A lot of song and dance has been made over LK Advani’s remark that the UPA government is ‘illegitimate’. He was technically and legally wrong and wisely he has made amends for his comment in the Lok Sabha.
But what exactly is the situation? If the truth has to be told, the UPA government is led not by the Congress Party but by a ‘Family Party’, that can be appropriately called Sonia Congress. That Sonia Gandhi continues to be party president for years unchallenged, is an eloquent commentary on the basic weakness of the party. This was never the case in the past. Party presidentship changed by the year. This was the rule, though there have been exceptions. UN Dhebar, for instance, got five one-year terms from 1955 to 1959. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy got elected four consecutive times (1960 to 1963) as was K Kamraj (1964-1987). Things began to change once Indira Gandhi came to power in 1978 and the era of Nijalingappa, Jagjivan Ram, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma and Dev Kant Barua came to an end (1967 to 1977).
Indira Gandhi took over as party president (1978-1984) and following her assassination, it fell to her son Rajiv Gandhi to takeover from where she left and continue till 1991 (1985-1991). He would, given the nature of Congress culture, probably have remained a life-time President had he too had not been assassinated. It then became temporarily PV Narasimha Rao’s turn (1992-1996). With his death there seemed to be no one of national stature to lead the party. With Sitaram Kesri turning out to be a ‘failure’ – define it how you will – the party looked again to the family and that is where we are now – and with what consequences.
It is not Sonia Gandhi’s fault that she does not represent the soul of India, try as hard as she may, but no one has shown any guts to challenge her reign. Dr Manmohan Singh has no free hand. There is no trust between the Congress and its allies. There is constant spat between the Congress and the NCP and the DMK keeps flexing its muscles whenever it suits it. The Government hardly seems to function.
It is interesting to recall what Dr Manmohan Singh said way back on April 30, 2004 in an interview to The Times of India. He said he was in politics by accident and that he was not qualified to handle the responsibilities of the country’s Prime Minister “as the job was hitched to lots of complexities”. Asked if he could be “the ideal person” to hold the chair at that point in time, Dr Singh argued that a person holding the Prime Minister’s office should not only be technically sound but “the person should have the calibre to manage the complexities of politics” and he was not the man for the job. Says the report: “He contended that there were many faces in Congress far more competent than him to become the Prime Minister. He also ruled out accepting the post even if he emerges as consensus candidate for the job…..” That says it all. Does what he said eight years ago hold true even to this day?
A US weekly has dismissed him as an “under-achiever”. Surely that was not inspired by the BJP? At the same time Sonia Gandhi seems determined to exercise power through the revival of the National Advisory Council (NAC) which functions as a super power which it shouldn’t be doing, as CP Bhambri writing in the Economic Times (August 24) has noted. The point was made that Sonia Gandhi has been running not just the party, but the government as well, with Dr Manmohan Singh merely serving as Prime Minister at the sweet will and pleasure of the party leader. According to Bhambhri, Sonia Gandhi as chairman of the NAC has ‘intervened’ on policy issues by writing 25 letters to the Prime Minister and 17 letters to various Cabinet Ministers during the last ten years, on a wide range of subjects. This is questionable, according to Bhambhri. He quotes an occasion when, in Britain, the President of the Labour Party, Prof Harold Laski, tried to assert his authority vis-à-vis the Prime Minister, Clement Attlee by trying to lay down what policies the latter should follow. Attlee is supposed to have written back saying that the government is accountable only to Parliament and the party chairman should confine himself strictly to party problems. Even Jawaharal Nehru had reportedly ticked off party president JB Kripalani by reminding him that the Prime Minister is constitutionally recognised as the head of government and the party president cannot exercise any special authority, political or moral, over the Prime Minister.
Nehru similarly had a tiff with another party president, Purshottamdas Tandon who subsequently resigned. Dr Manmohan Singh is neither Attlee nor Nehru and can only be expected meekly to take orders from Sonia Gandhi, which raises questions of his right to the Prime Ministership. Besides, as Bambhri himself states, “it is factually correct that Sonia Gandhi is the sole architect of the Congress-led UPA government”, except that what we have is not a Congress Government per se but a coalition government and the Prime Minister has to take into account the views of his coalition partners. In such a situation what is Dr Singh’s relevance? Writes Bhambhri. “Dualism of the system of government has crippled the UPA government and its functioning from 2004 to 2012.” Don’t we all know that? Sadly, much of some recent events has shown how easily coalition partners have marginalised Dr Singh. Not even, it seems, is Sonia Gandhi in a position to put coalition partners in their place. Then, it may well be asked: what is her relevance in the scheme of things? Times are changing and changing fast.
If what an India Today—Nielsen Poll has any significance, the days of the UPA government are numbered. It will be effectively defeated. Taking to the streets, running down Narendra Modi and adopting vengeful steps such as taken against Baba Ramdev would only be self-defeating. It will anger the voter still more. In such circumstances the BJP must ask itself whether it is wisdom to stop Parliament from functioning. The country has reached crisis point and the BJP must know when not to cross the Laxman rekha. The country’s interests must come first, last and always. There have been crises situation in the past which have been effectively crossed over. The present crisis is the worst ever and it falls on both the party in power and the party in Opposition to see how best it can be resolved to mutual satisfaction. It is foolhardy to stand on ceremony counting prestige. Shouldn’t for once a statemaman like Atal Behari Vajpayee be invited to settle matters with dignity and decorum?
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