Has the Political Class Failed Us?

A. Surya Prakash
Senior Fellow, VIF

The end of `Operation Jantar Mantar’ by Team Anna without any tangible gains vis-à-vis the fight against corruption and the indications from within government that the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 may not come up for debate until the Winter Session of Parliament – should come as a major disappointment for all citizens who believe in the pursuit of peaceful and democratic solutions for major problems confronting the country.

With Anna Hazare virtually throwing his hands up and signalling the failure of the tried and tested Satyagraha route, every section of the political class, and this includes the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Third Front and the still nebulous Fourth Front, must be laughing all the way to their respective vote banks. This is a moment of triumph for politicians as a whole because they have successfully beaten back, at least for the moment, the biggest threat that was posed to their corrupt ways. The UPA of course is leading from the front and has been able to stop the anti-corruption movement dead in its tracks.

One year ago, as the Anna Hazare Movement picked up, the UPA government introduced the Lok Pal Bill in the Lok Sabha and repeatedly claimed that it was committed to the passage of this law. Other members of the political class made similar noises and swore that they too were keen on having an independent ombudsman to probe cases of corruption. However, within parliament there was an unwritten agreement among all parties that they should not go beyond rendering lip service to the anti-corruption movement. All parties also believed that by dragging the issue, they could tire out the crusaders. This plan appears to have worked. Twelve months hence, the anti-corruption crusade has become a victim of middle class ennui and the much-talked about bill has virtually gone into cold storage.

Caught in a maze of corruption, the UPA government was not keen on having an independent Lokpal. But it was not alone. It got some overt and covert backing from virtually the entire political class. The government introduced the Lokpal Bill on August 4, 2011 in the Lok Sabha and immediately referred it to a Standing Committee head by Mr.Abhishek Manu Singhvi. This gave the government a much-needed breather and also an excuse. It asked Team Anna and others to advance their arguments before the committee. The Singhvi Committee recommended that the Lokpal must have constitutional status and parliament must take a call on whether to bring the Prime Minister within the purview of the Lokpal. It said group A and group B employees must be brought within the purview of the Lokpal, but the Chief Vigilance Commissioner should have jurisdiction over group C and D staff. The committee wanted MPs to be kept out of the Lokpal’s purview in so far as their vote, speech and conduct in parliament was concerned. The judiciary was also to be outside the Lokpal’s jurisdiction. It suggested a single law for establishment of the Lokpal and the Lokayukras in the states. Once the committee’s report was tabled, the government withdrew the bill it had introduced in August and came up with a new bill – The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011.

After much debate, which drew nation-wide attention, this bill was passed by the Lok Sabha and the government raised the expectations of the people by pretending that it would see the legislation through in the Rajya Sabha as well. However, the government’s real intention – to stall the passage of this legislation – became clear when the bill came up for discussion in the Upper House on the last day of the Winter Session in December, 2011. The Congress Party’s floor managers cleverly ensured that MPs belonging to many small and regional parties raised objections and obstructed the debate. Thereafter, as the debate dragged on, the party took advantage of the commotion in the House and mischievously ensured the adjournment of the House sine die, even though MPs wanted the debate to be concluded. With the abrupt adjournment of the House, the curtain came down on the Winter Session of Parliament, thereby giving the government yet another breather.

However, when the Budget Session of Parliament opened in February this year, the UPA resumed its subterfuge. It promised to complete the legislative process in the Upper House but sprang a surprise on parliamentarians and the nation as a whole last May, when it announced the bill was being referred to yet another committee – a select committee of the Rajya Sabha. Sadly, the BJP became a party to the government’s dilatory tactics. This committee has been given time till the end of the Monsoon Session in September to submit its report. So, even as Anna Hazare and Co have ended yet another indefinite fast in order to live to fight another day, there are indications that the bill will not come up for discussion until the Winter Session of Parliament this year. Going by the prevailing mood in the political class, do not be surprised if this bill too suffers the fate of all previous Lokpal Bills and lapse when the present Lok Sabha is dissolved in May, 2014 or earlier.

