news details |
|
|
| Election of allegations | | | In the middle of election season, accusations and counter accusations have been progressively turning acerbic and even unethical. Unfortunately even those who possess good and bright heads on their shoulders have been indulging in this kind of spewing of vitriol. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is an example who, while rebutting the accusations of LK Advani, made a statement that, apart from being avoidable, was not quite honourable. Advani has been calling Manmohan a "weak" PM since much before the polls were announced. He, surely, had his reasons for doing so. Manmohan was neither elected the leader of the Congress Party in the Parliament nor of the ruling coalition, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The understanding that seemed to have been arrived at between Manmohan and Sonia Gandhi suggested that while he would run the government she would manage the Party and the rainbow coalition of the UPA. The arrangement had weaknesses built into it. No Prime Minister in a parliamentary democracy can ever run a government with a reasonable degree of authority and latitude without the blessings of the party chief. That is more so in this country with its feudal orientation, especially in the Congress Party which forsook long ago its inner-party democracy. Overtaken by dynastic predominance of the Nehru-Gandhi family, the prime ministers belonging to Congress Party - even if he is the highly-rated academic, Manmohan Singh - have to pay their obeisance to Sonia Gandhi, who has been in control of the levers of power in the Congress for more than a decade. The Prime Minister had no alternative but to keep his counsel. This weakening of the institution of the prime minister was further accentuated by the self-willed ministers of the motley group of regional parties that allied with the Congress to enable it to form the government. While Manmohan had to overlook their corrupt and parochial ways, he also, seemingly, surrendered his prerogative to choose his ministers for specific portfolios. Some of the allies dictated their terms and demanded and got for their chosen party-men the most lucrative of ministries. Besides, the Left Combine, propping up the government with its "outside" support, stifled his agenda for economic reforms. And, when it terminated its support, Manmohan overlooked the maladroit and questionable methods adopted by his coalition managers for buying legislators to garner votes for the survival of his government. Advani's accusations about Manmohan and his ceaseless barbs, however, seemed to find the target before the elections and something snapped within Manmohan. The good Doctor, generally soft and mild-mannered, cracked under pressure. In an attempt to give it back to Advani, he recalled the 1999 hijack of the Indian Airlines flight IC 814 to Kandahar wherein, failing to talk the hijackers into releasing the 167 passengers and crew held hostage, the then National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, with Advani as Home Minister, ended up releasing three dreaded terrorists, including the notorious Masood Azhar. It was good if the party fought elections on issues and not on personal accusations.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
