It was a Budget that caught the critics of the UPA as well as the Opposition in Parliament unprepared and, therefore, a trifle irritated that there really was nothing much at first glance that could have demanded a vociferous attack.
All political parties have similar agendas in a country like India, where disparities are a real issue and where 60 years of independence from colonial rule have not brought dignity to the majority. What differentiates parties from one another and forces polarised positions, often reactionary, is the intolerance and misuse of ?faith? and belief for temporary electoral gain, which only compels divisive politics, resulting in social fragmentation leading to anarchy and volatile unrest.
The BJP, NCP and the Left suddenly leapt up to grab attention by emphatically usurping individual announcements and concessions that suited them because they stemmed from decisions that included the usually neglected and forgotten, large sections of our polity. The NCP and Sharad Pawar claimed it was his personal initiative that brought about the farmers? loan waiver, as did the CPM. When the BJP found itself silenced, it picked the most ridiculous argument?the allocation made for minorities! The entire debate on those first few days verged on farce. No one asked details about the loan scheme, as one simple example. There are many more such questions that need to be addressed and correctives brought into play.
The piece de resistance was the typically gentle, but this time round forthright and firm speech made by Dr Manmohan Singh in the House. There was no ambiguity in his words or manner, no hesitation in the body language, and the tenor suggested that the Prime Minister and his party had had enough of political bullying and blackmail meted out by coalition partners and political colleagues. The time had come to do what needed to be done. If resisted, then the time had come to quit and go to the people. He may well have called the bluff of his coalition colleagues, but if has not, he has certainly made political parties sit up and possibly rethink strategies.
Yet, once again, the top leadership of the Congress must be wary of the enemy within its sanctorum. The ?traitors? within have been in cahoots with those in search of a third front, plotting, planning and hoping to create new and different power centres as they sabotage the leadership with false speak, misinformation and devious manipulation. But, being sub-standard ?bullies?, they have been slightly jolted by this ?performance?, believing that it is probably an aberration and not a change of political direction. All I can say here is that hopefully, this time, they will be proven wrong.
When NCP leaders try to alienate farmers and voters in Vidarbha, which happens to remain a Congress pocket borough, loyal also to the Gandhi family for decades, the sense of a possible breakaway before the general election begins to become apparent. The veil is coming off Sharad Pawar?s transparent ambition to seize power in Delhi. This is why we have witnessed, over the last two years, a wavering of positions, a deferring of decisions, an inability to stand by professed ideology and beliefs, and a backtracking under political pressure. This is what makes secondary leaders flex their muscles in an attempt to stage a ?takeover?.
If the ruling Congress party misses the momentum and last opportunity before general elections, yet again, and buckles under high-pitched rhetoric and superficial political bashing and blackmail, it will be truly shameful and an unforgivable letdown for all those who would want an inclusive political dispensation at the Centre that represents the social plurality and cultural-linguistic diversity of the country.
The Congress needs to reach out, adopt a new avatar, rid itself of the schemers huddled at 24, Akbar Road, engage with Indian citizens and reinvent itself to fulfill the needs and aspirations of this millennium.