In the year gone by, the UPA government has slipped further down on the credibility meter and strangely, it is taking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with it. As the main opposition party, the BJP ought to have been the moral policeman and the standard-bearer for clean governance, but it is even more irrelevant today than it was a year ago. The Congress and the BJP are now seen as two sides of the same coin. The people feel that they are merely engaged in a mock fight and they are tired of listening to the same old rhetoric. Film maker Shekhar Kapur correctly summed it up when he said the debate is not about the failure of the UPA but about the failure of the political system itself.

“India does not need change of government but change in political system. 65 years of current system has created huge divide between the people and governance”, he said in one of his recent tweets.

The Emperor’s Frayed Clothes

PP Shukla

Joint Director, VIF

One important chapter of the Anna movement has ended; a new one is set to begin. Time, perhaps, to pause and take stock of what went wrong, why the promise of August fizzled by December 2011.

The principal failure – for failure is what we are seeing, no matter how it is dressed up – was caused by the fact that Team Anna, and Anna himself, displayed the very faults that they were fighting against. The irony is that they did not see this. And when forced to confront it, they resorted to petulance or brazen denial.

Corruption was their main plank. And yet, all the principal members of the Team, and the most articulate ones for sure, were themselves exposed. What made things worse was that each time one or other individual was exposed, Anna condoned it. Not only did this expose the double standard that was being applied, but it also showed the arrogance of Anna who seemed to set himself up as the arbiter of right and wrong in these matters. Importantly, it raised the legitimate question: if these men and women were going to be tempted by the piffling amounts they swindled, how could they be expected to resist the much bigger temptations that power would surely bring?

Anna was also in the habit of calling the Government gaddars. No question about it, this Government has done very nearly all it can to hurt the country’s national interests, most notably on national security matters. They have left the country dangerously unprepared for any military challenge that may appear in the near term. Yet, here was Prashant Bhushan saying we should be prepared to let go of Kashmir. And again Anna set himself up as arbiter and declared that he disagreed but Bhushan would not be made to pay for this egregious betrayal of the country’s supreme interests.

As if all this was not enough, there was the question of protection for the whistle-blower. Anna’s own blogger, Parulekar, found that there was no protection for him if the whistle were blown against Anna. In a well-publicised case, Parulekar was sacked for bringing out the differences within Team Anna, and the unhealthy trends emerging within it. And again, Anna got away with it, because the media were giving him an easy time, for reasons of their own.

Anna’s own tendencies need to be understood too. Firstly, the inconsistency that has been remarked upon earlier, showed up again over the famous slapping incidents, one involving the self-same Prashant Bhushan, the other involving Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. The first incident attracted unbridled anger from Anna, and rightly so. But on the other, he went so far as to imply that one slap was not enough for Pawar. Again, this is not in defence of Pawar – God knows he has enough to atone for. But the inconsistency was glaring – and inexplicable. Further, when Anna was confronted with this inconsistency and asked to explain, he walked away from the interview.

The Team is also wont to make grand claims that their finances are all there for the country to see. And they are never challenged by the media, where they make such tall claims. Here is what happened to me, writing under a pseudonym. I sent an email to Anna on his feedback address asking for his financial statements; within minutes I got a reply, automated I suspect, from a Suresh saying that he would get back to me soon. That was in August 2011. Since then, I have sent two reminders, but there has been no response. This is not to suggest that there is any financial impropriety in Anna personally, but that the tall claims of transparency are definitely hollow. As to whether their finances are indeed clean, we need details in order to be able to judge. Again, for accuracy, it should be added that charges against Anna have been probed and nothing has incriminated him.

Then there is the issue of nepotism. There is a father and son team working as part of the core committee. No doubt, Anna considers them very competent lawyers, but was it really necessary to find a father and son team? If a Minister or a leader of any political party were to do this – as indeed most are doing – do we not criticise the nepotism implicit? And especially here we have charges of soft corruption against them, and of course, of being a gaddar against one of them.

