Coming adrift

UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi with DMK leader M. Karunanidhi at an election rally in Chennai in April. - S.R. RAGHUNATHAN

The UPA's poor responses to scams and its mismanagement of policy issues that affect the people directly reveal a serious leadership crisis.

THE United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which was re-elected to power in 2009 with a bigger mandate than in 2004, was probably lulled into such a false sense of security that it sleepwalked through half its second tenure even as crisis after crisis gripped the nation.

What is surprising is that those in charge of handling the affairs of the Congress and the government led by it seem to be oblivious to the problems. Rather, they appear nonchalant, believing that the Congress will tide over the crises and that the TINA (there is no other alternative) factor will keep it going. But this may not always work as is becoming evident with each passing day. People's restlessness and anger are becoming visible. This was apparent when a section of the population came out on the streets in support of the social activist Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement and his demand for a Jan Lokpal Bill. This mass anguish over the state of affairs should have been an eye-opener to the government.

UPA-II has received the maximum flak on the issue of corruption. The general perception is that senior Congress leaders were indifferent even as huge amounts were being allegedly swindled in the allocation of 2G spectrum or in the conduct of the Commonwealth Games (CWG). Though the government tried to counter this impression by pointing out that those facing corruption charges were in prison and legal proceedings were on in the cases, the fact remains that no high-profile Congress Minister, without whose knowledge scams of such huge proportions would not have happened, is in the dock.

Instead of answering questions, the political managers of the UPA have gone on the offensive. For instance, the credibility of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Vinod Rai, was doubted. The constitutional body envisaged to audit the government's accounts embarrassed the UPA first by revealing the irregularities in the allocation of 2G licences and the conduct of the CWG and then citing instances of financial wrongdoings and over-expenditure by the Congress-led Delhi government in the case of CWG-related projects. Senior Congress functionaries raised questions about the objectivity of Vinod Rai's assessment and pointed to his proximity to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But by pointing fingers at the CAG, the Congress cannot wish away the taint its own Ministers have attracted, says Subramanian Swamy, the main petitioner in the Supreme Court in the 2G scam case.

Another issue in focus is the demand to bring back black money stashed away in foreign tax havens. According to conservative estimates, this is roughly over $500 billion. The government has been seen as dragging its feet on the issue, and whatever little is happening in this regard is because of the activism of the Supreme Court, which is pursuing the case on a petition filed by the senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, former Lok Sabha Secretary-General Subhash Kashyap and former Punjab Police chief K.P.S. Gill, among others. All that the government has done so far is to talk of signing international treaties for exchange of information with tax-haven countries. Despite having the necessary tools at its disposal, it has neither disclosed the names of people who have stashed away illegal money abroad nor made an attempt to bring back the money.

However, senior Congress leaders do not agree with this perception. It is wrong to say that the government is not acting on corruption or on the issue of black money. If this was true how, come so many people are in jail on corruption charges? This is an opposition vendetta to blur whatever we are doing. But we will deal with these issues appropriately at the right time. On the issue of black money, now that L.K. Advani is going on a Jan Chetna Yatra', he should tell the people what his government did when it was in power for seven years, senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes said, countering the charges of inaction and inertia on these issues. On the issue of corruption, he said the government had initiated the Lokpal Bill even before Anna Hazare had come on the scene. But there are legal and constitutional issues to handle, and such crucial pieces of legislation cannot be drafted in a rush, he said, justifying the delay in framing the legislation.

Price rise, especially in the case of food items, is another crisis facing UPA-II. Food inflation has been in double digits over the past two years, and the government is not seen to be doing much to contain it. In this case too, the tendency in the Congress is to blame its allies or the global economic crisis. According to senior Congress leaders, the political dynamics of coalition politics have made it difficult for the party to interfere effectively in managing the food economy. I am not trying to blame a party or an individual [Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, in this case, who is the Food and Civil Supplies Minister], but the fact remains that high inflation is a major fallout of mismanagement of the food economy. We have to ensure that hoarding is not happening, that delivery linkages are in place, that proper procurement and distribution systems are in place, that paddy does not rot in the open for lack of storage space. But none of this is happening. I would like to know why the Food Corporation of India has not been modernised, why foreign direct investment in infrastructure is not happening as much as it should, asked Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari. Besides, the States were also to blame, he said. The Centre has a limited role to play in controlling prices in States owing to the federal structure of the polity.

