India Insight

Disruptive opposition blames government for parliament woes

A lack of accountability from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a failure of consultation by his ruling Congress-led coalition and too few days of legislative business, rather than opposition protests that smothered months of legislative debate, are to blame for the paralysis of India’s parliamentary democracy, the leader of India’s opposition party wrote on Monday.

Making no reference to the weeks of protest by his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that saw opposition members shouting, chanting and waving placards in the well of both houses to force the cancellation of an entire legislative session and threaten the passage of the 2011-12 budget, Arun Jaitley called for more “proper conduct” from Indian MPs in an opinion piece in The Indian Express that appeared to lay the blame of parliamentary disruption at the government’s door.

“In the last few decades the participation of prime ministers in parliamentary debates has declined. Their effective intervention is confined to reading written texts prepared by their offices. This is unacceptable… The PM has to be the most accountable in a democracy. His depleting presence in Parliament compels one to suggest (the British system of Prime Minister’s Questions) be successfully replicated in India,” Jaitley wrote.

Reticent Singh is typically media-shy, but a slew of corruption charges against his party compelled him to hold a rare press conference live on national television in February, where he vowed he would not step down despite increasing pressure from Jaitley’s party.

“To meet for less than 70 days in a year is inadequate. Short durations lead to paucity of time available for debates, issues of public importance and legislation. When members, particularly from the opposition, want to raise several issues, the privilege is denied for paucity of time. The gagging of debate leads to obstructionism. Parliamentary obstructionism then becomes an acceptable mode to highlight an issue of public importance,” Jaitley wrote, without making reference to the BJP protest of parliament.

“The government and the opposition both have a key role to play in Parliament. Conflicting opinions and at times even tensions between the two bring out the best in Indian democracy. However, there must be healthy communication between the political leadership in government and the opposition,” Jaitley continued.

Congress dithers on Lokpal bill as pressure builds

As the scandal-tainted Congress coalition in India struggles to deal with graft allegations, the focus has shifted to an anti-corruption bill that may well be the bane of future governments.

The Lokpal bill, which aims to bring the prime minister’s office and lawmakers under the purview of an anti-corruption ombudsman, has been introduced, rehashed and abandoned several times since 1968, the year it was first proposed.

Under growing pressure from the opposition and a hunger strike by 72-year-old activist Anna Hazare, the government may find it difficult to ignore the bill further.

But a cautious Congress still seems inclined towards a watered down version of the Lokpal bill.

In its current form, the bill suggests the Lokpal be a recommending authority without punitive powers. The Lokpal, a bench comprised of retired Supreme Court and High Court judges, will not have the authority to take action on its own.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met civil activists such as Hazare to discuss their demands for a Lokpal bill that would effectively rein in corruption.

Hazare, who is now part of a people’s movement called ‘India Against Corruption’, has threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike if the government does not make changes to the draft bill and ensure its swift passage.

Does Swaraj hint at a more politically sharp future for the BJP?

India’s main opposition party, the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have had much to crow about in recent months.

From the minute that the much vaunted Commonwealth Games began to – literally – crumble despite the hundreds of millions of rupees spent by the central government, a seemingly endless run of corruption scams linked to the ruling Congress party has seen much chest-beating and finger pointing from across the parliamentary aisles.

Riding high on damning headlines, and egged on by a lacklustre defence from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the BJP have trained both barrels on Congress, with party leaders Arun Jaitley, L.K. Advani and Nitin Gadkari missing no opportunity to squeeze government and corruption into each and every soundbite.

But the BJP, as any Indian political analyst worth their salt will point out, also have a cupboard filled with graft skeletons, at both a state and federal government level.

Thus, such drum-beating by opposition leaders risks reaching a decibel level that could backfire, with an across-the-board corruption purge likely to tar each and every Indian politico with the same dishonest brush.

