India’s regent Prime Minister
The problem started in 2004 when Congress President Sonia Gandhi did not accept the popular mandate of the general election. She claimed that her inner voice told her to stay away from heading the largest democracy of the world. What followed was the biggest travesty of democracy in India. Singh, a technocrat who has never won a direct election, was appointed PM by Gandhi. Many in the Congress grudgingly accepted her decision. Gandhi didn’t face any threat from Singh, an apolitical creature. An informal system was put in place under which Singh was supposed to run the government and Gandhi was supposed to look after the politics of governance. But that was not to be an easy affair.
The first strike against Singh’s leadership came from the National Advisory Council. A body headed by Gandhi was formed, which advised the PM about key social initiatives. Key legislations like the Right to Information and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act were pushed through parliament by Gandhi. It is well known within government circles that neither Singh nor his economic team are keen on such expensive social programmes.
Meanwhile, Singh, father of India’s liberalisation, struggled with key economic reforms. During his first tenure, Singh had numerous face-offs with his biggest allies: the leftist parties. Almost always he backed off to save his government. The only time he showed guts and leadership was over the nuclear deal with the US. The party members were reportedly not too keen about the deal but Gandhi stood by him. The Left abandoned him but he survived with the help of regional parties. He returned to power with greater numbers in 2009. Middle-class India argued that he won because he showed leadership during the nuclear deal debate. Rural India claimed that his government got more votes because Gandhi pushed through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
The second tenure has turned out to be even more unstable. Gandhi, who is reportedly unwell, has been involved less and less in party affairs. She has tried to promote her son and scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family, Rahul Gandhi, to lead the party. Rahul has repeatedly failed to prove himself, including his failure in the Uttar Pradesh elections. Such is the obsession of Congress with the Family that despite the shameful loss in UP, the clamour for Rahul to take over the government has only increased. Even PM Singh has been requesting him to either take over or at least become a cabinet minister. Sycophancy is not a new disease among Congressmen but in this case, it has reached new heights.
Within the government, senior leaders — most of whom have been indirectly elected and do not have a mass political base — are now eyeing the top spot. In terms of numbers, the government is more stable than it was during its first term but when it comes to leadership, it has absolutely none. The crisis in the Singh government is not about Manmohan Singh but about the leadership struggle within the Congress party. Singh was never the man for the office. The mandate accorded to Congress was a mandate for Sonia Gandhi.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2012.
COMMENTS (4)
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Congress for whatever deficiencies , appears to be National party. which is inline with ethos of India- secularism, tolerance, equality. All other political parties are either away from basic ethos of India or are pale copies of Congress. Various parties will emerge and vanish..like Jansangh, Cong-o, Janata Party, swatantra party etc. There is common thread right from 1947 , besides the left formation - CPI/ CPM , which is Congress. What ever others may wish, Congress will survive the wobbly nature of its structure. There is no alternative , but to remain dedicated to the core fabric of Indian ethos..which Congress party represents.
Congress has been on a spending spree and still not addressing the infrastructure problems, highly mired in corruption, ineffectiveness is prevelent etc. Monmohan has looked less than compitent over the past few years - if it wasn't for the resiliant biz sector, future would have been a disaster. The captains of indian industry are keeping the ship afloat.
It is the Gandhi family that holds the party together. Remember during the absence of the Gandhi family in the 1990s Congress was split by Arjun Singh, Tiwari, Power, Sangma, Mamta, etc. You got to accept it Congress is the Family and the Family is the Congress. In a way its good too considering how BJP is getting blackmailed by unscrupulous politicians from Karnataka.
The 2004 election was no great mandate for Sonia Gandhi - the Congress won 143 seats vs the BJP 137 which in itself is no great difference. The Congress was successful in stitching together a larger alliance as well as getting outside support - which included the Left parties, the SP and the BSP. The DMK which was earlier with the NDA crossed the floor to the other side; two other key parties - the BJD and the Telugu Desam refused to support the alliance; so I would term 2004 as a failure of the NDA rather than a resounding vote in favor of the UPA. In the 5 years that followed, the NDA went from bad to worse, while Manmohan Singh's govt managed to ride on stellar economic growth and the US Nuclear Deal to position itself favorably in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009) - and here the Congress came good, winning 206 seats on its own. I feel bad for Dr. Manmohan Singh - this is not the way he would have wanted to ride out into the sunset. However, the fact is that the INC today is an unscrupulous party that has nothing else to offer the nation except a leader whose name is Gandhi. I am sure they have plans for Priyanka's children already.