Opinion
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| | BETWEEN THE LINE: Regional leaders in demand | | | In India, the president is only a constitutional head. He or she draws authority from the parliament and state assemblies. Yet the office became a point of contest because both the Congress and the BJP, India’s two national political parties, wanted to test the waters before the 2014 general elections.
By this yardstick, the Congress has proved that it has the support of its allies. Its candidate Pranab Mukherjee, the former finance minister, has become India’s 13th president. The contest, however, exposed chinks in the BJP’s armour. Its candidate P.A. Sangma, a northeast tribal leader, could not muster the votes expected.
Yet the results of the presidential election should not be looked as a indication of how both parties will perform in the 2014 parliamentary elections simply because they are 22 months away. Today, the Congress’ image has been tarnished by several corrupt deals which have come to light in the last couple of years. The Congress has also been hit by the adverse fallout of an economic slump and rising inflation.
If the Congress is able to improve the economy and bring down prices, it will improve its chances in 2014. Public memory is short and voters can be influenced by the atmosphere prevailing during election year. But the party might find it hard to repair the numerous dents in its machinery. Were the Manmohan Singh government to show a sense of direction and shed the indolence that has crept into governance, the Congress would count in the elections. The party’s advantage is that its rival, the BJP, has not been able to capitalise on its losses.
BJP leader L.K. Advani has been frank enough to admit that his party has not endeared itself with the people. The problem with the BJP is that it has only reacted to the situation, and failed to take the bull by the horns. The party has looked more negative than positive. It has been willing to strike but afraid to wound, probably realising that it is in no position to replace the government.
The common man wants relief, not statement after statement analysing where and why the nation went wrong. The BJP has not offered any concrete proposals to improve things. Its argument that it is the Congress-led government’s responsibility to make a difference is only a lame excuse that does not impress the electorate.
And all the time the BJP lives in the shadow of the RSS, which spares no opportunity to underline that power lies with it. The BJP appointing bumbling Nitin Gadkari as party president and persisting with him for a second term may have satisfied the ego of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, but it has not gone down well with the BJP’s followers or the party’s well-wishers. They have, in fact, taken to heart the humiliation heaped over Advani who has built the BJP from scratch.
Since both the Congress and the BJP look like the parties of yesterday, engrossed in their petty quarrels and pettier politics, they may not improve upon their present strength in the Lok Sabha. The BJP may, however, do slightly better. But this may not happen if there is any truth in the news that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is the BJP’s nominee for the post of prime minister in the 2014 elections.
Modi factor
It is not merely the Muslims’ opposition to him; India will not be able to hold its head high in the comity of nations if its prime minister is a person whose hands are soaked with blood. Modi did not have even an iota of sensitivity to apologise for his acts of omission or commission in the killing of Muslims during the Gujarat riots.
With Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, no political party will touch the BJP. In this scenario, the party may be isolated in the 2014 parliament, which promises to be a hung house yet again. Even the present structure of the BJP-led front, the National Democratic Alliance, may collapse. Let the BJP not be under any illusion. Modi’s candidature is like blowing the bugle of Hindutva, something a secular India cannot accept.
When it comes to the Congress, its allies are with it because of the government’s handouts. It is not a secret that both Mualayam Singh’s Uttar Pradesh and Nitish Kumar’s Bihar supported Mukherjee’s candidature after the Congress promised them huge financial packages. Worst is the use of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to threaten chief ministers who were not toeing the line on the presidential election.
One specific example is that of Nagaland’s chief minister.
Sangma, the losing presidential candidate, has made certain allegations, which the government or media should not dismiss as an expression of frustration after defeat. There should be a judicial inquiry into the matter. Sangma has said on record that “economic packages have been given in a big way ... There were threats ... chief ministers were told, ‘There are cases against you, so vote for us’.”
Even the age-old ally of the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has been demanding a price. Its chief and union minister Sharad Pawar does not want an inquiry into the NCP-held portfolio of irrigation in Maharashtra. In the past decade, the state has spent millions on several projects, but has failed to increase the area under irrigation by more than 5 per cent. Millions of rupees more are required to complete pending projects, which have been languishing from periods ranging from five years to three decades.
The Congress has done everything to placate Pawar. It is no surprise to see that the government is cajoling other allies to keep the coalition going. The Congress does not realise that it is further losing its stock and making the BJP more acceptable. This is not to say that the BJP did not offer packages and used the CBI to keep its flock together when it was in power.
Acts of omission and commission by both the Congress and the BJP have brought regional parties into prominence. They are increasingly conscious of their importance. The 2014 elections could well be fought regionally and both the Congress and the BJP will have to look for regional leaders.
Regrettably, the country is short of such leaders. This is its tragedy. |
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