Congress on the Slippery Slope

     

I cannot bear to write off the Indian National Congress party even  in its present avatar  although the growing public outrage against the way it is toying with the Parliament is clearly visible. Yesterday was a tragic day in parliament when the grudgingly agreed debate on the Sushma-Lalit Modi matter happened. But the level to which the heated exchanges sank in the language and style was abysmal. Arun Jaitley’s speech winding up the debate was the only one which really rebutted the Congress accusations with clear references and delivered with dignity..

 I belong to a generation which grew up in the thick of the freedom struggle and completely dominated by admiration for Gandhiji and Nehru. Their only weapon against the British  was their blind faith in their cause and this was vastly infectious. They fought and won, then they laid the foundations of a durable and strong democracy. My generation read about inspiring debates between parties  in parliament where sharp differences came out into the open, there were heated exchanges but in all these the theme was the well-being of the country. Personal and party egos did not exist. The only lack of foresight on the part of Nehru and the  writers of the Constitution showed up in later years. That was their belief that all their successors would be as loyal and true to the national cause as they. History has shown how mistaken they were.

However, today, the Congress party leadership is blinded by the deep wound its ego has suffered in its humiliating defeat in the 2014 election. Much greater leaders than Sonia Gandhi have accepted defeat in parliamentary elections with better grace, perhaps because they have considered themselves as much  a part of the Indian parliamentary system as winning and losing elections. Soniaji seems to be under the mistaken impression that in order to assert her Indian-ness she has to win every round of every bout – and experienced leaders, trusted advisers like Manmohan Singh and  Antony dare not correct her. The political future of the Digvijays and the Kharges is uncertain. The in-betweens of the Anand Sharma and Gulam Nabi Azad type will hope for top leadership in a resurrected party if that happens.The young hopes like Scindia are just carried away by the excitement of the battle forgetting there is no victory for the Congress in this conflict because if they win India and its democracy lose. The entire stand-off has been reduced to the question “Are the parliamentary practices laid down by the rule books the  products of the Constitution (which indeed they are) and if so can continued disorder  and defiance of those practices be condoned when MP’s have sworn allegiance to the Constitution?” The answer is obvious. 

The Lok Sabha Speaker’s suspension of 25 Congress members was appropriate, though belated. It was laughable seeing Soniaji and her flock virtually protesting against the Constitution near the Gandhi statue outside parliament. Sheer sacrilege ! Knowing Antony and Manmohan Singh as well as I do, being party to that avoidable drama and speaking in support must have been soul-searing for them ! How the mighty have fallen!

Congress is now turning its attention to stalling Rajya Sabha proceedings. While the Lok Sabha Speaker has been showing a high degree of firmness throughout the session, presiding officers of Rajya Sabha have shown visible and audible helplessness. By the very nature of its composition Rajya Sabha has always been very orderly and debates there were meaningful and well-prepared. That is now history  as nominations to this House, as to many other  institutions, are based on extraneous considerations. The number of nominated members who are always absent except when summoned for  a vote is proof of this.

The post-Nehru period, in retrospect, marked a downturn in the life of the Indian National Congress. Bad decisions and missed opportunities have been the reasons. Nanda in two short terms and Lal Bahadur Shastri for two years followed Nehru. Shastri showed short-lived promise with his handling of the 1965 war with Pakistan. Indira Gandhi’s reign  from 1966 to 1977 was eventful for all the wrong reasons- the split of the Congress, her conviction, Sanjay Gandhi on the rampage, the Emergency, its withdrawal and the general election with Congress losing to an alliance led by Morarji.

Indira Gandhi returned to power in1980. Sanjay Gandhi died in an air crash in Delhi and left his mother in maternal distress and political despair. An unwilling Rajiv was coaxed into joining politics. !983 saw  Operation Blue Star and Bhindranwale’s  death. Indira was assassinated in 1984 and Congress was led by  an amateur politician, Rajiv, popular for his charming smile and  open nature. First impressions in India and abroad were good but  that changed as a coterie tightened its grip on Rajiv. IPKF in Sri Lanka turned into a disaster and India had to withdraw after Rajiv lost the 1989 elections trying to please the Muslims  on the one hand and promising Hindu rightists their Ram Rajya on the other. VP Singh was the next PM 1989=90 and Chandrasekhar 1990-91.The Lok Sabha was dissolved prematurely and general elections were  announced.

