wants in the next year and half before the model code of conduct comes to force for the 2014 general elections. But after that, it will be the voters who would install a party or dethrone the ruling.   You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. (September 17, 2012) 

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‘His corruption is bigger than my corruption’

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

Corruption has always caught the eyeballs and has the potential to change political fortunes. Remember the Bofors saga which proved to be the nemesis of the mighty Rajiv Gandhi in 1989.

What has changed in the last 23 years is that corruption has become the new buzzword in political discourse, a benchmark by which people judge their leaders. Be it national politics in New Delhi or the regional politics of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh or other states, “corruption politics” has been setting the agenda of the rival political parties. In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, corruption undoubtedly would remain the single biggest issue for the political parties.

One can understand corruption becoming the deciding factor in polls. But what amuses me most is that even those accused of serious graft, charge their opponents of being corrupt without the slightest sense that it could boomerang on them.

Take for instance “corruption politics” in Haryana. While former chief minister and INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala faces a series of corruption cases in various stages of investigation and trial, he never desists from calling his rival in state politics – Bhupinder Singh Hooda as corrupt. Even though there could be a hint of irregularities, Hooda simply laughs away the charges pointing out to the track record of the accuser. Ask Chautala about the corruption cases against him and prompt comes the reply. The CBI is under the central (read Congress) government and it is out to fix its opponents.

Himachal Pradesh is no different. Former chief minister Virbhadra Singh is facing trial under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the CD case. He had to resign from the Manmohan Singh Cabinet after opposition hue and cry over the issue. Charges have been framed and the trial is on. Nevertheless, the five-time chief minister does not desist from charging his opponent Prem Kumar Dhumal and the BJP of indulging in corruption. Of course, the Himachal leader wants the case to be transferred to the CBI believing that till the time the UPA is in power, he could have his say in the investigations. No wonder, he keeps blaming the state government for victimisation insisting that the case is bogus as the investigations was carried out by the state police.

In Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh never gets tired of accusing the Akali Dal leaders of corruption and nepotism. Ironically, he himself is facing graft charges and has to run from one court to the other quite often as the trial and legal proceedings take ages. Talk to the Captain about the charges and he will promptly say that this was part of victimization launched by the Akalis when they came to power in Punjab in 2007. Agreed that the Akalis lodged cases against him, days after coming to power in March 2007 but Amarinder did the same thing against the Badals – chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal when he was the chief minister of the state in 2003. Interestingly, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau was used by both the Captain and the Badals against each other. While the Badals have been acquitted from the graft charges, the case against the Captain is still under trial.

Isn’t there a striking similarity in some of the assertions made by leaders accused of corruption? Those in the opposition and charged of corruption accuse those in power of misusing the authority. It’s like saying my corruption is smaller than yours. It’s like taking the people for granted and laughing away the corruption charges, insisting all the time that it is merely a frame-up.

“Poor” Madhu Koda, the former chief minister of Jharkhand, is perhaps the only politician who has served time in jail for over three years in a series of corruption cases.  An independent MLA, Koda became the chief minister with Congress support and things went wrong and he found himself on the wrong side of law – something rare for a politician to spend so much time in jail on graft charges. Koda can’t even accuse anyone of “political victimization” as he doesn’t belong to any party and has been practically abandoned by the Congress – a party which was sympathetic to him and was instrumental in installing him on the post of chief minister.

Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa remained in Bangalore's central prison in connection with the land de-notification cases only for a brief period and so did former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in the infamous fodder scam. As expected, both of them blamed their political rivals and absolved themselves of all responsibility and never accepted that they did anything wrong.

The case of Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, is all the more interesting. Congress never admitted that YSR could ever do any wrong even as it accuses his son of wrongdoing. No one would believe that Jagan Mohan was capable of making crores of so called unaccounted money and ownership of several companies with varied interest without the backing of his father. Only the Congress is naïve enough to believe that and perpetuate the myth. CBI cases were lodged against Jagan only when he left the Congress to form his own party and not earlier, clearly suggesting that Congress is tolerant to corruption but not to its political opponents.

The UPA government too is doing something similar –closing its eyes to the obvious. It cannot see what is visible to almost everyone. In the Coalgate, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has absolved himself of all responsibility even though he was the minister in-charge for most of the time when the alleged scandal took place. If acts of omission and commission take place under the Head of Department and the government suffers losses, the HoD is held accountable. Causing loss to the state exchequer through negligence itself is considered enough for being hauled up and face the legal consequences.  But in Coalgate, when the heat raged on, companies and individuals began to be questioned. Here is a classic case where you don’t question the policy which led to the scam but haul up the second rung players who merely benefited from the rules and system which you created.