As such, the reaction from Sushma Swaraj, leader of the opposition in India’s lower house of parliament, to Prime Minister Singh’s admittance of responsibility in an embarrassing affair involving the appointment of an accused criminal to the highest anti-graft office in the country, was strikingly against the grain.

Swaraj, who had previously joined her fellow BJP leaders in attacking Congress for its failure to tackle corruption, took an instantly conciliatory position after Singh’s statement.

Has Congress lost the plot on inflation?

“Government Plan To Tackle Prices Is Just Hot Air” screamed the front page of Friday’s Mail Today, as India’s political media lined up to belittle what was billed as a list of anti-inflationary remedies but was robustly rejected as “already failed measures and oft-repeated homilies.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meetings this week with senior cabinet ministers to tackle year-high food inflation dragged on long into the night, keeping editors on tenterhooks and assuring Congress of front page headlines.

This morning, those headlines would have made for painful reading. After rumours of export curbs and future markets tweaks, what emerged to be a paltry list of recommendations was seen by many as nothing but ineffective band-aids for a broken economy requiring surgery.

Barraged by charges of inaction over tackling corruption, Congress appears to be heading towards firefights on two fronts as India runs out of patience with the ruling party’s attempts to curb inflation.

From economic hero to inflation-battered zero, perhaps more than anyone else Prime Minister Manmohan Singh encapsulates the Congress party’s current woes.

Lauded for his economic nous as Finance Minister and again during his first tenure as Prime Minister, the man who was applauded for creating GDP growth rates above 9 percent is now being chastised for failing to control the inflationary pressures that such rapid growth fuels.

Is Congress digging its own corrupt grave?

Telecom Minister Kabil Sibal’s attack on the competency of India’s independent state auditor appears to show Congress’s growing desperation at its inability to silence corruption charges, and the inevitable backfire may illustrate just how out of touch India’s ruling party has become with the current political climate.

Last week’s allegations by Sibal of the “utterly erroneous” calculations in a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) estimating a $39 billion loss to the exchequer during the 2008 2G spectrum sale have led to a barrage of criticism from opposition politicians and the CAG, and appear to have only resulted in increased pressure on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is reportedly mulling a breach of privilege motion against Sibal – a Congress heavyweight – for his insinuation of “serious errors” in the independent investigation, the CAG has suggested his remarks were “in contempt of the House” and the opposition, already riding high on the ruling party’s seemingly endless list of corruption-related woes, accused the minister of attempting to “overreach the Parliamentary process.”

In short, his attempt to discredit the report, with the assumed blessing of Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, has only led to more headlines and headaches.

Sibal may be correct in his assertion. The loss to the state is essentially incalculable – the CAG even admitted that in its report. But in failing to address the issue of improper practices undertaken during the spectrum allocation that the report also noted, he risked appearing to shift the blame away from his sacked predecessor, A. Raja, a member of a party crucial to the success of Singh’s ruling coalition.

Similarly to Prime Minister Singh’s December promise to appear before the PAC to answer questions on the 2G scandal, rather than agree to a joint parliamentary committee as demanded by the opposition, Sibal’s analysis of the CAG report was seen by some as an example of half measures by the government in tackling corruption, and a failure to address the allegations head-on.

Adviser’s attack on Congress shows party tensions

Appearing to signal dissent in the ranks of India’s ruling Congress party, the Prime Minister’s media adviser told reporters last night that the “status-quoist” party was only concerned with winning elections.

“The Congress is by nature a status-quoist, pragmatic party,” Harish Khare, media adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was reported by the Hindustan Times as saying on Tuesday.

“It does not believe in any conviction. (Its) only conviction is to win elections,” the Indian Express added.

The implications of Khare’s remarks are complicated. As the PM’s spokesperson, he’s distanced from the political powerhouse of Sonia Gandhi, the real puller of Congress party strings but privy to the opinions of ruling policymakers.

Indeed, one argument says there’s nothing inherently scandalous in his words. Winning elections is the raison d’etre of political parties and “status-quoist, pragmatic” – perhaps not the exact words party chiefs would use – aligns with the party’s goal of poverty alleviation and social development.