Rajiv was assassinated in 1991 while canvassing in Chennai. In the elections Congress managed to get enough seats to form a minority government under a retired and recalled Narasimha Rao. The  Congress enjoyed a flash of glory when the government was confronted by an unprecedented economic crisis and the possibility  of being declared in default. Between Rao and Manmohan Singh, also recalled from retirement, they led huge economic reforms which salvaged India from threatened ignominy and put it on the growth path. Rao’s 1991-96 term gave hope of restoring balance in Indian politics and economy.

              The 1996 general elections did little other than give India three Prime Ministers in                                two years and another general election in 1998. Vajpayee led an alliance but it                                      collapsed leading to yet another election in 1999. Vajpayee this time led a stronger                              alliance and lasted the full five-year term. The Congress lost two in a row.
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Sonia Gandhi became Congress President in 1998 replacing Sitaram Kesari who resigned under dubious circumstances.2004 was Soniaji’s peak political year when Congress went back into power leading UPA 1. She, of course, was the first choice for PM but in what looked like a great gesture of  abnegation she obeyed her “inner voice” and offered that position to Manmohan Singh. The loyalists in the party wept uncontrollably on hearing of this decision!

 It is logical to assume that the act of abnegation was based more on the reality of her situation than on a spirit of sacrifice, Soniaji’s sharp mind had realised that if she became PM  she would be in the frontline and the opposition would take potshots at her for the Bofors scam with its Italian connection and the HDW submarine scam over which VP Singh had resigned from the cabinet, Manmohan Singh was the ideal choice with his international standing, total invulnerability to any accusation and, of course, his gentle, peace-loving nature !

 UPA 1 and 2 followed as a  strange alliance of parties with disparate ideals. The result was a period of compromises and smaller parties influencing crucial decisions. It was coalition at its worst. The coal block allocation and the 2G scams broke out which evoked critical comment in mandatory scrutiny  which even suggested incidence of corruption at ministerial levels. The Telecom Minister Raja resigned and had to go to prison.Things got so bad that the stink touched the PM who held the coal portfolio at cabinet level. A rail scandal followed and the coal minister and the rail minister resigned.  In the light of all this there was little surprise that the Congress party was swept away in the 2014 elections and reduced to such a minority that they even had to fight for the position of official opposition with 44 members in the Lok Sabha.

Cutting to the present, Congress feels so badly whipped in the election that the party leadership, despite divisions in the ranks, is indulging in a test of its .obstructive power by disorderly , rowdy behaviour in the parliament to block vital legislation for which it claims credit at the same time. Wasted parliament time is estimated to cost the exchequer nine crore rupees each day. Public outrage is growing and there is a demand that not only should all further increases in MP’s remuneration be blocked but also that they should not be paid salary and allowances for the period of disruption.

 I started with my reverence for the old Congress party and have come full circle.I have traced the decline of the Congress and it seems to be that it started with Indira Gandhi’s clash with the organisation and the exit of the veterans from the party. Since then it has been a constant attempt to keep THE FAMILY in power at any cost and inexperienced leadership has cost the party its numerical and moral authority. The latter could still have been retained if the party had stuck to its old principles and let the members choose the leaders.

Even the depleted Congress presence in Lok Sabha has capable, potential leaders like the Anand Sharmas, Jairam Rameshs and the Scindias. There are the experienced Gulam Nabi Azads and the Digvijays and the sages, Manmohan Singh and Antony who are all strangely complicit in this nasty, unbecoming drama being played out in parliament. It is time that the younger and fitter leaders shook off the shackles of their present state of hypnotised thinking, reopened their own fresh minds, raised the voices of their conscience now in a state of stupor and planned to replace an aging  leadership with young, more potent home-grown leaders. It is true that there was a foreigner among the founders of the Congress party but to sustain a national party and give it eternal life it needs home- grown leaders with national blood flowing through their veins. Indian-ness is not enough to be Indian.