These facts provide as good an explanation as any for the collapse of the movement started in April 2011, and received with such enthusiasm by the people of the entire country. By the time of the Mumbai fiasco, it was clear that the movement was dying down. Just as well: the actual draft of the Anna team for the Lokpal bill was really a power grab. It is a safe bet, borne out by many TV interviews of the people who gathered to support Anna at Ram Lila grounds in August 2011, that most of the people had not read the grandly-titled “Jan” Lokpal bill. The kind of power that it gave to the Lokpal would have effectively ended the separation of powers that is so important in a system like ours.

Anna has now recognised that one phase is over, and he has rid himself – so it seems – of Team Anna. Politically, there are very difficult times ahead for the country. The General Elections of 2014 have been likened by someone to the Fourth Battle of Panipat. Indeed, the future of our country as an independent country, no less, is at stake. Anna’s latest is that he is going to plunge into electoral politics, though he does not appear to have decided what precise form this will take. He must weigh his options very carefully, realising that Brand Anna is frying and he does not have the cushion to be able to get away with too many more mistakes. As a nationalist, he must clear away all the cobwebs in his mind, and the persons, that led him astray. The coming year-and-a-half will undoubtedly see very rough tactics, and the nationalist forces must be ready to confront them at all stages and at all levels.

UPA-II: Limping along with Uncertain Friends

A. Surya Prakash

The declining image of the United Progressive Alliance government in the context of mounting corruption charges, signs of non-governance and dramatic shifts in political allegiances have all added up to render the United Progressive Alliance Government headed by Mr. Manmohan Singh vulnerable and shaky at the resumption of the Budget Session of Parliament after a three-week recess.

In this milieu, the most worrying aspect is the growing backlog of legislation awaiting parliamentary clearance. Around 40 bills are pending consideration and passage in the two Houses of Parliament and another two dozen new bills are ready for introduction. Among the pending bills are the controversial Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010, the Whistle Blowers Protection Bill, 2011, the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill 2011, the Education Tribunals Bill, 2010, The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Amendment Bill, 2010 and The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill.

Although many important legislative measures are awaiting parliamentary approval, the ruling coalition is woefully short on confidence because of the poor showing of the Congress Party in the recent assembly elections in five states and the increasingly fractious nature of the coalition. In this atmosphere of uncertainty, the government should consider itself lucky if it can see through the budgetary process without a hitch. Although dozens of bills are pending parliamentary approval, law-making may become the biggest casualty in the current session and in the coming sessions of the present Lok Sabha, given the precarious numbers and the UPA’s woefully inadequate floor management. The Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee will have to deploy all his PR skills to garner enough support in parliament to push through legislation critical to the continuance of the economic reform process. Among them are The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011, The Insurance (Amendment) Bill and The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011. He has already extracted an assurance from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that it will support the pension bill, but this is small comfort for a government that is under attack from all sides.

As it turned out, the government was on tenterhooks even in the first part of the Budget Session from March 12 to 30, before the two Houses went into recess. During that phase, the government faced considerable embarrassment over the Railway Budget when Ms. Mamata Banerjee protested against the fare hike and forced the resignation of Mr. Dinesh Trivedi and the appointment of another MP from the Trinamul Congress as the Railway Minister. Although the Railway Budget had the approval of the Prime Minister and the entire cabinet, Dr. Manmohan Singh had to swallow his pride, sack Mr. Trivedi as per the dictates of Ms. Banerjee and roll back the marginal fare hikes announced by the Railway Minister in his budget speech. But all this happened before the state assembly election results came in on April 6. The humiliating performance of the Congress Party in Uttar Pradesh and Goa and its defeat in Punjab has rendered it much weaker.

