The Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance government has obtained a new lease of life for a few extra months after winning a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on July 22. Rahul Gandhi made an impressive speech aimed at the youth that sought to cut across ideological lines and emphasize ‘national interest’, the much- used phrase.
Omar Abdullah was even better, striking a popular chord with the intelligentsia with his spontaneous sincerity. After many months, Lalu Prasad Yadav did what he does best, keeping the nation in splits with his witticisms. Despite his Communist affiliation, Mohammed Salim used the capitalist analogy of a debit card to make his point effectively.
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| Paranjoy Guha Thakurta |
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left his barbs till the very end—a speech he could not read out—urging LK Advani to change astrologers and arguing that the Left wanted him to become their ‘bonded slave’. Sonia Gandhi kept quiet and true to her Sphinx-like reputation, rarely displayed her emotions. As for Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, he remained safely ensconced in his spacious seat, refused to resign and was promptly expelled by the party he had been a member of for four decades, a few days before his eightieth birthday.
So who won? The government, of course! What about Indian democracy? What will the world remember the country by? As a multi-party, highly heterogeneous, vibrant, if anarchic country? Or as a corrupt society where the elected representatives of the people can be ‘purchased’ for a pittance to vote this way or the other or not at all? What will be the abiding image that will remain in the minds of the people? Dr Singh waving the ‘V’ sign? Or a bunch of MPs storming into the well of the House just before voting was to commence displaying bundles of currency notes alleging that they were sought to be bribed to go against the diktat of their party, in this case, the Bharatiya Janata Party?
Unfortunately, the government’s ‘victory’ in having its way as far as the India-US nuclear deal is concerned is going to be overshadowed by the less than honorable manner in which the UPA government won a confidence vote with its new-found ally, the Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and his voluble second-in-command Amar Singh. The government survived not only on account of the fact that the SP replaced the Left to extend support to it, but more on account of cross-voting by Opposition MPs. What is evident is that if it had not been for nearly two dozen MPs belonging to the BJP as well as the coalition it leads, the National Democratic Alliance, switching sides while voting or abstaining/absenting themselves from the House, the confidence motion would have been defeated.
It was hardly a coincidence that the BJP MPs who displayed currency notes in the House disrupted the proceedings of the Lok Sabha just before voting on the confidence motion was to take place. Did the leader of the Opposition and BJP’s PM-in-waiting LK Advani guess at that time that the battle had been lost? Did he realize by then that at least eight of his MPs would defy the party’s whip? Or did he secretly conspire to help the government in order to keep the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Mayawati at bay? Why did the television channel that conducted the sting operation showing the MPs being offered bribes decide not to broadcast the story and instead handover their tapes to the speaker? Clearly, there are many more questions to be raised than answers to be found.
The infamous nexus between dirty money and politics in India is an issue that is not going to die down in a hurry. Thanks to a more proactive and vigilant media, this phenomenon is now out in the open for everyone to see and is not taking place behind closed doors. This vulgar display of corruption does not do any Indian proud, even if the PM believes the nuclear deal with the US will make every citizen of the world’s largest democracy hold her or his head high in the comity of nations. It will indeed take a lot of convincing on the part of the government to make the proverbial aam admi believe the nuclear deal will help light up homes in hundreds of thousands of villages. Still, the government will proceed super-fast with operationalizing the nuclear agreement, first with the International Atomic Energy Agency, then with the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group and finally, with the American government headed by lame-duck President George W Bush and the US Congress.
The Left may be obdurate and pathologically anti-American. For the Congress, however, the SP may not be such an easy partner to get along with. But India’s ‘grand old party’ is not overly concerned because the next general elections are not all that far away. The Congress hopes to improve its position substantially in the three BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan when assembly elections take place in December. The ruling regime clearly hopes this would act as a morale booster in the run-up to the elections.
The Congress is hoping the contradictions between the Left, the BSP, the Telugu Desam Party and other smaller parties would prevent the newly-configured ‘Third Front’ from becoming a significant political force. But that may just be wishful thinking. For the incumbent government, the most important electoral consideration would be its ability to control runaway food inflation. It is expecting a record harvest to mute inflationary expectations. Otherwise, the future prospects of the Congress do not appear particularly bright.
The author is an educator, an economic analyst and a journalist with over 30 years of experience in various media—print, radio, television, Internet and documentary cinema.
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