Author: Sudarshan Kumar Kapur
Publication: organise
Date: June 12, 2005
URL: http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=82&page=32
Introduction: One is reminded of
an anecdote concerning Giani Zail Singh, who became the President of India
in July 1982 on account of the patronage bestowed on him by Smt. Indira
Gandhi. While expressing his humble gratitude to Smt. Indira Gandhi for
the favour, the president-elect was reported to have remarked that he would
gladly sweep the floor with a broom if Smt. Indira Gandhi desired so.
The UPA government headed by Dr
Manmohan Singh is in the saddle at the Centre for the last one year and
it is time to assess its work as well as to appraise the performance of
Dr Manmohan Singh as a Prime Minister of the country during this year.
The man is known by the company
he keeps-so goes a popular saying. If we judge our worthy Prime Minister
by this yardstick, then we find that his cabinet box contains many rotten
apples. There is no denying the fact that many of his companions and advisers
inside and outside the government, whether chosen by him or thrust upon
him, presenting the excuse of compulsions of coalition politics, are confirmed
crooks and manipulators. In the presence of a such a privileged company,
how can Dr Manmohan Singh, otherwise percieved to be a simple, honest and
decent man, keep his image unsullied or uninjured? That is the real tragedy
for a person who is otherwise considered a man of character, integrity
and conscience. In the process, one loses both character and integrity.
In this context, one is reminded
of an anecdote concerning Giani Zail Singh who became the President of
India in July 1982 on account of the patronage bestowed on him by Smt.
Indira Gandhi. While expressing his humble gratitude to Smt. Indira Gandhi
for the favour, the president-elect was reported to have remarked that
he would gladly sweep the floor with a broom if Smt. Indira Gandhi desired
so. One may call it one's utmost humility or abject sycophancy. While comparing
the conduct of Zail Singh and Manmohan Singh, one should not ignore their
political backgrounds for an objective appraisal of their positions and
standings.
The position of Dr Manmohan Singh
is highly vulnerable. He has no following of his own. Neither is he a leader
by his own right. His political and official existence exclusively depends
on the discretion of Smt. Sonia Gandhi and he is obliged to follow her
dictates willy-nilly. The decision-making power in the government does
not rest with him any more. It lies somewhere else, a source, not unidentified
but visible enough.
The Constitution of India speaks
of the collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers but Dr Manmohan
Singh is obliged to preside over the cabinet of a disjointed lot. Each
minister seems to have his own agenda, stratagem and programme to pursue.
There is an utter lack of cohesiveness in the functioning of the government
and the Prime Minister seems to have lost the track of direction.
The hon'ble ministers of Dr Manmohan
Singh's cabinet have been speaking in different voices over the same issue,
thus misleading the people and causing confusion all around. Read the statements
of the worthies such as Mani Shankar Aiyer, Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal, Arjun
Singh, etc. Everywhere there is deception laced with a travesty of facts.
P. Chidambaram's juggling with the recent Budget proposals are a classical
example of the confused state of mind of Manmohan Singh's government. The
ill-conceived VAT, brazenly and autocratically levied, has misfired and
is proving a thorn in his flesh. Surprisingly, some of the Budget proposals
presented by the Finance Minister were not only absurd, obnoxious and exhortative
but also lacked seriousness and a sense of sincerety that accompany a Budget.
Budget session is not the period for showing juvenille tantrums. It is
a serious business.
Another illustrious minister of
the Central Government is the unbridled and irrepressible Railway Minister,
Lalu Prasad Yadav. He is a past master in the fine art of political chicanery
and knows every trick of political trade and histrionics. What to talk
of Dr Manmohan Singh, even Smt. Sonia Gandhi holds him in awe. He has been
quite successful in making congress his captive party, thanks to his manipulatory
skills, despite being out of power in Bihar.
The one-year period of the UPA government
headed by Dr Manmohan Singh, under the tutelage of Sonia Gandhi, reminds
one of the dark days of Emergency when Smt Indira Gandhi, actively supported
by the communists and their bedfellows, asked for a committed judiciary,
a committed Election Commission, a committed bureaucracy and a committed
press/media. She started denigrating and humiliating every constitutional
independent authority that the Indian Constitution provided.
Now Lalu Prasad Yadav indulged in
the despicable act of using an IAS officer to denigrate and undermine the
credibility of the Election Commission and tarnish its image, with Dr Manmohan
Singh overlooking this unconstitutional tamasha as a spectator. It was
a crude attempt on the part of the UPA and RJD to have a committed Election
Commission, though this attempt has backfired for the time being. It, however,
cannot be said that things are not in motion to achieve this objective.
Unfortunately, a dangerous trend
that has been witnessed during the UPA rule is that the UPA government,
aided by communists and Leftists, has almost captured the so-called national
English press and made it captive, with the result that it does not remain
free or independent anymore. In the last few months, the Information and
Broadcasting Ministry of the Central Government, under the stewardship
of Shri Jaipal Reddy, has misused the AIR and Doordarshan in spreading
canards against the Opposition parties and their leaders in the same manner
in which it was done during the period of Emergency.
It is a sad reflection on the functioning
of the UPA government that it has not been able to ensure a smooth running
of the Parliament due to its arrogant and overbearing attitude. There is
no denying the fact that all democratic norms of a parliamentary democracy
have taken a nosedive during the UPA's one-year rule.
While commenting on the Saptarishi
episode, the Prime Minister advised the Election Commission to keep their
house in order. On the other hand, the Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, threateningly
advised the judiciary to keep their house in order. But who would tell
and advise Dr Manmohan Singh and Somnath to put their own houses in order
before they render any advice to anybody else. The Constitution also enjoins
on the Prime Minister and the Speaker to uphold the norms and values of
a parliamentary democracy. Physician, heal thyself first!
(The writer can be contacted at
660/10, Krishna Colony, Gurgaon-122 001.)