President Abdul Kalam is right when he says  there has to be a dream and that dream has to turn into action. The resurrection of the much-loved old Congress party is a dream which needs to be followed by action. In the present case, Congress has to act  without delay if it is to stem the down- slide of the party and  prevent our great Indian National Congress from turning into Indian Notional Congress.

             

The Indo-Italian Threat

The GST bill was introduced in an orderly Rajya Sabha.However, it was halted at that stage as then  the Congress benches erupted into shouting and the members crowded into the well. By convention rather than by rule any  constitutional amendment can  be passed only with members in their allotted seats.The GST bill involves such an amendment.

I am disgusted that  a glorious party with such patriotic traditions should now be populated by mindless creation who forget  their roots and violate the Lok Sabha rule book which is a product of the Constitution.. They blindly follow someone whose proclaimed "Indian-ness"  is now shown to be not enough to be truly Indian which needs  Indian blood flowing through the veins. 

It is ironic that the party which threw foreign domination out of India is now  welcoming foreign influence back in our governance. Thanks to them our parliament is beginning to be run on the lines of its Italian counterpart ! There is no substitute for home-grown leaders for our national parties !

Quo Vadis, India ?

In 1957 when  Nehru heard Vajpayee in parliament he said “This young man will be Prime Minister”.   As for Vajpayee, an RSS pracharak, he had no reason to like Nehru whom RSS considered a pseudo-secular anglicised Indian. Yet when Nehru died, Vajpayee paid a handsome tribute to Nehru. He said “A dream has remained half-fulfilled, a song has fallen silent and the flame has vanished into the Unknown. The dream was of a world free of fear and hunger, the song an epic resonant with the spirit of the Gita and as fragrant as a rose and the flame a candle that burnt all night to show us the way “.

Having seen the current parliament stuttering its meaningless way through days and weeks and watched Congress and BJP “pracharaks “  shouting and hooting down each other to no purpose I could not but think of the  life of the parliament in its glorious past from which only Vajpayee remains as the only genuine statesman. He  was loyal to his party but loved his nation more and acknowledged patriots from other parties with total respect. I recalled my childhood and growing years  when we read about the great parliamentarians of the first and second generation from different parties with conflicting ideologies but all united in their concern for the well-being of India.

Nehru, Patel, Ananthashayanam Iyengar, Hiren Mukherji, Dange, Ram Manohar Lohia were only some of the great orators who were listened to with wrapt attention even if they were speaking against  each other. There was criticism but no malice. There was force in what they said but not the coercive and threatening kind. It was all reason and thinking. With those memories still alive it has been terrible to watch those seats occupied by comparative pygmies battling it out depending more on decibels than sense, on muscle rather than brain. Where there was decorum and dignity there is neither now.There was dignity in the House in those distant years  because there was dignity in the members. . The Speaker was a firm and just traffic policeman who managed the proceedings fairly, enforced rules and was respected. The Parliament was theirs to protect and not a transit camp to occupy for a few years and from which to acquire an identity and benefits which they never had.

The stand-off between BJP and Congress which has been marked by anger and bitterness and a huge dose of ego has cost the nation dear. The Parliament has been turned into a venue  for rowdy behaviour, display of total contempt for rules and disregard for the waste of  time and  money. Legislative business of great relevance remains ignored while personal animosity between leaders rules supreme. It is as if important legislation accepted in principle by both sides is being blocked by Congress to show how even a depleted opposition can obstruct the majority.  The tragedy is the unanimity among the opposition parties which have risen in rebellion against punishment of rowdy behaviour in the Lok Sabha after repeated warnings. The  impasse has now been escalated into a new level by a boycott of the parliament.

