Power & Politics / Mail Today, March 08, 2010

IF YOU think work is bogging you down, that you are left with no time to indulge in your favourite pastimes, spare a thought for the good doctor. Rarely does the Prime Minister, any prime minister for that matter, spend almost the entire day in Parliament. But Dr Manmohan Singh did it twice last week, listening to speeches from MPs on both sides of the aisles as he prepared to reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in both houses of Parliament.

Last Friday, Manmohan skipped his usual home lunch and hung on in Parliament. When it was his turn to speak, with uncharacteristic aggression, he disarmed his foes and surprised his friends. His two interventions in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha reflected his new avatar as a politician inferior to none.

The acerbic and often sarcastic nature of his discourses ensured that the image of him as a prime minister without any political power was a thing of the past. The normally soft spoken Singh proved beyond doubt that after nearly six years in the hot seat, he has developed a hide thick enough to engage in ill- tempered political debates with the likes of L. K. Advani, M. M. Joshi, Sushma Swaraj or Sitaram Yechury. In fact, the Congress couldn’t have found a better tactician to take them on.

And he did it with panache. Advani’s poisonous barbs at the Prime Minister’s “ adventurous diplomacy” were enough provocation to make the Prime Minister’s response equally lethal. He threw his weight around, played to the gallery, paused for the resounding applause and went on to deal a few killer blows. When the opposition leader quoted a long article from an American magazine to suggest that “ clandestine efforts were on under US pressure to hammer out a pact on Kashmir” and demanded that Parliament be kept in the loop, Manmohan retorted: “ First you tell me how many times did Jaswant Singh ( BJP foreign minister) hold secret negotiations and talks with Strobe Talbott ( former US deputy secretary of state)? And how many times did he come and explain what was going on behind the scenes to Parliament?” For the past six years, the opposition has seen Manmohan as a leader without political power, given the task of leading a team chosen by someone else.

He was perceived as a ruler who wasn’t free to formulate policies that have a domestic political fallout. But the reiteration of his resolve to pursue long term policies vis- a- vis Pakistan, China, fiscal discipline and Maoists ignoring the political damage L. K. Advani these may cause at home in the short term proves just one thing: the party stands solidly behind him. So be it the privatisation of mines, the large scale retrenchment in the Communications Department, the decision to resume dialogue with Pakistan or even the withdrawal of petroleum subsidies, he has managed to put to rest all speculation that the party will hound him into reversing the policies.

As usual, he was dressed in his trademark kurta pyjama jacket and sky blue turban, but it was clear he had shed the financial wizard’s robes as his speeches centred more around politics than economics. Thanks to the rare unity among the opposition benches, not seen in a long long while, Advani got massive applause, but it was Manmohan who had the last word. If his demeanour is any indication, Manmohan appears to have dropped his earlier decision to let his work do the talk. Now he chooses to brag about his work and even his trusted people and ministers are surprised over Singh’s newly discovered strategy of offence being the best form of defence. In his second term, the Prime Minister has been asserting his ideology and imposing his chosen individuals on the system.

Without tinkering or interfering with the political hierarchy, Singh drafted retired civil servants and corporate leaders and technocrats in key policy panels and bodies to lay the blueprint for future economic and political governance. He has drafted over 50 retired civil servants and business leaders to advise the government on issues varying from climate change to security to infrastructure.

You wouldn’t see their pictures in the newspaper pages, but most of them are going about their jobs in a very quiet manner. And though they are mostly non- political, most of them are better connected politically than many of the leading Congress leaders. Even if they deliver and none else does, Manmohan would stand vindicated.

Snippets/ Mail Today, March 08, 2010

Kerala and Bengal are poles apart

LAST WEEK, A. K. Antony flew off to Trivandrum. No surprise, considering that his family still lives in the Kerala capital. But what did come as a surprise was that he had gone to inaugurate the new headquarters of a local Malayalam TV channel which is owned by — now get ready for this — the CPM. The Congress and the Marxists may have tangoed in Delhi but in the two party system that exists in Kerala, the two have been at each other’s throats for more than 53 years.
Antony shared the dais with arch political rivals, the Marxist chief minister V. S. Achutanandan and the powerful state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, among others. I would think it’s as unthinkable as Mamata Banerjee lighting the lamp at a Marxist function in Kolkata or Buddhadeb Bhattacharya dropping by at Mamata’s place on her birthday.

