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My Word
PM Under Siege:
Main Threat from Within?
by Rajinder Puri
The
Constitution defines how politics should be conducted. The system
determines how politics is actually run. The Constitution was framed by
its founding fathers. The system is run by unprincipled politicians. Our
system allowed too many political excesses. Now the sins of the past are
catching up. Politics is in turmoil. There is uncertainty in the air.
Let’s begin with the Office of Profit issue.
The Office of Profit issue was raised by a Congress Party member. It
nailed Mrs. Jaya Bachchan. She had to quit the Rajya Sabha for heading
an institute deemed to be office of profit. Congressmen were gleeful.
Its Left partners watched with smug satisfaction. Unfortunately for
them, they hadn’t done their homework. Others got into the act.
Complaints against their own MPs occupying offices of profit began to
pile up. The list is growing. But already the President has forwarded
forty petitions to the Election Commission. The latter is processing
these cases. Eighteen among the 40 belong to Left parties. Ten among the
18 belong to CPI (M). Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr Somnath Chatterjee, is one
of them.
Subsequently the Office of Profit Act appeared in a new light. The
government contemplated an immediate ordinance to prevent its fallout
even while parliament was in session. Eventually it passed a Bill
exempting honorable members who came under purview of this law. Alas,
the President, bitten once by the Bihar assembly dissolution, became
twice shy. He returned the Bill to parliament for reconsideration. It
can be taken up only in parliament’s next session.
Meanwhile investigations by the Election Commission in cases against the
40 MPs are proceeding apace. It is entirely possible therefore that the
EC could unseat the MPs before parliament can discuss the Bill and send
it back to the President for signing. The prospect of this happening
seems to have rattled the Left. Mr. Prakash Karat chided the EC for
proceeding with its investigation before parliament has met. He sternly
advised the EC not to embroil itself in parliamentary affairs. Clearly,
stress has taken toll of Mr. Karat’s nerves. Otherwise, why would he put
the cart before the horse? It is parliament which is embroiling itself
in affairs of the EC and not the other way around. The EC was seized of
the matter before parliament decided to amend the law related to Office
of Profit. With approving nods from UPA allies it unseated Mrs. Bachchan
from her membership of the House. How could the EC adopt a different
yardstick and stall investigation of the 40 MPs without severely eroding
its own credibility?
It is not only the Election Commission which attracted flack. Even the
President is being subjected to murmurs of protest for discharging his
duty by sending the Bill back for consideration. What will he do if the
Bill is immediately returned by parliament without any amendment? That
this is being considered has already been indicated by the Law Minister.
Suddenly, the President’s powers are being closely scrutinized. Legal
experts have solemnly written newspaper articles defining the
limitations in the President’s powers. The circumstances however could
render irrelevant in this crisis the President’s role. Events may move
too fast. If ten by-elections for seats vacated by CPI (M) MPs occupying
offices of profit are to be fought, a mid-term general election may not
appear too arduous for that party. It is in this fluid political
situation that the fuel price issue erupted as a godsend for the UPA.
Under compulsion of rising global oil prices the PM was constrained to
raise the price of fuel. Possibly, this could have been avoided if the
government’s fiscal policies and public expenditure had been more
prudent in the past. But right now the government has no choice. It is
involved in a fire-fighting exercise. If fuel prices are not raised the
public sector oil companies could go bankrupt. Political parties of both
the Left and the Right know this. But they are playing politics.
Consider the BJP’s agitation in this context: crippled by infighting and
smeared with scandal the fuel price hike provides it with the ideal
issue to divert attention and consolidate its cadres. For the UPA’s
partners it seems a different story.
Apparently, nothing less than a change of guard within the present
government would suffice. In other words Dr Manmohan Singh must go. This
is where the complexities of Byzantine intrigue cause confusion. To be
fair the Left has consistently opposed the PM. Whether it was Iran, the
Indo-US nuclear deal or the pace and direction of economic reforms, Left
leaders never softened their criticism of the PM. Forget the Left’s
inconsistencies in accepting from Kolkata courtesy Mr. Bhatacharjee what
it rejected from New Delhi courtesy the PM. That’s the way of power
politics. Right?
It is the role of the Congress and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi which is the real
puzzle. That several disgruntled senior leaders of the Congress wooed
the Left while habitually prostrating themselves before Mrs. Gandhi was
known. That some among them coveted the PM’s post was also known.
Indeed, one has considerably strengthened his claim on support from the
Left by signing India’s first ever Memorandum of Understanding with
China’s Peoples’ Liberation Army! But Mrs. Gandhi thus far had
successfully struck a balance by humoring them as well as the Left
without abandoning Dr Manmohan Singh. Does that situation still hold? Or
is Mrs. Gandhi reconciled to replacing the PM?
The answer to that puzzle may lie in the Congress party’s motive behind
its stated opposition to the cabinet decision to hike fuel prices.
According to reports Mrs. Gandhi sought a reduction of Re 1 in the price
of petrol to placate the Left as well as to steal its thunder. Her
action possibly gives her the image of a caring custodian of aam admi.
However when she met the PM in the glare of the media to propose petrol
price reduction, the PM firmly scotched the idea. What remains unclear
is whether this was stage-managed drama at which Mrs. Gandhi has shown
herself to be unusually adept, or whether this was actual confrontation.
If it was a genuine standoff between the PM and the lady, someone has to
blink. So who will blink first? Will the PM within a week relent and
accept the petrol price reduction? Or will Mrs. Gandhi relent and
abandon the Left as well as all the tail-wagging poodles within the
Congress?
The coming days should tell us. At the least, there could be someone
with plenty of egg on face. At most, there could be a change of PM
within the UPA.
June
14, 2006
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My Word
The Week of June 11, 2006
PM Under
Siege: Main Threat from Within? by Rajinder Puri
Sri Lanka Strategically Important for India
by Dr. Subhash Kapila
Etymology and Metamorphosis of Mleccha, Barbarian &
Mawali by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
The Odd Couple of Indian Politics by Siddharth
Srivastava
Do We Get Justice Based on Truth? by TA Ramesh
Bonded Servants of the Lord by Vinita Deshmukh
Soccer Mania by Dr. Prasenjit Maiti
Rainwater Harvesting: What's New About It?
by VK Joshi
A for Apple, T for Tantrums by Garima Gupta
The Medicine by NS Murty
The Escapist by Julia Dutta
Roxie by Anisa Chaudhary
Metamorphosis by Vikram Karve
Java Virtual Machine by Ruchi
Gupta
Film Controversies by Kusum Choppra
No Woman on Top by Sudeshna Sarkar
Comrade Vasanth's Vision : A Profile
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