Politics Of The Old

The government has been finally formed and the portfolios are in place. Interested media channels had been openly pushing for specific individuals, and the excitement of the celeb-anchors was visible as they screamed their way through the days, almost insisting that their favourites be accommodated in key ministries. A guest at one of the entertainment shows that pass for news these days had an interesting fix to the new council of ministers. ‘Sycophancy has been replaced by loyalty’, the guest said and was joined by the anchor in pointing out that ‘sycophants’ like Arjun Singh (thought his problem was hardly that, in fact quite the opposite) and Shivraj Patil had been eased out as the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty preferred straight loyalty instead. That, they had been replaced by Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal and a host of others was of course not a fact that was pointed out.

So what are some of the obvious signals from the new council of ministers? They are: Loyalty, call it sycophancy, servility, whatever, pays.

Merit is incidental. Dynasty pays. Most of the young MPs who have made it as ministers are sons and daughters of influential politicians. Self-made first term MPs have not been included in the charmed list.

Castes have been accommodated but not religions and gender. Women ministers total nine out of the 79, Muslims and Christians follow in single digit numbers. Brahmins dominate, being English speaking and elite.

The council of ministers actually reflects the politics of the Congress at the national level. One, the consultations have established prime minister Manmohan Singh as a ‘leader’ who has the trust and confidence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her family. In fact, unlike the last time when the UPA came to power. Singh has been part of decision-making and has had a major say in the composition of the council of ministers. It is clear that he has decided to continue with the economic, defence and foreign policies pursued by his government earlier, and this time without the checks imposed by the Left. The first statements of the major ministers — Chidambaram, Antony and Krishna indicate that continuity will be the hallmark of this government with change represented by the new emphasis that some believe the Congress will give to hitherto unimportant ministries (like surface transport and rural development).

Two, the Congress has made it clear it is the boss and will consider demands from the allies only if it suits its political plans. So while DMK chief Karunanidhi had to fight for ministerial posts, it was a virtual walkover for Mamata Banerjee who is an important ally considering that two years later West Bengal will be going to the polls. It is no secret that the Congress is not particularly fond of the Left, and can suffer it only if Prakash Karat is removed as the general secretary. As Congress leaders are very fond of telling scribes, they can do business with Sitaram Yechury but not Karat who does not mince words and says the truth as it is.

Three, while the Congress has no choice but to tolerate Sharad Pawar and the Nationalist Congress Party because Maharashtra goes to the polls later this year, it is not willing to allow NCP the run of the field. So while Sharad Pawar has been given exactly what the NCP had in the council of ministers last time — one Cabinet and one minister of state post — his clout in Maharashtra is now going to be shared by heavy Congress weights from the state, including Pawar’s archrival, former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Given that the Congress got more Lok Sabha seats than the NCP, it stands to reason that it will demand the lion’s share of assembly constituencies and will not play second fiddle to the NCP on any front.

Four, the Congress wants to build the party in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and showed no hesitation in dropping former allies like Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan and Mulayam Singh to facilitate this. It now does not have alliance partners in these two crucial states, and is optimistic that it can build on its performance in Uttar Pradesh by playing what its leaders have already announced, non-caste and non-religious politics. The decision of the Muslims to vote for Congress candidates in several constituencies in UP has enthused the workers, and Rahul Gandhi has announced that he will spend his time building and strengthening the organisation.

Five, internal politics is reflected through the individuals accommodated. Ghulam Nabi Azad versus Farooq Abdullah from Kashmir, Ajay Maken versus Sheila Dikshit — in fact the two have crossed swords already over Delhi police and whose turf this is or should be.

The council of ministers seems to be without a central theme and has emerged as a large, amorphous group — very much like the Congress party — committed to growth and reform. The motley group is drawn from all sides — to please regional bosses, to silence powerful factions within the party, to pit leaders against leaders, to ensure that no one gets too strong or independent within the party, to represent castes (in some instances not all) and regions that the leadership sees as important, and then use the supposed prowess of the prime minister to make sense from the whole. The challenges before the government are staggering. In foreign policy terms, the neighbourhood is in turmoil since the election process began. The Maoists have lost the government in Nepal and blame India for working against them; Sri Lanka has mowed down the LTTE and will now be grappling with the aftermath that is not going to be peaceful, to say the least; and of course Pakistan is in the midst of a war that India can no longer continue to ignore, simply because the US and the international community will not allow it to. Expectations are high, raised by the Congress itself, and it now remains to be seen what the next 100 days have on offer.