{"id":157,"date":"2019-03-17T12:05:10","date_gmt":"2019-03-17T12:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/?p=157"},"modified":"2019-04-03T11:46:09","modified_gmt":"2019-04-03T11:46:09","slug":"agenda-2019-part-7-mahamilawat-or-gathbandhan-a-race-to-the-bottom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/agenda-2019-part-7-mahamilawat-or-gathbandhan-a-race-to-the-bottom\/","title":{"rendered":"Agenda 2019 \u2013 Part \u2013 7 : Mahamilawat or Gathbandhan \u2013 A Race to the Bottom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arun Jaitley<\/strong><\/p>\n

I<\/strong>ndia is today at the cusp of making history.\u00a0 Industrial revolutions bypassed us in the past.\u00a0 We had to fight the menace of poverty and lack of growth.\u00a0 A regulated economy for over four and a half decades had added to our woes.\u00a0 When we broke away from ideological shackles of the past, India has witnessed a much higher rate of growth.\u00a0 Today we have reached a situation where we grow faster than others in the world.\u00a0 We are expanding the size of our economy.\u00a0 Our revenues are growing and we are finally being able to transfer more resources to the poor to offer them a better quality of life.\u00a0 Our infrastructure in terms of better highways, more airports, better railway systems, better urban infrastructure, surplus power, more port capacity, are growing every year.\u00a0 If this trend continues for the next two decades, India would evolve into a new league.<\/p>\n

The essential pre-requisite for accelerating our movement in this direction is that India must have political stability, a clear policy direction, a strong and decisive leadership.\u00a0 If we falter on any one of these, we will be letting down our own people and future generations.\u00a0 India cannot afford lost opportunities at this stage.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s federalism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Federalism in India is inherent both geographically and constitutionally.\u00a0 Our Constitution defines \u2018India\u2019 i.e. \u2018Bharat \u2013 a Union of States\u2019.\u00a0 Our States must be fiscally strong.\u00a0 This is the essence of Indian federalism.\u00a0 Equally, if not more important, is the fact that for India to be a Union of States, there must be a strong Union.\u00a0 If there is no strong Union, both India and India\u2019s federalism will stand to suffer.\u00a0 Let there be absolute clarity.\u00a0 India is a Union of States.\u00a0 It is not a Confederation of States.\u00a0 That is the fundamental difference between NDA and the UPA.\u00a0 This is also the fundamental flaw in this idea of the federal front.\u00a0 The framers of the Constitution had a vision.\u00a0 They were men of wisdom.\u00a0 When prominent areas like defence, sovereignty, security of India, foreign policy and eventually the war against terror were maintained as primary responsibility of the Union Government, can India be ever defended without a strong Union?\u00a0 There can be no \u2018federal front\u2019 without a strong Central party.<\/p>\n

An analysis of the two NDA Governments<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first NDA Government led by Shri Atal Bihar Vajpayee had some significant features.\u00a0 It represented the core of India\u2019s federalism because regions were represented.\u00a0 But there was absolute clarity in terms of the primacy of the BJP, its size too acted an effective nucleus of the coalition.\u00a0 There was clarity that Atalji was the unquestioned leader of the Government.\u00a0 The same was true of the second NDA Government led by Shri Narendra Modi.\u00a0 The BJP had an absolute majority of 282 seats in the 2014 General Elections.\u00a0 Yet respecting federalism, it formed a Government with its allies.\u00a0 The nucleus of the coalition was a large party.\u00a0 There was no completion for leadership.\u00a0 The last word belonged to the Prime Minister.\u00a0 That is how the two Governments functioned.\u00a0 There was clarity in terms of policy and the Government had capacity to take difficult decisions and deliver.<\/p>\n

The Mahamilawat Gathbandhan<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mahamilawat gathbandhan being envisaged is a road to disaster.\u00a0 It is a race to the bottom.\u00a0 There is a tug of war on the issue of leader.\u00a0 Four people have clearly indicated their desire to be Prime Ministers \u2013 Shri Rahul Gandhi, Behan Mayawati, Mamata Didi and Shri Sharad Pawar.\u00a0 Each desires to expand his or her own base and reduce that of the competitor.\u00a0 The BSP is trying to maximise its base in Uttar Pradesh and weaken the Congress in several States.\u00a0 The Trinamool Congress is trying to maximise its seats in West Bengal and it won\u2019t go with Congress in that State.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0It does not want Congress to win any seats in West Bengal.\u00a0 The Congress wants to go alone where it has some strength and is desperate to be in alliances, even with its own opponents, elsewhere.\u00a0 Pawar Saheb wants his ultimate dream to come true and is hoping for a hung Parliament where he has an opportunity to play his cards.\u00a0 Where a proxy leadership battle is visible before the elections, it will be full-fledged war post the elections.<\/p>\n