The BJP after a strong resistance to objections to the format of the pending Bills has compromised in an effort to  move forward. The Congress are sticking to their stand for resignations which is totally untenable as they have rejected the offer of a debate on the issue in Parliament. This is where the leaders have to  show their mettle and statecraft but then ego has to be sacrificed at the altar of national cause.

Congress leadership seems to wish to cling to its ego as that appears to be all that it has. “Indian”ness is not enough to lead an Indian political party, “Indian”ness has to have that little bit more to be truly Indian and to feel for the country. It is the feeling for the country that makes a true patriot and, sadly, that is  a rare commodity in our politics today. Sonia Gandhi had received the acknowledgement of Indians for the manner in which she has merged with the local scene but her current policy of unconditional confrontation could damage her claim to be truly Indian. The young and new blood in Congress,future hopes such as the Sachin Pilots and the Scindias and the not so young but experienced Jairam Rameshs and Anand Sharmas have unfortunately chosen to follow lamb-like rather than advise steps that put the nation first and inter-party conflict last. It is sad that at the top Manmohan Singh, Antony and others  like them have been reduced to mere mute followers of what seems unworthy of their stature. Forgotten is the basic tenet that leadership lies in overcoming, not creating crises.

All these experiences have a lot of lessons to offer on the need for electoral reforms which ensure that instruments of democracy such as parliament are in the hands of those equipped  to handle the work within just as any other instruments need trained users. Even an attender’s job demands minimum educational qualification and acceptable credentials. It is strange that the destiny of our nation is placed in the hands of those who have no credentials whatsoever. Even  known criminal records are no bar to becoming a party candidate for election and in fact, in many cases, it is a desirable qualification ! Fake  supporting documents are par for the course and so the path to parliament and legislature  is literally and figuratively paved with gold ! The result is that a large number of MP’s have come out in open support of the suspended members saying that the agitation and noisy demonstrations inside parliament. are acceptable means of protest in a democracy. Sonia Gandhi said so too  adding that the suspension was a murder of democracy. How the mighty have fallen ! An MP said yesterday that Nehru would have wept at the suspension. Little did he know that Nehru would have exploded in outrage at the unruly behaviour and would have had the members evicted.

The Parliament stands immobilised despite the brave attempt in Lok Sabha to  go through the routine. The Rajya Sabha faces the same noisy demonstrations led by Congress and what it takes to restore normalcy is in the hands of Modi and Sonia Gandhi. This reminds me of the Cold War when USA and USSR faced each other in cold silence with nuclear weapons at the ready. But then that war was also de-fused  by leaders who saw the futility of it and the damage that it was doing to their economies. We here, of course, do not have the luxury of that length of time and one can only hope that good sense will prevail and end this Cold War soon.

A new development is that the Indian people at every level who are aware of the far-reaching reforms awaiting clearance are openly getting restive. In fact there is widespread disapproval among the public  of the disruption of parliament  and the colossal waste of public money at the rate of at least a quarter of a million rupees every minute. Politicians are already being stopped on the road and heckled in many States for not doing enough for the people or for doing too much for themselves. It would not be too unreasonable to fear that the  stoppage of parliament could trigger more active protests from public organisations which would then be a gathering wave. Political leaders need to keep this in mind.

I had said in one of my earlier articles that Modi has to reach out to Congress With his constant absence at every meeting and his infrequent presence  on a selective basis he is putting more distance between himself and the opposition than is wise. He only makes his job more difficult when he has the presence and personality to mend fences.. He has already had a cordial meeting with  Dr.Manmohan Singh. – one cannot have any other kind of meeting with Dr.Singh ! –who would be a good interlocutor to restore contact between both sides. If Modi can restore talks with the Pakistan PM, surely,  he can do the same with Sonia Gandhi who at least has direct interest in India.I have maintained that if Modi and Sonia Gandhi  can agree on a national agenda which is kept out of party conflicts the country can move swiftly forward. Congress can be an active stakeholder in the success that would follow. It would also spell a release for both sides from the hold of the host of lesser parties which are only concerned with furthering their narrow .interests. It may also help remove the sham of the secular divide that exists today.