Yet it will surely add to the ripples of discontent that appear to be spreading through the party. A few weeks ago, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, regarded as a prime-minister-in-waiting, appeared to criticise Singh for his approach to land ownership reforms, and forced him to ensure the party would work toward greater rights for India’s farmers.

Congress, the largest party in India’s parliament and the head of a ruling alliance with some local and state parties, is effectively run by Gandhi. Former finance minister and technocrat Singh was appointed prime minister after she led the party to election success in 2004 and is only involved in government business. The need to appease key coalition partners such as Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Conference has stalled crucial reforms, and crippled the ability of the party to utilise its second consecutive term in power — so far.

Commonwealth Games besieged – now diseased?

Plagued by endless corruption accusations, vast overspending claims and huge construction delays, you would be forgiven for thinking none of Delhi’s inhabitants were overjoyed about the city’s upcoming Commonwealth Games.

But you’d be mistaken, at least according to India’s health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

On Sunday, he said that the construction sites for the Games, which kick off in just over 40 days, were providing perfect conditions for the city’s mosquitoes, and laying the blame for the city’s record-breaking dengue outbreak squarely with the organising committee.

“Dengue and water is strongly related. Delhi is already dug up because of the Games and it is also raining heavily. Since water remains accumulated in many places, it becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which are contributing to diseases,” Azad told reporters.

Throwing salt in the organisers’ wounds was his thinly-veiled accusation that had the work been completed on schedule, and the construction completed before the monsoon weather arrived, this year’s outbreak of the deadly virus could have been avoided.

The embarrassing issue for the much-maligned organising committee is that he may well have a point.

A rare news conference by the PM

Vipul Tripathi

May 21, 2010 17:54 IST

“The prime minister of India rarely gets to speak, face-to-face, with the people of India,” writes historian Ramachandra Guha.

We might add the next-best-possible substitute ‘the media’ to this plaint.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will indeed have a rare conversation with the media on May 24, while presenting a report card on his government’s first year in office.

This is only the second time in six years the media gets to interact with the prime minister on a many-to-one basis.

So what prevents him?

Sonia Gandhi hardly ever gives interviews but then she is not a part of the government.

Manmohan Singh occupies a constitutional post being the de facto leader of the country.

Right to education: a leap that falls short?

Vipul Tripathi

Apr 1, 2010 17:18 IST

Is the government short-changing the nation on right to education?

Not all is hunky-dory with the ‘right to education’ law that has come into force.

The law puts to work a constitutional amendment of 2002 that made education a fundamental right.

Fali Nariman, the famous jurist who argued the landmark ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution case, points out that the amendment took away more from the children than it gave to them.

Nariman says the Supreme Court in its various judgements clearly laid out the ‘right to education’ for every child till the age of 14.

However, the amendment and the Act enforcing it only covers children between 6 to 14 years of age.

Also the ‘right to education’ is further qualified as the government may decide the manner in which this education is provided.

Should NRIs get voting rights?

Vipul Tripathi

Jan 10, 2010 10:48 IST

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to have set the ball rolling for granting voting rights to Non Resident Indians.

“I recognise the legitimate desire of Indians living abroad to exercise their franchise and to have a say in who governs India,” Singh said at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas meet in New Delhi.

According to reports, the law ministry is working on amending the Representation of the People Act to include those living overseas as citizens.

While seeking the active involvement of NRIs with their home country is the aim of this move, yet for many, the very fact that they left the country to seek life elsewhere doesn’t seem to shore up their right to vote.

Is it fair to people who are living in the country itself?

It can be said that people who are residents have the maximum stake in who should rule the country.   Seeking a green card is the dream of many a middle-class Indian living abroad but should that be coupled with voting rights as well?

Moreover, it is not clear whether giving voting rights to NRIs will make them more involved with politics and other issues at home, as the PM intends.