EDITS | Tuesday, June 2, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Congress off to a good start
A Surya Prakash
Despite extended negotiations with some alliance partners and a few last minute hiccups, there is much to be said in favour of the team chosen by the Congress-led UPA to run the Government. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi have successfully balanced coalitional compulsions, regional and caste pressures, political strategy and personal ambitions of many of the hopefuls without making any significant sacrifice in regard to overall efficiency of the Council of Ministers.
If the blend of the old and the new, experience and raw energy and the range and depth of talent in this team were to be replicated in cricket, you would have seasoned Test players, the more aggressive one-day specialists and the hot shots of Twenty-20 combining to constitute a single squad.
The wealth of experience and talent within the Congress would make any of its opponents envious. Since the party is itself a social coalition which has successfully marketed its brand of inclusive politics, it has a huge basket to choose from, especially when the electoral pickings are good as in the recent Lok Sabha election. When the formation of the Union Council of Ministers is seen through the prism of India’s diversity, social complexities and fractured polity, those responsible for the selections would get high marks.
Despite the clamour from the ‘Baba Brigade’, the Cabinet makers have paid due obeisance to experience, thus lending solidity to the team. Who can fault the presence of Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Mr AK Antony, Mr SM Krishna or Mr Sharad Pawar, to name a few, in the Union Cabinet? Similarly, there are several others like Mr P Chidambaram and Mr Kapil Sibal, Mr.Kamal Nath and Mr Jaipal Reddy, from whom much is expected. At the other end of the age and experience scale are talented youngsters like Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mr Sachin Pilot, Mr Jitin Prasada and Mr Dayanidhi Maran.
Handling social complexities and genuine claims and fitting them into the Union Cabinet puzzle is tricky business, more so when you have a problem of plenty. A case in hand is that of representation from Karnataka. Having inducted Mr Krishna (a Vokkaliga) and Mr Veerappa Moily (OBC) into the Cabinet, it would have been unfair to leave out Mr Mallikarjun Kharge (SC), a man with rich and varied experience since his entry into the Karnataka Assembly in 1972. His inclusion has ensured the necessary balance. Once the task of getting the right blend was over, there was obvious craftiness in the allotment of portfolios. The allocation of New and Renewable Energy to Dr Farooq Abdullah is a case in point.
Overall, it appears to be a successful exercise. A notable feature of ‘Mandate 2009’ is the desire of the electorate to liberate the team leader from the pulls and pressures of alliance partners like the RJD which respect neither probity nor efficiency. In other words, the compulsions of coalition politics can no longer be an all pervasive excuse. The exclusion of Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav and some in-house deadwood from the Union Cabinet is an indication that this aspect of the mandate has been honoured.
Having tactfully managed Cabinet-making and sent out the right signals, the Congress could well have added a few bonus points to its kitty post-May 16. The BJP’s reaction to the constitution of the Union Cabinet is, therefore, a bit jarring. The BJP leader, Mr Arun Jaitley’s reaction that the new Cabinet “is not even old wine in a new bottle” sounds like sour grapes.
The Prime Minister seems to have got a team which can deliver, but he has not kept much space to manoeuvre. Following the 91st Constitutional Amendment, the strength of the Council of Ministers is limited to 15 per cent of the Lok Sabha. This means that the Prime Minister can only make a couple of more additions to his Ministry.
While all this lends positive energy to the idea of governance, some old, sticky issues persist. One such is the entry of persons with criminal records into the Council of Ministers. The compulsions of coalition politics saw the admission of a few thugs with murder charges into the Union Cabinet in the 1990s. Since coalitions are still the order of the day, the problem persists, albeit to a much lesser degree.
Having examined the affidavits filed by candidates, the Association for Democratic Rights and National Election Watch have culled out some facts which would be of interest to all citizens. The ADR is a non-political NGO while NEW is a nation-wide campaign launched by 1,200 NGOs and citizen-led organisations “to improve democracy and governance”. Thanks to the combined efforts of these two initiatives, there is widespread dissemination of information in regard to the candidates in the recent Lok Sabha poll.
They report that of the 66 members of the Lok Sabha who have been inducted into the Council of Ministers, nine have criminal cases pending against them. Seven of these Ministers belong to the Congress and one each to the Trinamool Congress and the DMK. However, a perusal of the cases shows that many of them could be linked to political agitations. They relate to unlawful assembly, disobedience of an order promulgated by a public servant, obstruction of a public way, assault of a public servant, wrongful restraint, criminal trespass etc.
While the cases will have to be looked at closely because they concern Union Ministers, it is common knowledge that over-zealous policemen often frame such charges against politicians opposed to the ruling dispensation in a State whenever there is an anti-Government demonstration or a protest rally. As a result, active politicians of all hues usually have several cases pertaining to unlawful assembly and obstruction of roads pending against them. Many of these cases blotch the CVs of politicians and put them among those who have serious criminal charges pending against them.
Among the criminal cases pending against these Ministers, those pertaining to assault of a public servant need closer examination. It is not uncommon for political leaders with a feudal mentality to get physical with Government officials, especially when they are leading a mob or when they are surrounded by their supporters.
Apart from these cases, the most serious charge pending against one of the new Ministers (from the Trinamool Congress) is the charge of theft. One hopes the Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Secretariat have done due diligence in all these cases and ensured that no person who is unworthy of holding public office has been inducted.
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