One year of UPA's non-performance

One year of UPA's non-performance
By Pramod Mahajan

The spectacle of a UPA government in which an important cabinet minister hurls irresponsible and false allegations against a constitutional institution of Election Commission that has earned a name for itself the world over with prime minister behaving like a helpless spectator could be witnessed only under the present UPA regime.

A year ago when the UPA govt. took oath, I had said publicly, "wish this government should complete its five-year tenure". I know that the role of Opposition is to oppose the government and not to run the government. I also know that an unstable government or a mid-term poll is not in the interests of the country. So, as the UPA government completes one year in office I once again wish that this government complete its remaining term of four years but when I analyse its performance it disappoints me a lot.

If the people constituting the UPA had left their performance sheet blank and not besmeared it so badly as they did I would have given them 1-2 marks for cleanliness. I am not surprised to find the horoscope of UPA government spoilt with many shortcomings that cripple its life. For UPA an year of non-performance is just a routine, ordinary thing.

It is true that the Lok Sabha 2004 election mandate was against the NDA. But equally false is the misconception that the mandate was in favour of UPA. UPA had not even taken birth during the elections and it came into being only after the people had given their verdict. The intoxication of power and arrogance makes the Congress forget the fact that the difference between the seats won by it and opposition BJP in Lok Sabha elections is just seven. During the last one year the behaviour of the Congress President and Chairman of UPA, Smt Sonia Gandhi, has not been in consonance with this reality. She is behaving as if she, like her husband late Shri Rajiv Gandhi, has won three-fourth majority in Parliament as a result of sympathy generated by the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1984. This wrong psyche is the first fault of this government resulting in follies in its behaviour.

After four days of results, Sonia Gandhi in mysterious circumstances refused to occupy the post of Prime Minister responding, as we are told, to the call of her conscience and suggested the name of Dr. Manmohan Singh. A senior Congress leader, now a cabinet minister, had then commented: "The Empress has nominated her agent". From that day commenced the devolution of the post of Prime Minister and is still continuing. This is the second big handicap of this government and the country is paying for it and will continue to suffer for it in future too. The real power centre is 10 Janpath and the 7 Race Course is just a pretence. This dichotomy is not only creating problems in the government and administration but also adversely affecting the prestige of the government.

The third fault of this government lies in its relationship with the leftists. Dancing to the tunes of communists is a handicap by its very birth. Leftists wish to corner all the credit for the success of the government but wish to wash their hands off its failures. Communists wish to have all the rights without the least sense of responsibility. No coalition government can afford to confine itself to the boundaries of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP). During the period of five years many issues crop up which cannot be visualised at the time of drafting of the CMP. At that time the common ideology becomes all the more important and the whole world knows that in economic ideology the Congress and Communists stand poles apart. Its impact is getting reflected in the matter of economic reforms and will continue to be so in future also.

Supporting Lalu is the fourth shortcoming of this government. After having been charge-sheeted in one case after the other in courts the taint is becoming more prominent. The issue of tainted ministers is a matter of grave concern. But of more grave concern is the conduct of Lalu brigade ministers. Kicking down the prestige of the government and creating constitutional crisis every now and then has become a matter of habit for the Lalu brigade.

The spectacle of a UPA government in which an important cabinet minister hurls irresponsible and false allegations against a constitutional institution of Election Commission that has earned a name for itself the world over with prime minister behaving like a helpless spectator could be witnessed only under the present UPA regime. Similarly, this government alone can call an emergency meeting of the Political Affairs Committee of the Cabinet just to discuss the matter of the alleged broken glass panes of a minister's car. Many more similar shameful incidents will be repeated in the four years to come. I have no doubt about it.

Treating opposition like an enemy is the fifth drawback of this government. The whole world knows and recognises that in democracy a government has the right to act the way it likes and the opposition the right and freedom of criticise the government. But it looks as if UPA government has also usurped this right of the opposition for itself alone. When NDA decided to boycott parliament Prime Minister Manmohan Singh remarked sarcastically that the NDA thinks as if it is still in power. The reality is otherwise. The UPA government wants to play the role both of the ruling party as also of the opposition. This is what is known as fascism. Nowadays the Leader of Opposition is not even allowed to speak in Parliament. The opposition is being humiliated at every step. What more could be the height of intoxication of power that Shri Sanjay Baru, an officer appointed by a prime minister nominated by Mrs Sonia Gandhi should have the audacity to use derogatory language against the opposition. The relations between ruling party and the Opposition during the last year give out a danger signal for the parliamentary democracy. In sum, the first year of UPA government has come out extremely disappointing because of these five faults.

The situation of Jammu & Kashmir is a matter of concern. The naxalite violence is getting beyond control. The situation in the North-eastern region is also going out of hand and it seems as if there is none to guide the union home ministry. In the economic field the situation is the worst. Prices are rising unabated. The dissatisfaction arising out of introduction of VAT continues as ever. Unfortunately, the incidents of suicides by the farmers have not shown a downward trend. Production of food grains has gone down. The National Highways project and Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna are in doldrums. The whole country is reeling under a great shortage of power supply. River-linking project has been put in cold storage. Railway accidents are on the rise. It is hard to enumerate the innumerable failures of every ministry. The UPA government is just subsisting only on the strength of criticizing the NDA. On the conclusion of its first anniversary, I only ask: Where is the heaven you had promised to the people?

(The writer is a General Secretary of BJP)