Political absurdity

The tamasha is getting more and murkier with every passing day. The Great Indian Circus of Indian Political parties have cost the nation dearly yet no lessons have been learned from past experiences.

Today, the regional political parties who vest the UPA government with numerical majority have started to show colours. Other powerful regional straps have become ambitious, and feel, that any encroachment to federal fiefdom would be an encroachment to the Constitution. There was a strong centre and weak states. To boot, you had Sec 356 of the Constitution by which a state can be brought under President’s rule by citing the break down of law and order. Boomai case changed the use or misuse of that Section.

The Prime Minister was talking of coalition dharma. It is coalition adharma that is prevailing. When the elections of 2009 threw in a majority for UPA, DMK blackmailed the UPA into submission. It wanted coveted ministries. It got Telecom. And the Telecom ministry got into such a mess, that the Minister is at Tihar Jail. There were many others over reaching Ministries which are under cloud, held by the other regional parties. Mamata berates her own nominee who is the Railway minister who brings in a balanced budget looking ahead by at least a decade. She wants him thrown out and another to be brought in. We see the prime Minister obliging. Now, in the name of aam admi, you cannot dole out government revenue, but entity should be self driven and balance its expenditure through income. To further aggravate the Government, Mamata does not take part in UPA conclaves or meetings but seems to be showing her inclination towards other front. That is her right. Let her. But on the one hand, she is part of the Government, and on another, she is the worst critic of the Government. Her bull doze approach is get central funding for the state of West Bengal. An impossible outlay as the state requires money. It was the same Mamata who drove the Tatas out; this industrial unit would have provided jobs for many people and the revolving economy around Nandigram would have cascaded wealth in West Bengal. Jayalalitha, the satrap of Tamilnadu is savvy, statesmanlike and polished. She finds all faults, but at least in her case, she is not part of UPA. She does not want any inroads into Federal structure, no anti terrorist acts, etc. She wants electrical power, she wants central investment, but she would not permit the setting up of Koodankulam nuclear Plant. When asked for her fears, she just says that if a nuclear plant in Japan could cause devastation, why not this. What happened at Japan was not that anything was wrong with the Plant, but hurricane with tsunami ran roughshod over the Plant, which saw the radiation fuming into the atmosphere. You want all the good, and take all the bad seems to be Jayalalitha’s refrain. DMK, shattered and blistered, is raking up the right violations- especially killing the 12 year son of LTTE Chief Prabhakaran in cold blood. This seems to be a serious issue and why is the world watching Sri Lankan brutality against innocent Tamilians in silence. I saw Kannimozhi vociferous in presenting the case with passion in the Rajya Sabha. DMK’s bad governance has cost the UPA directly and if they want to leave the coalition, they must be allowed to. Now every state government asks who stole my cheese? They want the benefits, but do not want to carry the burden, like TN as far as Koodankulam nuclear power plant is concerned. Against terrorist activities, if a Central organization is formed, as the state police have been unable to ferret out the terror outfits or other thugs, why should there be a chorus of protests? Where is the attack on autonomy?

Coming back to the Coalition dharma, which the Prime minister eloquently parroted, the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister shall hold office if they enjoyed the majority of the Parliament. There can be coalition parties who can be part of a coalition. But the right to allot portfolios is the prerogative of the Prime minister. This cannot be delegated to the Political parties who form a part of the Coalition. This is not dharma. The King chooses his team. When President describes my government, it means Prime Minister and his team of Ministers who have majority in Parliament. It is high time, the national Political parties change their equation, and follow rudimentary principles, lest they become laughing stock. Country should not be held to ransom because of the writ of one individual!