Admittedly Indian politics is in turmoil but  it is said that everything churns into a mess before clearing. One hopes this is true and that we shall have an answer to our question Quo Vadis , India ?

The Largest "Shirking" Democracy ?

What should have happened days ago, even sessions ago, has finally happened. Many MP’s who lauded  the “Temple of Democracy”, our Parliament, when it suited them and then desecrated it  when it did not, have finally got their just prasad. The pujari has had enough and has acted using powers which have seldom been used on this scale. For a change for weeks  it was the pujari praying for attention, pleading again and again for calm and for behaviour as accepted and  laid down by the worshippers themselves. Finally,in utter despair and frustration the pujari has banned their entry for five days for unruly behaviour.

The Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan, has waited patiently, requested persistently for order many times each day only to be snubbed, defied and insulted by the opposition led by a battered Congress. It is ironic that the largest, oldest and the most prestigious party which battled, won  and laid the foundation of a working democracy should now be trying to make it a”shirking” democracy.

The Congress party is the same but ,over the years, the leadership has changed and now we see clearly that  both leadership and membership have changed in every aspect. The voices of members arguing and debating for national causes that gave the Congress its lofty political position have been displaced by the raucous shouts and hoots of a motley crowd of ambitious, self-seeking and unruly elements demanding an endless string of pay rises and more perks and privileges. Leading them are their seniors who are short on leadership  and chosen for their access to muscle, resources or  family connections.

What we have seen in recent recent years is the growing resort to  rowdy  behaviour in Parliament  to intimidate and coerce.  Posters and placards are displayed in the House in defiance of rules and if these are excused  they are paraded around the floor of the House to catch the eye of the TV camera. The Presiding Officrs have been far too lenient and  wary of adding to the crisis by taking penal action. Unfortunately, among the members also  the two Houses have few takers for firm action  as when it comes to the crunch they have to stand together for benefits of common interest.

The Rules of the Houses have time-tested  processes for dealing with every possible expediency in their running and in the political administration but there are parties, particularly the smaller ones, who try to get their way by open rebellion and violation of rules. The most recent, led by the Congress, has been obstructing the Parliament for the last ten days demanding the resignation of a Central minister and two Chief Ministers. The fact that matters to do with the States ar not usually taken up in Parliament seems to have been ignored . This situation can also be dealt with satisfactorily and in detail under existing rules but Congress, preferring to be sulking losers, have chosen to.  obstruct Parliament with slogan –shouting and crowding the “well”.  Today’s sitting ended with the suspension of a number of opposition members who were “named” for unruly behaviour.

There has been growing resentment among the people against  the wanton disruption of Parliament by dissenting members who then have the gall to ask for additions to their already bulging bag of salary, allowances, perks and privileges. Their latest forceful demand is for escorts and service at airports to lead them from their cars through VIP lounges into the right seat of the right plane. This is the kind of care asked for for persons variously disabled. Of course, it is possible that some of the new claimants for this service do genuinely feel the need !

A matter that has been raised in the public domain is the justification for paying the MP’s for days lost by disruption, Such wasted hours have crept up from a mere 4%  several years ago to 18% in the 13^th Lok Sabha to 22% in the 14^th and then leapt to a whopping 42% in the 15^th. The present ruling party has contributed to this unpardonable disruption practice in the past and are now blamed by the Congress for setting a precedent which is only being followed !

It would have been possible in the past when the leadership was wise, pragmatic and conscious of their national responsibility to expect  acts of statesmanship on both sides to ensure that the nation’s interests were not harmed. However, this would be too much to hope for now  considering the differing variety of politicians and their leaders that we have unsuspectingly sent to Parliament. The BJP and the Congress, between them, will have to resolve  this impasse if they are to escape  total condemnation of the people  who have voted for them and now feel betrayed.