Et tu, Modi?

For a moment it had looked a few days ago, that the much-delayed Goods and Services Tax Bill would go through Parliament and the government could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The plan is to have it up and running by April next year and that can only happen if the Opposition parties cooperate to vote on it. After many washout sessions, Parliament was functioning normally these last few weeks and the Prime Minister’s outreach and the Congress’ indication that it was ready to back it, provided a few tweaks were made, offered some optimism. Now that looks like a remote possibility. Government-Opposition relations are in shambles and both sides are in a combative mood. Not just the Congress, but also other smaller parties are warily eyeing the government and weighing the implications of the raid on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s principal secretary. No matter what the government says and no matter

Mr Kejriwal’s over-the-top reaction, the impression has gained ground that the Central Bureau of Investigation raids were heavy handed and a way of getting back at Mr Kejriwal. Being the consummate communicator that he is, Mr Kejriwal began live tweeting the moment he got to know of the raids, thus seizing the first mover propaganda advantage. As far as the Congress is concerned, the National Herald case against the Gandhis is not something they are going to tolerate. Striking at the Gandhis brings the party together like nothing else can because every Congressman understands the implications. The government may well claim that the allegations have been made by a private citizen, Subramanian Swamy, and the party has nothing to do with it, but who’s buying that? Union finance minister Arun Jaitley is right in saying that the Gandhis should fight it in court and not hold up Parliament, but things are rarely so simple in politics.

Anyway, the net result is that things have stalled in Parliament. Call it pique or petty mindedness — and the Congress is getting a lot of flak for its tactics — but legislative business is now halted. Critics of the Congress may conveniently forget that this is what the Bharatiya Janata Party did in the last few years of the United Progressive Alliance-2 and the then government paid a heavy price. It is also significant to note that while the collapse of Parliament sessions happened in the latter half of UPA-2, here the National Democratic Alliance is not even two years old. That is something to think about.

During this period, the NDA has managed to achieve many things, not the least of them is raising India’s profile abroad. On the foreign policy front, the Prime Minister has been hyperactive, dashing here and there and inviting world leaders to come to India and invest. Its economic record is mixed, but the precipitous fall in oil prices has helped and inflation is under control. But the one area where this government has failed is in managing politics. Politics is not just about elections. After May 2014, the Modi magic helped the BJP to continue its winning spree. The Congress lost state after state and the BJP was the net gainer. There simply was no opposition to it. But both in Delhi and then in Bihar, the BJP was humiliated. But there will be elections in the future and it will lose some and win some. That doesn’t take away from the fact that it has a strong majority in the Lok Sabha and was elected to govern.

Where the BJP has faltered is in its ability to manage politics. A majority offers a comfort level to a Prime Minister who does not have to worry about what his coalition partners think; right from Gujarat, Narendra Modi has not had that problem. He can pretty much do what he likes and his party colleagues will fall in line. But brute strength and complete command over one’s troops is not the best teacher of the art of political compromise, the give and take without which democratic politics cannot work. The Congress, which was forever at the mercy of its partners, and had an obstreperous Opposition, managed to work with them. Not just floor management, but also the behind the scenes confabulations that allowed crucial legislature to go through is a critical skill which the Congress had and which this government lacks. Individual politicians in the BJP may realise this and be willing to work with the Opposition — Mr Jaitley is one — but the tone and tenor of the government is such that it thinks that to compromise is to show weakness.

This is not to say that the government should allow the Opposition to get away with any and every malfeasance. If there is a case against the Gandhis, by all means pursue it. If Mr Kejriwal’s senior official has grave charges against him, go after him. But could Mr Kejriwal have not been taken into confidence before the raid? And why, as Mr Kejriwal says, should his office too be out of bounds after the raid? In such circumstances, the allegation of vendetta begins to sound plausible. Mr Kejriwal’s party doesn’t count for much in Parliament but he will be a component of any future anti-BJP coalition. Other chief ministers will begin to ask themselves if the Modi government will not employ similarly rough and tough methods against them. The Trinamul Congress representative was the first to criticise the raids against Mr Kejriwal as being against the spirit of federalism.

Parliamentary business is thus bound to get affected. The Prime Minister may well say that the Opposition is responsible for holding up Parliament, but the country wants results, not excuses, even if these have some validity. And results have been few and far between. If this will be the norm for the next year or two, all of Mr Modi’s grand plans will come to nought. With no major legislative reform to show, this government will find it difficult to convince the public at large — to say nothing of the business community which has invested so much faith in it — that it has brought about achche din.

 

 

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