Another major point of concern is the UPA's inability to come up with laws that would change the quality of life of people policy initiatives that got top slots in its agenda for governance. For instance, there is no indication of the Food Security Bill, which has been in the making for long, becoming a reality. Similarly, the Communal Violence Bill and the Land Acquisition and Relief and Rehabilitation Bill, which are expected to have far-reaching consequences, are stuck in the mire of parliamentary procedures.

Even those Bills that were enacted during UPA-I and UPA-II have not been effective on the ground. The much-acclaimed Right to Education (RTE) Bill is a case in point. Though it became an Act more than a year ago, free education for every child in the 6-14 age group, which this legislation guarantees, remains a pipe dream. According to a status report by the Human Resource Development Ministry, only 10 of the 28 States have notified rules for the implementation of the Act. The ones that have notified the rules are finding it difficult to implement them for the lack of either trained teachers or resources. The report states that there is a shortage of five lakh schoolteachers. Besides, the States are not happy with the proposed 65:35 ratio of funding and want the Centre to take a bigger financial share. We are aware of the problems in the implementation of the RTE, and a standing committee is soon going to look into the issue, Oscar Fernandes said.

Yet another piece of legislation, which had the potential to bring about revolutionary changes but has failed so far to make any impact, is the Forest Rights Act. The Act, which was passed in 2006 and was notified in 2008, remains essentially on paper, and even in States where it has been implemented, it has been inadequate. According to a committee formed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in cases where the Act has been implemented, over 65 per cent of the claims have been rejected; those that have been accepted are below par; community rights, a major part of forest-dwellers' culture, have not been entertained; and those whose claims have been rejected have no mechanism to go in for appeal as they have been given nothing in writing.

Tribal Affairs Minister Kishore Chandra Deo, who assumed charge of the Ministry recently, said he was aware of the inadequacies in the implementation of the Act and would take corrective steps soon. But the fact remains that an Act that had tremendous political potential for the Congress, since traditionally the tribal people have been Congress supporters, has been allowed to remain ineffective.

The crisis in the UPA is not only about inaction and inefficiency, it is also about Ministers and allies working at cross purposes. The public spat between Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is a case in point. Spy bugs and cameras were discovered in the Finance Minister's chamber and the Home Ministry's hand was suspected in it. Shortly afterwards, in response to a Right to Information query, a Finance Ministry note surfaced disclosing that the Home Minister, who held the Finance portfolio before Mukherjee, was a party to the decision to not auction 2G spectrum. This damning disclosure put the credibility of Chidambaram in doubt. It took UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's intervention to end the wrangling between the two Ministers.

At times, the Congress seemed to be working at cross purposes with the government. This was evident during the anti-corruption movement launched by Anna Hazare. The government initially sought to handle the issue with an iron fist and arrested Hazare. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's direct intervention resulted in his release from Tihar jail, but the political mismanagement by the party and the government continued even afterwards. Ministers Kapil Sibal and Chidambaram, who were handling the issue, were replaced by Sandeep Dikshit, Member of Parliament and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's son, and Union Minister Vilasrao Desmukh to diffuse the crisis and persuade Anna Hazare to break his fast before things totally spun out of control.

The cohesiveness of UPA-II as an alliance, too, is in doubt. Allies such as the DMK, the Trinamool Congress and the NCP are known to be unhappy with the government. The DMK has been close to pulling out of the coalition in the wake of the 2G scam arrests, and the NCP is not happy with the Congress' attack on Sharad Pawar over the price rise issue. The Trinamool Congress too has its grudges. Its supremo Mamata Banerjee put the Prime Minister in an embarrassing situation recently by refusing to accompany him on his visit to Dhaka.

Can the Centre hold the weight of these issues or will it break? Manmohan Singh has on many occasions expressed his helplessness, saying that he did not have a magic wand to solve the problems of corruption or inflation. It is speculated that Sonia Gandhi, whose interventions in many crucial issues have been minimal in the past few months, is taking a back seat in order to effect a leadership change in the party and bring Rahul Gandhi to centre stage. Her appearances at the National Advisory Council (NAC), which piloted UPA-I's policy initiatives, have declined. As a result the NAC's efficacy has also diminished as it has failed to make the government accept its recommendations.

Senior Congress leaders have dismissed theories about Sonia Gandhi's diminished role in policy interventions. But the BJP has probably sensed an opportunity in this. That is why Advani is harping on midterm elections.