:: Arun Nehru

Cong must initiate reforms in the party

By Arun Nehru

Jun 21 : A political party in defeat is never a pretty sight. Sadly, many "leaders" who missed the "window of opportunity" are busy cultivating the media and the game of passing the buck is in full swing.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), along with the Mandal brigade of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP), have their own share of dissidence whilst the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, with 30 seats in Lok Sabha, is giving the impression of being a "bad loser". She is criticising everyone, including Mahatma Gandhi, for her lack of success in general elections 2009.

My political analysis is that the public voted against all forms of "excesses". The CPI(M) was punished both in West Bengal and Kerala for the excesses committed by their cadres in Nandigram, whilst the BJP, which lost the 2004 election on the "minority" vote, lost this time on the "majority" vote! The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal may attract a certain kind of extreme elements but this is not acceptable to the majority of the population, cutting across caste and religious lines.

The BJP has been decimated in Orissa and the death and destruction in Kandhamal has aggravated the situation. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won a decisive victory. Varun Gandhi won from Pilibhit with a huge margin but his "views" had little impact anywhere else in Uttar Pradesh and may have, in fact, swung the majority upper caste votes towards the Congress. The BJP has several visible and invisible power centres and will, like the Left, shrink in seats if it continues with a thought process which has lost its relevance.

In West Bengal, the Left has a year to contest Assembly elections, whilst the BJP will face electoral battles in September 2009, in the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana. The going will not be easy. While the Congress is sure to sweep Haryana, Lok Sabha trends indicate that the situation in Maharashtra and Jharkhand may also be favourable for them. The Congress will no doubt press their advantage in the byelections in several states as well as in the three Assembly elections.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, with greater numbers from the Congress and an "army" of new members, will have to evolve a new thinking and culture within the party and the government to keep pace with Rahul Gandhi’s reform process. Change is never easy but then it’s "change" that catapulted the Congress beyond 200 seats and their next target could well be 272 seats. We can juggle statistics and arrive at conclusions, but make no mistake that the swing is towards stable governments and in this situation statistics make no sense as political arithmetic is very different from conventional mathematics!

Systems change with time, but there were certain sensible systems which need to be looked at and retained for the future. Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister had a three-tier ministry and many minister who are senior politicians today started as deputy ministers with her and then graduated to ministers of state (MoS), MoS (independent charge) and the Cabinet minister. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), both "senior" committees within the Cabinet, remained the exclusive decision-making authorities on sensitive subjects.

A gradual "promotion" structure, based on experience, political relevance and ability, reduces political pressure and gives greater stability to the system. This is only one issue that must be considered at a time when the number of aspirants has increased and people are expecting some real changes.

Economic issues will dominate the political agenda as the Union Budget draws closer. The global financial crisis is far from over. While confidence level has risen, we cannot take a six-seven per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth for granted. Financial prudence cannot be ignored and in a system where several schemes are in operation for the weaker sections of society, we have to be extremely careful of wasteful expenditure and extravagance.

The report that Air India was unable to pay staff salaries in time and requires upwards of Rs 10,000 crores as a bailout package at public expense makes little sense unless there is a clear policy to privatise the airline. Public funds cannot be thrown away in this manner. The airline has exhausted its capital base and will exhaust this bailout package too. What if the taxpayer is held to ransom again? This issue needs to be fully debated and discussed before a decision is taken. The airline industry is in trouble and we have read reports that both Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways are in financial trouble and are being bailed out by excessive credit facilities given by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.

At the same time there are reports that our current aviation policy gives an unfair advantage to foreign airlines over domestic carriers in terms of passenger traffic from India. Domestic airlines must be assisted by the government, but there must be a "plan" for financial viability and accountability for the future, both for Air India and the private airlines. Without this, bailouts are not a solution but a waste of scarce public resources.

Arun Nehru is a former Union minister