The opportunism in this coalition is writ large.\u00a0 Sections of the Congress and the AAP are talking of an alliance.\u00a0 The AAP was formed as a reaction against the Congress corruption.\u00a0 Today it is pleading with the Congress for an alliance.\u00a0 Shri N.T. Ramarao formed the TDP as an alternative to Congress.\u00a0 Today, the TDP leader Shri Chandrababu Naidu is willing to be the Sarthi of Rahul Gandhi.\u00a0 The Congress and the Left are entering into an alliance in West Bengal.\u00a0 Rahul Gandhi made a fake pretence of an anti-CPM speech in Kerala where they are opponents.\u00a0 Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia was the original creator of the slogan \u2018Congress Hatao Desh Bachao\u2019 while Shri Sharad Yadav sits in the Congress lap.\u00a0 Shri Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party appears to be more Congress than the Congress.\u00a0 They have buried the legacy of Dr. Lohia.<\/p>\n

Political stability and policy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mahamilawat gathbandhan unquestionably promises only political instability.\u00a0 Such non-ideological alliances have only lasted for a few months.\u00a0 That is the unambiguous lesson of history.\u00a0 The Governments by Chaudhary Charan Singh, Shri V.P. Singh, Shri Chandrasekhar, Shri H.D. Deve Gowda and Shri I.K. Gujral had a life of only few months.\u00a0 Who would want to invest in India in an environment of political instability?\u00a0 Would even Indian investors prefer to go outside and look for more stable countries for investment?\u00a0 Where there is instability, there is corruption.\u00a0 People with brief political opportunities make the best of them.\u00a0 This is the experience of the past.<\/p>\n

What would be the policy of a Gathbandhan of this kind?\u00a0 Would every regional party demand a \u2018Special Status\u2019 for its State?\u00a0 What would then happen to Central funds which are meant for poverty eradication, the defence and security of India?\u00a0 In order to pamper certain exaggerated regional demands? Would expenditure on Armed Forces have to be cut?\u00a0 What will be their policy on expediting infrastructure creation and the poverty alleviation schemes that Prime Minister Modi has launched?\u00a0 Will a war on terror be the priority of such a coalition or will it lead the battle against terror to a possible depletion of a vote bank politics.\u00a0 Will India be run with a national perspective or by a Government which believes that India is a confederation of States?<\/p>\n

What is common between the potential members of the Mahamilawat gathbandhan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a few commonalities between the members\u2019 of the Mahamilawat gathbandhan.\u00a0 Firstly, they have no positive programme.\u00a0 They ride on negativism.\u00a0 They just want to remove one man from office.\u00a0 Secondly, most political groups comprise of dynastic parties and dynastic groups.\u00a0 In some cases, first generation dynast is still in control, in many others the next generation has taken over.\u00a0 These are parties with no inner party structures, no inner party democracy and hence no accountability.\u00a0 Many survive either on cost of regional feelings alone.\u00a0 That is their ideology.\u00a0 Thirdly, most of them have serious allegations of corruption either against the top leaders or against the important members who constitute the Mahamilawat gathbandhan.\u00a0 They are rightly referred to as the \u2018Kleptocrats Club.\u2019\u00a0 Fourthly, they have no ideology or philosophy in common.\u00a0 Pawar Saheb believes in market economy.\u00a0 There are many others, including the Communist, who want a more regulated economy.\u00a0 The Congress President proudly proclaims that he is more Left than the Left.\u00a0 Fifthly, their track record of governance is disastrous.\u00a0 Temperamentally they are too many mavericks in the Gathbandhan.<\/p>\n

At the cusp of history, India and Indians have a choice to make.\u00a0 Are they electing a six month Government or a five year Government?\u00a0 Are they choosing between a tried, tested and a performing leader or a chaotic crowd of non-leaders?\u00a0 Is India looking at a Government which accelerates growth, development and poverty alleviation or is it looking for a Government made by persons who excel only at self-enrichment?\u00a0 I am confident that aspirational people of an evolving society will make the right choice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arun Jaitley India is today at the cusp of making history.\u00a0 Industrial revolutions bypassed us in the past.\u00a0 We had to fight the menace of poverty and lack of growth.\u00a0 A regulated economy for over four and a half decades had added to our woes.\u00a0 When we broke away from ideological shackles of the past,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[169,153,168,167],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political","tag-a-race-to-the-bottom","tag-agenda-2019","tag-gathbandhan","tag-mahamilawat"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158,"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions\/158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}