But my Mallu friends say that despite their bitter, often bloody rivalries, the political class does not look at political opponents as people below respect. A friend tells me that when K. Karunakaran, then leader of the Congress- led opposition turned 70, the Marxist government organised a public felicitation programme attended by thousands of Congressmen and Marxists. More recently, when the state CPM secretary’s son got married, the entire top brass of the Congress was in attendance though Pinarayi Vijayan remains the Congress’s bitterest enemy.

Contrast this with the same stock in Bengal. Jyoti Babu used to address Mamata as “ that 420”, and she paid back recently by refusing to attend his funeral. Mamata says to hell with protocol and refuses to attend a function presided over by Manmohan Singh in Kolkata because Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is seen sharing the dais with the Prime Minister.

Such hysterical outbursts help none. Mamata should know that some amount of political decency will help remove the ordinary citizen’s disgust with politicians.

Absenteeism of ruling party MPs can be deadly

MINISTER of state for parliamentary affairs V. Narayanaswamy is a much harried man in Parliament on Friday afternoons. It’s at 3.30 pm on Friday that the Lok Sabha moves what are called Private Members Bills. As opposed to government bills that are moved by ministers after due deliberation in the cabinet, Private Members Bills are moved by individual members, often without even informing the party that he or she belongs to. Neither the government, nor the MPs take these bills seriously, and not one such bill has received the assent of the house in the last 40 years.

Most often, MPs remain absent when their turn comes to move the bill. Some of the more determined ones insist on a debate if only to prove a point, at the end of which they withdraw the bill. But a member can, if he wants, insist on a vote and there have been times when large scale absenteeism of MPs has brought the government close to embarrassment because in a thinly attended house, the opposition had more MPs than the treasury benches.

Most of the bills are innocuous but you can never rule out an MP, with nothing but mischief in mind, moving a bill, say, calling for the “ abolition of Article 370 in Kashmir” . Many MPs have moved such bills aimed at embarrassing the government.

Though Sonia Gandhi’s recent missive to her party men to take their work more seriously centred around Question Hour which kicks off the day’s proceedings, I am sure that the Congress high command is not unaware of the many times when the government came perilously close to a loss of parliamentary face due to the sheer laziness of its MPs during Private Members Bills.

That’s why Narayanaswamy has to be hyperactive on Friday afternoons. It’s no easy job to ensure members’ presence. With the house going into weekend recess, most MPs, particularly those from the south and the east, are in a hurry to get back to their homes and choose an early evening flight. Is it any wonder that absenteeism amongst MPs is higher than among students at university?

HELL HATH no fury like a woman scorned. It gets worse when a clutch of them are scorned — by other women. The dirty politicking of our major political parties pales in comparison with the kind of muckraking that goes on in what are known as “ Better Halves” associations of babudom. We have, for example the Indian Foreign Service Wives Association, the IAS WA and the IPS WA. Now if you think these are kitty party groups that meet up once in a while to admire each other’s perfect coiffure, perish the thought. Elections to the IPS WA were held recently. The wife of the IB director is the ex- officio chief of the IPA WA, so elections were held for other posts.
As expected, the wives of many senior officers were in the electoral fray and nearly 50 members were present for the voting.

With so many high profile wives throwing their hats into the ring, there were frayed tempers that stopped just short of fisticuffs, with a clear divide being evident between spouses from the north and others from the rest of the country. I wish the badshahs of TV sting were around to capture the scenes on hidden cameras. The fear was such that wives of junior level officers, exposed to this kind of thing for the first time, felt terrified.

Wonder why none of them thought of dialing 100, the police control room. Just like their husbands, even the wives are mastering the art of “ politricks” very fast.