Thus, when Parliament resumed last week, a weaker Congress Party had to face fresh threats and challenges from its coalition partners. Ms. Banerjee has already taken two initiatives which should be cause for worry for the UPA. The first of these is her willingness to enter into consultations with the Samajwadi Party in order to find a suitable candidate for the office of President. The Samajwadi Party has made it known that the two parties are thinking of Dr. Abdul Kalam for the office once again. This way the Trinamul Congress, which is inside the UPA and the Samajwadi Party, which is offering support from outside, have pre-empted the Congress and taken an initiative. Also joining them to give the Congress Party some anxious moments is Mr. Sharad Pawar, leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, who has been making some vague observations about the qualifications expected of the next President. Though the election of President is due in July, the politics surrounding this election is already begun and for the moment it has unsettled the Congress Party. As if this is not enough, Ms. Banerjee has also announced a 15-day deadline for a central “package” for West Bengal, failing which she may even threaten to unsettle the coalition.

Given the precarious strength of the ruling coalition in the Lok Sabha and the whimsical ways of some of its constituents, the UPA will have to go out of the way to appease the opposition in order to have its way in Parliament. The position of the ruling coalition in the Rajya Sabha is even more precarious. The Congress has 70 MPs in the 245-member House and the UPA is at least a dozen short of a majority. It can get bills passed in that House only if it reaches an honourable understanding with the opposition parties. Following the moves made by the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamul Congress vis-à-vis the election of President, there is even talk that the Congress Party may do the unthinkable - sound the BJP on a possible arrangement regarding election of President and Vice-President in July and August this year, is order to deal with its recalcitrant allies.

The government will also come under severe attack during the session on two counts. The first is the issue of establishing the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). The union government unilaterally decided to set up the centre and arm it with powers of search and seizure all over the country. Several state governments starting with Odisha, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and even West Bengal cried foul and said it violated the spirit of federalism. Under the Constitution, police and maintenance of law and order is the prerogative of the state governments and this is zealously guarded by the states. The states complain that the Union Home Ministry is trying to usurp some of these powers in the garb of fighting terrorism. The Centre’s stand is that the powers of the states have not been compromised. However, following widespread protests from states including those run by UPA constituents, the Centre had to beat a hasty retreat. A special meeting of chief Ministers has now been called in the first week of May to resolve this issue. The other issue on which the union government will be pilloried by all and sundry is the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill. Though the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha, it ran into rough weather in the Rajya Sabha. If the government wishes to redeem itself in the eyes of the people who want firm anti-corruption measures, it will have to convince its allies and other parties and get the bill passed in the Upper House. Otherwise, this will become yet another black mark as far as the UPA is concerned.

Finally, as if all this is not enough, things have begun to look gloomy on the economic front. The global ratings agency Standard & Poor's has revised the outlook on India's long term sovereign rating to 'negative' from 'stable'. The decline in the country’s growth figures, the high fiscal deficit, the slow down on the economic reforms front and the country’s growing debt burden are said to be reasons for the downgrade that could impact foreign direct investment and the general global view of India’s economic strength. While one section of the government is keeping up a brave front – like Mr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council – that Standard and Poor’s will soon reverse and even “upgrade” India’s long term credit outlook, there are others who are less optimistic.

The government’s Chief Economic Advisor, for example, has virtually spilled the beans by talking about the difficulties in continuing economic reforms in the present political environment. Although he has sought to repair the damage done by initial reports about his speech at an academic institution in the U.S, the word has gone around that the UPA suffers from policy paralysis. In order to prove critics wrong, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee will go all out to secure parliamentary approval for the bills pertaining to pensions, insurance and banking. Further, the government will have to take a call on some controversial decisions like partial decontrol of diesel price, review of subsidies and FDI in retail, which has been put on hold because of opposition from coalition partners.

By any reckoning, it is clear that the UPA will only wobble along from now on until a fresh Lok Sabha election is held. Given the signals from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and from constituents like Mr. Sharad Pawar, this could well happen ahead of May 2014 when it is actually due. We will have to wait and see.

Author is Senior Fellow at Vivekananda International Foundation