It was a similar approach in the 2G scam. Those who farmed the policy of spectrum allocation and overlooked what was happening right under their nose did not figure in the list of those arrested and prosecuted. Those companies and the CEOs who gave bribe money and benefited have been proclaimed guilty not those who created the environment congenial for corruption by changes in the spectrum allocation policy. (September 10, 2012) 

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The curious case of Virbhadra Singh

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA 

The General has been changed at a time when the troops were lying low and were on the verge of surrendering. The change of guard in Congress in poll bound Himachal Pradesh has thrown several questions than it has answered even as the troops under the command of the General are now dusting their arms when the battle cry has been made.

Being projected as the magic wand of the faction ridden Congress, two months before the Assembly elections, five-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has a Herculean task in front of him - motivating the Congress cadres and making them fighting fit for the polls. This is not going to be an easy task for the new General.

The Raja Saheb, as he is known amongst his supporters and one who jealously guards the tag of royalty, has upped the ante against the BJP Government in the State on the single point agenda of corruption. Ironically, corruption was precisely the reason why he had to hastily resign from his job as Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises — a ministry which he never liked in the first place after Steel was taken away from him.

A court in Shimla framed charges against him under Prevention of Corruption Act in the “CD case” and the most well known face of Himachal Congress had to quit in disgrace, giving ample ammunition to the Opposition at the national level to target the UPA and Congress.

Before him, it was A Raja who was not only forced to leave the Manmohan Singh Cabinet on corruption charges but also spend over a year in jail in the 2G spectrum scam. So in UPA-II, Singh has dubious company with Raja as both had to leave the Cabinet unceremoniously.

On the corruption charges against him, the aggressive leader says what dozens of politicians before him, facing corruption or criminal charges, have already said. “This is a frame-up by the Opposition. I have done no wrong. I have full faith in the judiciary”.

As Virbhadra Singh took over as PCC chief and on the same day staged a violent demonstration before the State Assembly in Shimla to protest the acts of omission and commission of the Prem Kumar Dhumal Government, another problem was in store for him. The Himachal Pradesh High Court directed him to face the trial in a special court and refused to entertain his petition seeking either the transfer of the corruption case to the CBI or quashing a police complaint against Virbhadra Singh and his wife.

Nothing could be more ironical and contradictory in the hill State than the case of Virbhadra Singh. The man who wants to pin down the State Government on some vague charges of corruption is facing a specific charge in a court of law. “I fail to understand why the Congress leadership is taking the people of the State for granted. A tainted person, who is facing a court case, is the spearhead of a campaign which is based on corruption,” a senior party leader, Virbhadra’s detractor said. Many in the State Congress felt that it was time to build a new leadership rather than banking on a wounded war horse whose strategy itself is suspect and is unlikely to help.

The central leadership of the Congress had never been bullied the way Virbhadra did.  He succeeded in arm twisting the leadership in getting what he wanted the post of PCC chief so that he gets tickets for the maximum number of his camp followers. Jagan Mohan Reddy tried the same trick in Andhra Pradesh after the death of his father YSR Reddy but failed. Virbhadra flexed his muscles, threw tantrums and adopted a posturing that he could join either the NCP or the Trinamool Congress.

Sensing the dismal record of the Congress country wide where it has lost one state after the other — the most recent being Punjab — the appointment of Virbhadra is more of a defensive strategy rather than an aggressive one. Had Virbhadra joined either the NCP or the Trinamool, the defeat of the Congress would have been a foregone conclusion. His appointment as the Pradesh Congress president may not alter the equations much coming just a few weeks before the polls, but at least the central leadership could have sent a message that old political tricks do not have a place in this age.

Virbhadra’s political career is half a century old, having being elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time way back in 1962. He has been a five-time MP, seven-time MLA and Chief Minister of the State for five times. His towering presence and political acumen ensured that all his rivals in the State Congress were dwarfed.

In fact, none of them were allowed to grow as he wanted say in the decision making every time an “inconvenient” Congress leader came on the way, the recent example being the last PCC chief, Kaul Singh Thakur. The soft spoken and suave Vidya Stokes never got a chance to don the mantle of chief ministership nor did anyone else.

For Singh, the political mantra was “my way or the highway” from the beginning. The latest episode only demonstrates his political strategy. But clearly, times have changed. The voter has become much more aware and demanding. They won’t go for the “client-patron” relationship type of politics for which Virbhadra is known. It is here that the Congress will have to bear the brunt of voter’s indifference as it has practically declared that he would be the Chief Minister if the party wins the polls, expected to be held in the last week of October or early November.

Even in politics, there is a sell by date if not the age of politicians, certainly what they stand up for. Voters look for fresh ideas, strategy and vision. Many, even his supporters, would agree that the former Union Minister and Chief Minister has given all he has and there is nothing more for him to give to the aspiring youth of the State.

For the last 27 years, after 1985, Himachal Pradesh has thrown out the incumbent Government and voted for the Opposition. While Congress has been the beneficiary one time, BJP won the next time round.

Though this logic has gone for a six in neighbouring Punjab earlier this year and a large number of states over the years — Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha — Singh is thinking that this time it is his chance by default. The voters of the state would have the last laugh. (September 3, 2012)

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