Seedhi Baat/ Aajtak, March 07, 2010

'I am a victim of politics'

Former Indian hockey captain and Olympian Dhanraj Pillai says he is still fit to play for India.

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Snippets/ Mail Today, March 01, 2010

Why can’t politicians tell the truth?

NOW here is something to ponder about. Telangana has been on the boil for over three months now. People are immolating themselves, MPs and MLAs are resigning en masse and the local administration is paralysed. As Telangana flared, noises began to emanate from places as far as Vidharba, Purvanchal, Mithilanchal and Saurashtra for separate states. To douse passions or to buy time, the Centre offered to set up a second States Reorganisation Commission.

Though the issue dominated the front pages, there was strangely no mention of it in President Pratibha Patil’s address to Parliament’s joint session. Why, she skipped any mention of the appointment of the B. N. Sri Krishna Commission.

This is strange because as far back as 2004, the then president APJ Abdul Kalam had made two references to Telangana in his address to Parliament. It appears that the government doesn’t quite believe in what it preaches.

But the Centre is not the only guilty party. Many regional leaders had demanded smaller states, including Mayawati. She claims to have written a letter to the PM “ urging him to give us clearance for creating independent states of Bundelkhand and Harit Pradesh out of a giant sized and unmanageable Uttar Pradesh”. But if what the junior minister for home affairs Ajay Maken told Parliament last week is anything to go by, it is difficult to believe who is telling the truth. He said “ as per records available, no political party or leaders have requested for setting up of the second States Reorganisation Commission. However, some representations have been received from individuals/ organisations. As of now, no decision has been taken in this respect.”. All of which just goes to show that our political class doesn’t bat an eyelid about fudging the truth.

RS re-election jitters for five top ministers in UPA govt

THERE’S more turbulence awaiting the Congress and things could slip from bad to worse in the coming months. Five senior and “ indispensable” ministers of the UPA government, all members of the Rajya Sabha, are due to retire within the next couple of months. The Congress will have to ensure their re- election, which looks easier said than done considering its frosty relations with some of the alliance partners. A. K. Antony, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma, M. S. Gill and Jairam Ramesh are all high profile ministers as is B. K. Harikumar, a general secretary.

They are due to retire between April and June. Among them, Soni and Gill can hope to get elected from Punjab. Sharma will have to look outside his state because his party is at least 13 seats short to win the lone seat in Himachal. Antony can take the one seat available for the Congress- led UDF in Kerala, but there is a hitch. The Muslim League, the Congress’s local ally in the state, has held a Rajya Sabha seat uninterrupted since 1957. Its MP Abdul Wahab will retire in April along with Antony. As things stand now, Antony is the obvious choice.

But Muslim League leaders from Kerala are coming to meet Madam on Tuesday to remind her that the ML has stood by the Congress since 1957, even after the Babri Masjid demolition when everyone else deserted it. The ML argument is that since the Congress can dispatch candidates to other states, Antony should be asked to contest from elsewhere. But sources close to Antony say he will not relish the idea and will opt for ministerial renunciation rather than switch states. Will Madam heed the sentiments of the Muslim League? Ramesh is from Karnataka but he is a Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh and considering the sentiments of the Telangana brigade, the party is looking at all options. Last heard, it may even rope Chiranjeevi’s Praja Desam Party into the UPA to ensure that the environment minister gets to stay on in the job.

AS things stand now, the Commonwealth Games ( CWG) due to be held in New Delhi this October could shame India. Its successful conduct could also be held up as an exemplar of a shining India. For months now, as deadline after deadline passed by and work continued at snail’s pace, the odds were on India showing itself up as a sporting pariah to the world. There is some hope now. And it may have come about by default. Girish Chandra Chaturvedi, currently additional secretary financial services, is being appointed as chief executive officer of CWG. GC as he is affectionately known has completed a seven- year tenure at the Centre and was to have gone back to his parent cadre in Uttar Pradesh. But GC is some sort of a financial wizard, just the kind of chap that Mayawati may not want around. The feelings must have been mutual, because GC is known to have used the immense clout that a close relative enjoys with the powers- that- be to stall his possible transfer back to his home state. By the time the Games are over in October, GC would have been empanelled as secretary to the Government of India. He won’t then ever have to serve in Lucknow, Mayawati or no Mayawati.

