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EDITORIAL Ever since the fatal tea party of Sonia Gandhi, soon after the high profile celebration of its first-year-in-office by the BJP in its earlier stint, lead to that famous no-confidence vote and subsequent ouster of the Government, the ruling coalition has been wary of celebrations to mark its completion of landmarks of stints in office. This year that reluctance has found a ready excuse in the preoccupation with terrorism. Indeed, so busy has the media ,......more But two years at the helm has not made much of a difference, unless having a Vajpayee instead of a Nehru-Gandhi in the saddle is a difference. The Government has been swimming in the same lackadaisical waters. Not only has it persisted with the same old policies but has also continued the same culture. In fact, so thoroughly has it imbibed the culture of Congress that there is nothing to tell it apart. The vote politics, the......more |
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By Chamel Singh Overcoming
electricity By B.M.Kohli By Joginder Singh |
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EDITORIAL Ever since the fatal tea party of Sonia Gandhi, soon after the high profile celebration of its first-year-in-office by the BJP in its earlier stint, lead to that famous no-confidence vote and subsequent ouster of the Government, the ruling coalition has been wary of celebrations to mark its completion of landmarks of stints in office. This year that reluctance has found a ready excuse in the preoccupation with terrorism. Indeed, so busy has the media been with the monumental events taking place around that the completion of two years in office by the NDA has got only passing mention. Instead, it is the completion of two-years-in-office by the Musharraf Government that has got greater attention from the Indian media but even that has been in course of other developments. The subcontinent itself has taken a back-seat in the news stories and the American attack and the counterattack is all that occupies the column spaces. A survey the other day said that terrorism had been taking half the editorial space in the press. The proportion in the news-stories must be equally substantive, if not greater. Yet it is a landmark of sorts for the NDA to have completed two years in office with relative ease. If anything, the coalition is not only going strong but also promising to last its full term. And that is an achievement in itself. So far Morarji Government is the only non-Congress Government to have withstood the 'natural pulling-apart' tendencies of the 'opposition' conglomerates for any respectable length of time; it lasted for a slightly greater period, which given the good rapport of the parties in the NDA may soon be surpassed. And then, Morarji's was not a coalition; it was a 'party', Janata Party though it proved to be as loosely bound as all the 'grand alliances' of non-Congress parties have been. There clearly is an indication of the maturing of the coalition politics in the country in the endurance of this coalition. The parties have understood that in their bickering ways it is always they who stand to loose. And they lose one and all, and end up 'proving' that they cannot stand together much less govern well, while their 'opponents' then go on to win by default. Here is a definite improvement on the earlier coalition experiments. And this is not because it had any earlier going; it saw more that its share of troubles. Its partners begged to differ and parted company too. But, that always left the coalition more strongly knit. And, in due course of time even the splitters were back knocking at the doors of the coalition for readmission. If anything the NDA has taught the coalitions to 'behave' and that would be an accomplishment not only for the coalition but the whole nation. Does that exhaust the list of good things one has to say of this two-year term? Not quite. Until the Agra fiasco hit it, the Government had almost pinned down Pakistan. The Government has done well on the foreign front. It has earned an impressive international appreciation for the country, though the Afghan tangle is complicating the equations. The Government did go forward on the liberalization front boldly. Until some time ago the economy had been in fine fettle. The Government when it took office had a fund of hope. In contrast to the shaky 'majority' of the first term, the coalition now had stability of numbers. It gave hope. The economy bounced up and the share market touched record highs. The Government had 'proved' its toughness in Kargil. People hoped that the plethora of ills bedeviling the country, especially the double-speak of Congress, would be put an end to. Though the coalition in the earlier term had not given much indication of fighting corruption and nepotism, it had been easily 'excused'. It was not a strong conviction, but the people did expect that the Government would now get real. That, it would settle down to fighting the administrative ills, would remove ambiguities on the security front and would not indulge in 'compromises' that went by the name of governance. That, there would be a difference. But two years at the helm has not made much of a difference, unless having a Vajpayee instead of a Nehru-Gandhi in the saddle is a difference. The Government has been swimming in the same lackadaisical waters. Not only has it persisted with the same old policies but has also continued the same culture. In fact, so thoroughly has it imbibed the culture of Congress that there is nothing to tell it apart. The vote politics, the bureaucrat-raj, bartering of the Governmental cake to parties and peoples, all have remained the same. Favoritism, nepotism and corruption are right in place and ruling the roost. Faithfully following the Congress, the BJP and the other parties constituting the coalition have been indulging in corruption of all kinds that the previous Governments devised. For Harshad Mehta there is a Ketan Parekh, For sundry 'treasuries' and fund collectors of yore, there is one Bangaro, too many. Even the 'clean' George has been trained good. From custom to banking, on to the army, the corruption has flourished well if not extended its reach. Nor is there much evidence of governance. The posts of judges in high courts, headships of public sector undertakings, even gubernatorial posts are lying vacant. From catering to Mandalian classes to playing the caste-politics after its own fashion, the old cards of politicking are in good currency. Neither the law and order machinery nor the efficiency and output have seen any improvement. The Government looks as constrained as the Congress was in reining in the anti-national elements and tendencies. Even the intolerance with criticism is almost a true copy of what it was in time of its predecessors. Every finger that points at ills, incompetencies and complicities is being denounced as 'conspiracy against the Government'. There are compromises right and left. The once effusive Vajpayee has grown into a silent Prime Minister. Access to the PM has become difficult even for the party-men and workers. Party-men are sulking in dozens. The Prime Minister is dictating not only the ministries but also the leadership of the parent party just as it happened with the Congress. And Congress-like, except for the stability, this Government has little to show. |
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