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| UPA Government In Disarray | | Are we heading towards mid-term polls? | | RUSTAM
JAMMU, Dec 9: Are we heading towards mid-term polls? The answer seems to be in the affirmative. Finance Minister and the Congress party's trouble-shooter Pranab Mukharjee on Thursday did say that had the government insisted on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail trade, it would have collapsed and the country would have faced mid-term polls. He told the Congress MPs that the government didn't have the numbers on his side and, hence, the decision to suspend the cabinet decision.
The climb down has weakened the position of the Prime Minister. It can be said that he is not in command. The virtual rollback has not only dented his own image and position but has also lowered the position of the Congress-led UPA government in the eyes of the international community, especially the Americans, the Britons, the French and the Germans who wanted Manmohan Singh to go in for FDI in retail trade. He had, it can be said, given them to understand that he would force down the nation's throat his decision to help them improve their economies at the cost of the already suffering Indians. That he had to eat a humble pie must have made the votaries of FDI believe that the Indian Prime Minister has outlived his utility. The fact of the matter is that the failure of the Prime Minister and his coterie to enforce the cabinet decision has made the position of the government that he leads quite untenable. People have already started saying that he must quit and that he is leading a rag-tag coalition, which has failed India on every front and created a sort of instability.
The woes of the Congress-led coalition government have multiplied not just because the non-accommodating attitude of Trinamool Congress of Mamta Bannerjee and DMK of Karunanidhi. Both these coalition partners opposed the cabinet decision tooth and nail. Several other developments have upset the Congress' apple-cart. Home Minister P Chidambaram, for example, is in the dock. Janata Party president and former Union Minister Subramanian Swamy is after his blood. He is moving heaven and earth to prove that he, like former Telecom Minister A Raja, was involved in the multi-crore 2 G Spectrum scam. Swamy has sought to make Chidambaram - a former Finance Minister - a party in the case, saying the decision of spectrum pricing and allocation was taken jointly by him and former Telecom minister A Raja, who is lodged in Tihar jail. The court has admitted his plea and asked him to get himself examined and record his statement on December 17. The court's yesterday decision has further emboldened the BJP-led NDA to intensify its remove-Chidambaram-movement in and outside the Parliament. It has decided to boycott the Home Minister. The specific demand of the BJP is: Either Chidambaram should quit himself or the Prime Minister should sack him.
Chidambaram, like Manmohan Singh, has become so weak and demoralized that he has stopped responding to media queries, which has further compounded the situation. The general view is that he must quit, which can happen anytime from now. Chidambaram has, according to Swamy, not only caused huge loss to the nation but also damaged the national cause in Kashmir by siding with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and saying that "Kashmir is a unique problem that needs a unique solution". Swamy is absolutely right. He has asserted that he would win against Chidambaram.
The story of Foreign Minister S M Krishna is no different. He, like Chidambaram, shares the view of Omar Abdullah that "Jammu & Kashmir only acceded and not merged with India" and has mishandled the Kashmir issue, thus creating additional difficulties for India. The opposition is also demanding his resignation. What has led the opposition to demand his resignation is his alleged involvement in the Karnataka mining scam. An FIR was registered yesterday against him and two other former Karnataka chief ministers by the Lokayukta police on a private complaint alleging that they facilitated illegal mining during their tenure. The FIR against Krishna has hit the UPA, with the opposition upping the ante and demanding his resignation. The NDA is unlikely to spare Krishna. It needs to be noted that the BJP had to ask its chief minister to step down following the Lokayukta's strictures against him.
The Congress itself is in a bad shape. The cabinet ministers belonging to the Congress party are pulling in different directions. It is now clear that at least five Congress cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister, had opposed the decision on FDI. Besides, a number of Congress MPs had written to the Prime Minister and AICC president to review the decision of the FDI. A number of Congress MPs are also up in arms against the Congress party and their demand is that the group C employees must be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal. They have refused to toe the line of Abhishek Manu Singhvi, chairman of the Standing Committee, and given a note of dissent. The fact is that resentment is brewing in the Congress party.
The moral of the story is that the UPA government and the Congress party are in complete disarray and that anything can happen anytime. Both the UPA and the Congress have lost their credibility. It's Congress of corruption; it's UPA of corruption; they must be thrown out lock, stock and barrel. This is what the opposition parties and the suffering people of the country are saying about these formations, minus Trinamool Congress. |
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