Power & Politics /Mail Today, March 01, 2010

FOR A long time now, Pranab Mukherjee has been the Congress- led UPA government’s Miracle Man. He is many parts rolled into one: the main troubleshooter, a great unifier and the man to get the most improbable job done. “ The man for all seasons and all reasons,” they called him. But even miracle men are human and prone to errors. On Budget Day, he made a misstep whose effects are likely to be felt on our politics for a long time.

His decision to hike Customs and excise duties and remove the existing concessions on petrol has created history for more than one reason: for the first time ever, the entire Opposition walked out of the Lok Sabha during the Budget presentation. We also saw something we haven’t seen in a long time — MPs from the CPM, BJP, RJD, SP, JD( U) and many smaller parties grouping together outside Parliament, hands linked and pledging to fight the government collectively.

Perhaps, Pranab da and the Prime Minister didn't bargain for the backlash when they went through the formality of approving the Budget proposals in a 15- minute cabinet meeting on Friday morning. It wasn’t that the Budget was a letdown. The prime minister has congratulated Pranab da for a “ job well done” which he feels would take the country back to the 9 per cent growth trajectory.

Even sections of the Opposition were seen thumping desks when Pranab da rolled out a series of measures for the social, agriculture and infrastructure sectors. But in the end, petrol’s inflammable properties spoilt the party. It is quite likely that faced with the backlash from the united Opposition and even a section of the ruling coalition, the petroleum cess will be rolled back. But the damage has already been done. The UPA which is still a minority government in power with outside support of the BSP, SP, RJD and some smaller parties will be alarmed as some of them begin to find better options across the aisle.

If anything, this Budget reflects the crises and the lack of political consensus within the UPA. With Sonia opting to stay out of the government, there is no tall leader who can iron out the differences within the coalition.

Though Madam is the chairperson of the UPA, there has been no formal meeting of the coalition convened in a long time. The Telangana fiasco best sums up the collapse of the consultation process in the coalition when each coalition partner talked a different language. Of course young Rahul Gandhi offers hope but he is busy— and rightly so— creating a Congress party for the future and has left it to the current establishment to handle its own affairs.

The Prime Minister ought to be commended for giving full autonomy to most of his minis- Sonia Gandhi ters to deal with their departments as they deem fit. But some ministers, particularly those handling fertilisers and telecom portfolios have milked this autonomy to deviate from acceptable norms and policies.

When the Centre tried to rein them in, it couldn’t, because the ministers rushed to Chennai to complain to M. Karunanidhi. With the Prime Minister’s mind focused on economic diplomacy and forging strategic international alliances, the UPA’s internal political management leaves a lot to be desired. The Opposition seems set to take full advantage of the disarray. The new found political unity is not the outcome of a preplanned strategy.

The decision to walk out of the Lok Sabha was taken on the spot by the BJP leaders; the others found common cause and joined. The Congress’s problems will only mount with the political authority of Pranab da , its tallest leader, taking a beating. So far, his cross- party friendships and acceptance ensured that the government was able to take allies along and take its legislative agenda forward.

Till recently, the BJP too had been playing the role of a “ constructive, friendly” Opposition since it found ideological and social affinity with the Congress on many economic issues. But now the BJP sees an opportunity and may no more be content being the “ loyal opposition”. For the Congress and the UPA, the only remedy now is course correction.

It has to take the alliance partners more seriously and revive the spirit of the UPA. And oh yes, it has to help restore the credibility of the Man for All Seasons.

Through his budgetary exercise, Pranab da has tried to paint a scenario of ‘ short- term pains for longterm gains’. But the experienced warhorse didn’t seem to have anticipated the political realignments.

The assault from the joint Opposition could leave the government not just in pain; it could even leave the government crippled to reap the long- term gains it set out to do.

Seedhi Baat / Aajtak, February 28, 2010

'People are trying to belittle me'

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav slams Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's Budget and also criticises Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government.
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