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SOS from a Sinking Ship
By Susenjit
Guha
July 22, 2008 |
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Never
before in the history of Indian politics had
money flown around so freely and blatantly
before a trust vote which will rehabilitate or
perhaps take away whatever credibility remains
of the Congress party in national politics.
And the time has come for some serious stock
taking of the esteem with which Dr. Manmohan
Singh is held. Criticism has been stepped up
since he went ahead with his one point agenda of
doing the N-deal with the US. Signs of
gratification - seen whenever Musharraf met Bush
- did not sit well on India's Prime Minister
when he met the most unpopular US President on
the sidelines of the G8 summit few weeks back.
That brings us to the inevitable question of the
Congress party's credibility which is on the
wane.
Nowadays, Rahul Gandhi looks more like his
father: a be-spectacled Rajiv Gandhi, when he
rode the crest of popularity among India's
youth. Tired of vintage Congressmen and their
politics, the youth in the eighties took to him
like ducks to water.
Congressmen are now banking on a repeat
performance from his son, which in these trying
times they make themselves believe as there
cannot be any other alternative, which may have
urged Rahul Gandhi to try and separate the old
from the young across party lines. According to
him, all young MP's of India support the deal
while - which he did not say, but it was implied
- fossils in the Left and across other parry
lines vehemently oppose it.
Some time back Rahul Gandhi played to the
gallery in his ancestral constituency of Amethi
by lauding the Congress read his grandmother's
achievement of deciding and then managing to
break up Pakistan in 1971. All this happened
when the Indo-Pak relations were on the mend.
But the head honchos of the government failed to
turn up at former Field Marshall Sam
Maneckshaw's funeral. He saved precious lives of
Indian forces by refusing to attack East
Pakistan in April and drown them in the deluge
that characterises the nation's monsoon.
If the Congress is what it was many decades
earlier, then, why the fate of the Congress
party is dependent on nondescript small players
with whom it had refused to have any truck in
the past?
Why convicts have to be brought over to be
present on D-day, the make or break day of the
trust vote?
Why one MP political parties on the fringes of
state politics have to be compensated more than
they are worth?
And we all know the past of Shibu Soren and the
stand taken by Dr. Manmohan Singh against him in
the past. Does he know anything about the
N-deal, leave alone having a clear stand on the
issue? But his support of 5 MP's is vital for a
sinking Congress party even if it means
foregoing the coal ministry for his sake.
Banking on the Akalis to go with a Sikh Prime
Minister has not worked. They will vote against
the Congress.
In West Bengal, at this critical juncture, a
major Congress leader has broken ranks to float
another party.
Even the Samajwadi Party, the professed savior
and antidote for the Left's withdrawal, is
finding it difficult to keep its flock together
with the general secretary and some other MP's
careening towards Mayawati who looms large in
Uttar Pradesh.
If something new has come about in this power
play in Indian politics, it is her name for the
candidature of Prime Minister. We have had a
Dalit President, so why not a Dalit Prime
Minister if she can outgrow UP and come out of
the confines of UP politics?
If at all we have to emulate a big power like
the US, we should take a lesson how a black man
came into reckoning for the White House for the
first time in the nation's history along with a
woman who may have lost the nomination, but
cleared the ground for a future woman President.
Real changes on the ground for perhaps more
path-breaking changes Americans can really
believe in.
And what have we been doing? Trying hard to get
into the good books of a US President, who is
regularly breaking new records in unpopularity
not only in the US, but in nations considered as
their traditional allies.
Why the overkill to get through the deal when it
is nearly impossible for the most unpopular US
President in the world to impact or see through
its successful outcome?
Or, is there a fear that the next president may
strike it off since many in the US are against
the deal?
Can we ignore growing US involvement in Pakistan
which may directly impact India if we slide
under the so called strategic cover or alliance
which critics are talking about? There have been
very few debates about the hazards of nuclear
reactors in the US and other developed
countries. It is common practice by the
developed nations to pass off polluting and
disastrous industries to developing countries
eager to eat out of their hands.
But now the events of July 22 should be eagerly
watched. Anything can happen in politics and in
India; parameters are getting lower and lower
during crunch times.
One thing is for sure.
The Congress is very unsure about the future
which is a far cry from the heady magic of the
past which had helped it to romp home with
resounding victories. It is evident from the
ludicrous logic and arguments put forward by
some commentators on prime time television which
may have gone down well in a monarchy with
moronic subjects, but not with an emerging India
where the electorate can only be taken for
granted by political parties closeted in the
past, not ideologically, but practically.
After all who would argue that money into
politics was nothing new since Gandhiji too had
accepted money from industrial houses? That is
the problem. Confusing the nationalistic
compulsions with the present trust vote at a
time when the Congress cannot stand by itself.
The real enemy of the Congress is not the BJP or
the Left. It is the inability to realize that it
has ghosted.
Stakes are different in 2008. Nearly every state
has its share of regional players itching to
assert themselves and get whatever they can all
that they could not have bargained for earlier
if the country had not been brought to this
state for the N-deal when inflation, around 12%
with no signs of going down, is hitting stomachs
across India.
Meanwhile the price bar for MP's is on the rise.
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Comments: |
I am
writing this from point of view of
some one who left India 20+ years
ago. This means that I am no longer
familiar with details of all the
parties and their mechanics but I do
bring a more global view because of
my life experience.
India needs energy. Energy is what
runs the world economy. India has
failed miserably in its population
control programs. If her teeming
millions are to be provided food and
jobs - energy is a crucial
component. It is far more important
than all strategic
alliances/military strength etc.
Readers who have lived in India
might have gotten used to having 2
hours of electricity a day but
modern life and economy does need
uninterrupted power supply.
Right now mighty US economy is in
crisis at least partly because of
high price of oil. How vulnerable do
you think India will be to energy
crisis given that she is a poor
country despite all the economic
growth of recent years?
Unfortunately, India is not rich in
traditional sources of energy. She
is not a very rich country either.
This is where nuclear deal will
start an energy seed that will pay
back many times over. This is a
apolitical survival issue for India.
I, for one, am glad that Manmohan
Singh has made it an issue. This
issue is not about Pakistan/US or
anything else.
Communists who take their cues from
Chinese and Russian godfathers
should be charged with treason. They
do not have India's national and
economic interest in mind. In my
opinion - these communists have
always been desh drohis because they
have taken their cues from foreign
pay masters. - Sanjay Kumar,
Longmeadow, Massachusetts - July 22,
2008 |
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