Power & Politics / Mail Today, June 21, 2010

DESPITE being Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy for more than six years now, Manmohan Singh is yet to make the transition from economist to politician.

But there is no doubt that he has taken several important steps on his way to becoming an international statesman. Global leaders have been fulsome in their praise for the manner in which his government steered the economy at a time when most developed countries were reeling under the worst economic downturn in over 40 years.

At the last G- 20 meeting in the United States, Barack Obama led the tributes, hailing the Prime Minister as a “ visionary and a marvel”. Of course he doesn’t get, nor does he expect, such praise back home, where Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and the many senior ministers take care of the rough and tumble of domestic politics. The contrasting images could not have been more stark and that perhaps explains why Manmohan is devoting a disproportionate amount of time to international diplomacy as compared to domestic issues. So what does Manmohan really want? My hunch is that by the time he finally demits office at the end of the current term, he wants to leave a mark on two issues that are dearest to him: Indo- Pak relations and India’s deserved seat on the high table that is the United Nations Security Council ( UNSC).

The first has always been on blow- hotblow- cold mode. When things go from bad to worse, symbolic initiatives are taken. The visits of P. Chidambaram later this month for the SAARC interior ministers’ meeting in Islamabad and foreign minister S. M. Krishna to Pakistan in July are to be seen in this context.

But it is the UNSC seat that Manmohan eyes as the prize catch and he is leaving nothing to chance. From President Pratibha Patil who recently toured China, to vice- president Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and many sundry ministers, they are all flying around the world to seek support for India’s bid.

It may be a coincidence that two retired IFS officers are now presiding officers of the two houses of Parliament. But it is no coincidence that the combination has been chosen to champion India’s cause. The tours undertaken by the two since UPA2 came to power over a year ago gives us an indication.

The Lok Sabha speaker has been to New York, Rome, Geneva, Hungary, Luxembourg and Bhutan as head of parliamentary delegations where she tapped her hosts to support India. Ansari has been even more active. He has been to Kuwait, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan with the same objective. Back home, Ansari has been in touch with many heads of states and governments whom he knows personally.

In Delhi, he has also been meeting the local heads of the foreign missions in the presence of the secretary concerned in the foreign office.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee travels to the United States next week and is taking with him a large contingent from among the titans of industry who are scheduled to take their minds off business matters for a while to indulge in matters of diplomacy with their American counterparts. That apart, the government has launched a new offensive in economic diplomacy with commerce minister Anand Sharma leading from the front.

With the post- meltdown scenario still worrisome and much of Europe caught in a fresh financial crisis, the Middle east, Africa, Latin American and the CIS countries are the places where India is seeking increased trade and investments. The commerce ministry recently did a road show in Dubai in which most of the top 100 companies in India participated, and I am told it was such a big hit that the ministry is now planning more such road shows in the months to come.

India will almost certainly become a non- permanent member and chairperson of the UNSC for 2011- 12, for which elections will be held this October after the two other candidate countries, Thailand and Kazakhstan, withdrew and India’s candidature was endorsed by the Asian group.
Chinese president Hu Jintao told Pratibha Patil last month that Beijing was committed to India’s bid for a non- permanent seat in the UNSC for 2011- 12 and there was hope that this would lead to Chinese backing for a permanent seat.

If the government can win that, Manmohan will leave office knowing that he deserves greater credit than he has got.

Power and Politics/ Mail Today, May10, 2010

ONE MORE Parliament session has ended and once again it is time for the aam aadmi to wonder if they have wasted their time and energy queuing up to vote for a bunch of representatives whose behavior can, at best, be termed as irresponsible.

Of all the sessions, the budget session is the most important one where the government seriously seeks to take the opposition along to have as much business transacted as possible.

I have been indulging in Parliament gazing for over 35 years and I have reason to believe that current session which began on February 22 and ended last Friday has set many records and created many unhealthy political practices. In saying this, I am merely quoting the presiding officers of the two houses and this is what they said in their valedictory speeches: The Vice- President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari said that one “ cannot avoid the impression that much time was lost in disruptions and adjournments.

… The trends in the conduct of business have invited adverse comments and lowered the image of the legislature in the eyes of the public”. In the lower house, Speaker Meira Kumar was no less scathing while advocating sweeping reforms, including the shifting the question hour, and vowed to talk to all party leaders to “ save the honour of the house.” Their angst isn’t misplaced. According to one study, while the First Lok Sabha devoted 49 percent of its time to legislative business, the 14th Lok sabha devoted less than 25 percent. The study also shows that while in 2000, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha met for 5.5 and 4.4 hours respectively every day, it had come down to 4.3 and 3.3 hours by the end of 2007. The stats of the current 15th Lok Sabha, I am sure, will paint an even more dismal picture.

When you consider that each minute of Parliament costs the exchequer over Rs 26,000, it is obvious that our Parliamentary democracy comes with a hefty price tag.

The aam aadmi who send MPs to parliament face serious difficulties in their everyday life: rising prices, deteriorating law and order, the menace of Maoism and terrorism and many more. But what do our politicians do? They cut deals so that everyone lives and lets live. All political parties including the ruling Congress struck and broke alliances to score brownie points at the cost of important legislation. For them, disrupting the proceedings of the house to seek an apology for an inadvertent remark was more important than discussing important bills that have serious ramifications.

There is a decline in the seriousness with which legislative business is conducted in both houses and many bills are rushed through without any discussion Hamid Ansari whatsoever. Even the annual budget was passed this time without much discussion. The far- reaching Prevention of Torture Bill was adopted by the Lok Sabha last Thursday with only 25 of the 543 MPs present. Other important bills like Women’s Reservation and Nuclear Liability were introduced with much fanfare to be withdrawn later.

To give credit where due, it must be said that the government has weathered the parliamentary storm in a much easier way than expected. The budget session began with the entire Opposition joining forces to corner the government on a whole slew of issues from price rise and fertiliser subsidy removal to the civil nuclear liability bill. It ended with the Opposition in disarray and the government crossing many milestones: successfully introducing the nuclear bill which will now be considered by the standing committee on energy; dividing the opposition on the caste based census as one section broke ranks and lavished praise on the regime. Be it the cut motion on the finance bill, women’s reservation, nuclear liability, the foreign universities bill and so many more, the government has struck private deals with sections of the opposition to ensure its victory.

But I fear such deal making is going to come with a heavy price tag. Parliament is losing its relevance as a body meant for creating consensus on national issues. Worse, as the old entrenched leaders dominate the front rows and continue playing the game of caste and community politics, the young are confined to the backbenches to play second fiddle. Once upon a time, the backbench strength of the major parties was such that titans like Madhu Limaye, Piloo Mody, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Chandrashekar, Jyotirmoy Basu, Indrajit Gupta, emerged. We are more likely to see political pygmies in future.