HVK Archives: Performers for Gowda - An editorial
Performers for Gowda - An editorial - Indian Express - Editorial
Posted By ashok (ashokvc@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in)
29 June 1996
Title : Performers for Gowda
Publication : Indian Express - Editorial
Date : June 29, 1996
IT is perhaps no coincidence that Prime Minister H. D.
Deve.Gowda effected a main moth political purge of the
Janata Dal in his home state of Karnattaka as a prelude
to the expansion of his ministry. Having successfully
overcome the wariness of the CPI and the Asam Gana
Parishad towards formally participating in the
Government, Gowda was anxious to project an impression
of decisiveness. Psychology being an important
component of running a coalition, it was important for
the Prime Minister to convey the message that he is a
leader in his own right and not through sufferance.
Regardless of the circumstances by which he was propelled
as leader of the United Front, Gowda is keenly aware
that incumbency confers on him an advantage, not only
vis-a-vis the coalition partners, but within his own
party. Perhaps that is why he has been able to neutralise
Biju Patnaik's somewhat churlish opposition to the
inclusion of Srikant Jena in the Cabinet. The same
confidence seems to have enabled him to completely
disregard the Congress@s half-hearted objection to
Indrajit Gupta.
Of course, the Prime Minister's political consolidation
is still woefully incomplete. He will have to confront
preposterous claims of Laloo Prasad Yadav for an even
greater representation for Bihar in them ministry. At the
same time, he will have to explain why Kerala and the
North-east have been ignored, and why there is only one
inconsequential woman in the entire ministry. He will
have to reckon with the fact that two ideologically
motivated Communists in the Cabinet will make it that
much more awkward for the pragmatists to get through
market-friendly policies without dilution. He will also
have to set in motion a scheme to ensure that both B. S.
Ramoowalia and Yogendra Alagh continue as ministers after
the mandatory six months. And he will have to somehow see
to it that over enthusiasm does not lead to ministers
making pronouncements on subjects outside their areas of
responsibility. In short, having crafted a coalition,
Gowda will now have to manage it and, at the same time,
pay due heed to the sensitivities of the Congress. The
Common Minimum Programme gives the Government
a
framework, but it does not substitute for either
purposeful day-to-day governance or deft political
management. It is not an easy task, but then, the
fractured composition of the 11th Lok Sabha ruled out
easy solutions. A government formed with minimum
expectedness can only surprise the country by actually
performing.
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