The Political circus in India has taken a drastically new meaning. Scams, defections, crimes are but minor incidents now what with holding the Government to ransom and creating insurmountable obstacles for the State in the name of Federalism and protecting Minority interests being the order of the day. Actions when done in the name of a higher objective should pass all tests of probity and should embrace what can be called a deliberative approach - it cannot be my way or the highway!
Global ratings agencies have and rightly so changed the outlook for India's sovereign rating to negative. It's the domino effect and this was just one of the last dominoes standing. Our external image has taken a massive hit due to the inability to project India as a land which welcomes investments and supports inclusive growth. India has been forced to hide its face due to the many policy rollbacks and failure to get legislation passed as originally envisaged or announced, much due to the hand-cuffing by allies and the opposition. Take opening of multi-brand retail, the rail budget, the war on tax havens, retrospective legislation, the Teesta water sharing pact with Bangladesh, etc as examples. The list is just endless. Without going into the merits of either incident what I wish to highlight is the lack of consensus and willingness to cut across party lines to act in the interest of India as a whole.
Federalism is not bad. Nobody expects the opposition to be hand in glove with the ruling party. Safeguarding multi-party interests is not a faulty policy either. But what comes first and should always be our main focus area is India. India as a nation. India as one country. What is happening today is not only obnoxious but also tends to nauseate oneself. India is not your conventional federacy like the US or Australia. Article 1 of the Constitution defines India that is Bharat as a Union of States. We have forgotten that we are supposed to act like a Union and not like a gathering of states with vested interests.
With due respect, if a Government cannot lead the country to greater good, cannot take policy actions, cannot but sit with hands folded and wait for its 5 years to end, then the time has come to put it in it's papers. And it would be for it's own good. 1.5 more years of self-inflicting damage will do no good. Instead it might result in lesser seats than now. Also, India cannot continue to suffer from vote-bank politics which will be the flavour of the season in these final months. From subsidies to loan write-offs to reservations to money to appeasing gullible sections of the society. No. India cannot continue to bleed. But nobody is blaming the Government here. What India needs is a single party Government and not a coalition with every constituent harbouring different agendas. Rather, it would most benefit India if Congress comes to power on its own strength rather than an UPA-type system. That would lead to faster decisions and an effective climate for growth. Sometimes I cannot but wish the Congress and the BJP should come together and lead the nation out of the rut. But then so much for wishful thinking.
Global ratings agencies have and rightly so changed the outlook for India's sovereign rating to negative. It's the domino effect and this was just one of the last dominoes standing. Our external image has taken a massive hit due to the inability to project India as a land which welcomes investments and supports inclusive growth. India has been forced to hide its face due to the many policy rollbacks and failure to get legislation passed as originally envisaged or announced, much due to the hand-cuffing by allies and the opposition. Take opening of multi-brand retail, the rail budget, the war on tax havens, retrospective legislation, the Teesta water sharing pact with Bangladesh, etc as examples. The list is just endless. Without going into the merits of either incident what I wish to highlight is the lack of consensus and willingness to cut across party lines to act in the interest of India as a whole.
Federalism is not bad. Nobody expects the opposition to be hand in glove with the ruling party. Safeguarding multi-party interests is not a faulty policy either. But what comes first and should always be our main focus area is India. India as a nation. India as one country. What is happening today is not only obnoxious but also tends to nauseate oneself. India is not your conventional federacy like the US or Australia. Article 1 of the Constitution defines India that is Bharat as a Union of States. We have forgotten that we are supposed to act like a Union and not like a gathering of states with vested interests.
With due respect, if a Government cannot lead the country to greater good, cannot take policy actions, cannot but sit with hands folded and wait for its 5 years to end, then the time has come to put it in it's papers. And it would be for it's own good. 1.5 more years of self-inflicting damage will do no good. Instead it might result in lesser seats than now. Also, India cannot continue to suffer from vote-bank politics which will be the flavour of the season in these final months. From subsidies to loan write-offs to reservations to money to appeasing gullible sections of the society. No. India cannot continue to bleed. But nobody is blaming the Government here. What India needs is a single party Government and not a coalition with every constituent harbouring different agendas. Rather, it would most benefit India if Congress comes to power on its own strength rather than an UPA-type system. That would lead to faster decisions and an effective climate for growth. Sometimes I cannot but wish the Congress and the BJP should come together and lead the nation out of the rut. But then so much for wishful thinking.
One thing is for sure in near term, single party government in almost not possible. In last few years more regional party are showing their muscles. For the mater of fact, 70% countries in the world are having coalition governments. As per my understanding in next election also the county will see multi party gov.
ReplyDeleteIndia has only one year to take some positive steps, bcoz after that vote bank policy will be the top priority, like Food security bill, Quota for Muslims, Income tax relief for aam aadmi, etc etc…
Time for UPA-2 to pull up their socks….
Exactly my point. The people need to understand the vices of a coalition and vote sensibly. For a strong ruling party as well as a strong opposition so the essential checks of a democracy are maintained.
ReplyDeleteyou have provided the solution there in your last paragraph, but its a dream, coalition government is here to stay, we should think of ways to make coalition governments turn out successful (which is another distant dream).
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