“BERTH PANGS” OF A NEW MINISTRY

Vinod Mehta, Editor-in-Chief of Outlook, during a talk-show in NDTV 24X7 was heard saying about the long memories of elephants one year ago. His comment was in the context of discussing about Kumari Mayawati, presently Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh whose party’s election-symbol is incidentally elephant.

I recalled the event while going through a weekly column ‘Reductio Ad Absurdum’ in The New Indian Express dated 23-05-09, by its Editor-in-Chief, Aditya Sinha who is based in Chennai. I enjoy his weekly column due to his inherent sense of humour especially when writing about the great Indian circus- Indian politics.

Last Saturday his column dwelt mainly on the ‘ditching’ of former allies of UPA by Indian National Congress. According to Mr.Sinha, the ruthless spurning of certain allies was most unbecoming of Indian National Congress and as per his observation the spurning really smacks of arrogance on the part of Indian National Congress, the Grand Old Party of India.

Mr. Sinha while casting aspersions on Congress for distancing itself from some regional parties with whose support Dr.ManMohanSingh governed the nation for the full five year term (2004-2009) warns of the consequences in the long run. According to him, spurned friends have long memories like pachyderms and hence it would have been better on the part of Dr.ManMohanSingh to have invited them to join the government.

I do not want to contest Mr.Sinha’s claim as he has every right to stick to his claim. Conveniently or not, Mr.Sinha forgets the history of the oldest National Party of India, yes it was to be squarely blamed for its reckless governance not giving much of its attention to the overall development of nation as a whole in the fields of infrastructure, poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy and a host of essential aspects especially on the social front for decades after independence. If the people got fed up with governance of the party and formed regional parties under local leaders to fight for their well-being and prosperity of the States they represented, they could not be blamed. The mushrooming of regional parties, in later years under different local leaders gradually lost their real goal of bringing prosperity to their States and instead by hook or crook, concentrated more in amassing crores and also for leading pompous lives shedding all ethics which any political party is bound to have always. Selfishness and greed became their motto. And in the process generosity and magnanimity turned to be the casualities. The common man and the poverty stricken became the ultimate losers.

With the mushrooming of regional parties on a daily basis, ego-clashes, the urge to draw national attention and piling up crores became the ulterior motives of the regional parties and it continues to be so, Indian National Congress and Communist Party of India (its splinter parties also abound now) were forced to “beat a retreat”. During election times the national parties which became marginal in due course had to seek support of the regional parties of each State and had to be satisfied with the crumbs the regional parties threw to them.

Indian citizens have also long memories, I think so. While the national party took care to uplift them, the latter felt no hesitation in voting for them. And when the GOP went off the track forgetting their obligations to the masses the latter derived solace in casting votes to the regional parties expecting a lot from their rulers.

In course off time, those regional outfits got power-drunk and arrogant caring not much of their subjects. The masses changed their tracks. They got fed up. What an average Indian citizen mostly expects is a square meal a day and he votes for the party which provides it.

And the Grand Old Party, Indian National Congress could fathom the depth of the despair of the masses and could feel the pulse of the common man by keeping aloof from certain squabbling regional outfits contested on their own and they reaped dividends. It proved to be a wise decision.

Now have a look at Indraprastha. Our Prime Minister, Dr.ManMohanSingh is literally sweating it out to pacify and placate a sulking DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) led by Sharad Pawar and Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerji, by allotting berths in the Ministry to the satisfaction of all. These outfits are in a nasty race for capturing plum portfolios in the Ministry forgetting all their grand promises to the electorate during their whirlwind election campaign. DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and TC (Trinamool Congress) of Mamata Banerji, one confined to Tamil Nadu and the other to West Bengal are notorious for their regional chauvinism. How long the ‘berth pangs’ will continue to haunt Dr.Singh is anybody’s guess. And if Congress was forced to accommodate all the regional outfits in the Ministry, the unfolding of an absurd drama would have been the consequence.

Will the ruling party come to grip with Indian realities and proceed along the path of human welfare, especially the common man (Aam Admi) in the coming days? We have to wait for the euphoria to settle down.