:: Kishwar Desai

Power to the Opposition

Kishwar Desai

Augest.16 : It was a wonderful August 15 — impending drought, swine flu, rising prices, Maoist insurgency and, nine months after 26/11, the dramatic pronouncements of Ajmal Amir Kasab carry on, with us no nearer to the solution to any problem. It reminds me a little of the first days of the doomed Gordon Brown government. Of course, that poor man had only two years to mess it all up — and the United Progressive Alliance-2 is around for at least five more years. But the parallels are uncanny. Mr Brown came in with such high hopes amidst widespread euphoria that finally Tony Blair was relegated to history, along with his spin and clever machinations. Regardless of the fact that he had been elected three times by the people, it did not stop the media from hounding him and screaming for his ouster every day. Mr Blair, a deeply religious family man, actually was a fairly competent leader. He has the great ability, like Bill Clinton, to turn on a slightly self deprecatory, rueful charm — and that would often stem the rising tide of discontent.

His most powerful weapon was his spontaneous sharp oratorial skills (totally missing among India’s politicians, especially ministers) which would mesmerise his worst critics. But Mr Brown wanted power — and was determined to get it at any cost. Therefore, very ruthlessly, a coup was planned behind the scenes — and he, allegedly, had executioners who conducted a "showcase" rebellion. Mr Blair was finally pushed out. For a while, since the media had pronounced that everyone was hungry for change, all was forgiven and Mr Brown was given a rousing welcome by even the ever-so-disciplined and rule-bound Labour Party.

Unlike Mr Blair, who has instinctive cleverness to make the right move most of the time, Mr Brown is more of an intellectual. This can be dangerous as he can see all sides of the picture, making him risk-averse. As head of the Treasury, a risk averse attitude is fine. But for the more comprehensive task as Prime Minister, Mr Brown’s continuing plodding, dour and non-inclusive attitude has not won him many admirers.

And when he became Prime Minister, he was hit by all manner of crises. Luckily, a crisis, as the Chinese proverb goes, is an opportunity. And most national crises require only a cool head and good management. Those heady early days showed the best of Mr Brown. After the spin of Mr Blair, he appeared with statesmanlike candour. But the barrage of problems also showed up the rot below — by changing the Prime Minister, nothing had really changed. Perhaps the real problem lay somewhere else: that in a democracy you sometimes need a complete overhaul. The Labour government, which has been wonderfully progressive with its landmark emphasis on reinforcing universal healthcare and child welfare, may have simply been in power for far too long. Its responses have become slow and lazy — despite the emergence of a young and energetic Opposition leadership.

As the Labour government struggles to maintain its head above the water with sinking ratings in the opinion polls, the Conservative Opposition, once the anathema of the working middle class, seems more and more a viable proposition.

David Cameron, the young Leader of the Opposition, has changed the image of his party. His predecessor Michael Howard, like L.K. Advani, suffered from an image problem. Even though he was personally a very nice man, it did not stop the media from reviling him. One of his own party members even said that he had "something of the night about him". No matter how hard he tried (and he even imported the architect of the Australian Prime Minister’s election in for consultation), nothing worked against the impervious charm of Mr Blair, who won the elections for his party.

Ultimately, the image of the leadership is important and people of India are as smart, if not smarter, than the British voters. They are a TV generation, and in the "reality show" of Indian politics points are awarded for TV presence, universal popularity and global acceptability. The Congress is lucky — in its central triumvirate it has Sonia-Rahul-Manmohan and each epitomises one or the other quality. Ms Gandhi has TV presence, Mr Gandhi has media popularity and Dr Singh has global acceptability, and intellect.

The Opposition is still struggling with finding its identity. And, going by the example of the good Michael Howard, till it changes its current leadership (especially anti-modernisers like Rajnath Singh) with a more acceptable face, it will get nowhere. It must learn to chuck the old and accept that people are looking at the future while they are rooted in the past. It is a taunt the young Mr Cameron often hurls at Mr Brown — and it has a real resonance in India today. Can yesterday’s men and women really lead us into a glorious future? Unlikely.

So, like the "unlucky" Gordon Brown government which spent most of its first few months dealing with crisis after crisis, will UPA-2 also succumb to a disenchanted populace? While the environment is febrile, there is a false relaxed attitude because UPA-2 has five years to fix it. But unfortunately for them, the constant barrage of local Assembly elections may allow people to express their anger against poor planning and vision. India is young and impatient with the old — and anything can tip the balance now.

With the lack of a credible Opposition, India is a democracy only in name. It is time for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to reinvent itself as the National Democratic Alternative — and give the people of India a real choice.

It should take a leaf out of Mr Cameron’s book and must give UPA-2 some competition. As we know, in the open market companies only do well when there is competition. Remember when we only had Ambassador cars? If we want to improve the quality of the government, we must improve the quality of the competition. It is imperative that we begin to think not of the kind of government we want but of the kind of Opposition we require and then we can enjoy the best element of a democracy which is to have a dialogue between opposing ideas.

UPA-2 may have been unlucky with its second term starting under a pall of gloom, but they are lucky only so long as the Opposition is in disarray. If the NDA reinvents itself and actually reaches out to the youth and disenchanted voters with more inclusive, softer, kinder policies, much as Mr Cameron did, it will not only make the government less complacent but also strike a chord among the people. And, in a way, it will also be healthier for UPA-2 to have a constructive Opposition to fight with.

Kishwar Desai’s novel Witness the Night, to be published in January 2010, is on the longlist for the Man Asian Literary Prize, 2009. She can

be contacted at kishwardesai@yahoo.com