22ND JULY 2008, A WATERSHED DAY FOR INDIAN DEMOCRACY

The 22nd of July 2008 will be remembered as a day of turning point for Indian parliament democracy.

The UPA Government led by Mr. Manmohan Singh sought the vote of confidence in the parliament after the left parties withdrew the support on account of the Indian Government proceeding with the nuclear deal with the United State of America. Politics makes strange bedfellows and with the help of Samajwadi party, the Congress led government won the vote of confidence with 275 votes coming in their favour as against 256 votes polled by the opposition, which include BJP, NPA allies and the left parties (again strange bedfellows, the BJP & the Left!). About 10 MPs abstained from voting, a majority of those came from the opposition parties.

For the last two weeks, the media was agog with the horse-trading that was happening in New Delhi, the capital of India. The rate quoted for each Member of Parliament (MP) went up to the extent of INR 250 million. Every party (not the congress party alone, it includes Samajwadi party, BSP, Left parties ...all) had tried its luck to buy the MPs. The total number of parties in Loksabha including the eeni meeni local parties (having single MP!) comes closer to 50.

Yesterday was indeed a day of shame for the Parliament and the Indian democracy because of the dirty act that happened in the afternoon. Three MPs belonging to the Bhartiay Janta Party smuggled in a briefcase containing INR 10 million brandishing it as the bribe received from the Secretary General of Samajwadi party, Sri. Amar Singh, for cross voting or abstaining. Whether there is truth in it or whether it is trick played by the BJP to malign Congress Party and the PM Mr. Manmohan Singh, one does not know. But suffice to say that 22nd of July 2008 will be written in the annals of Indian parliamentary democracy as the black day.

The Congress had won the trust motion with more votes than it expected (the expectation was 272 votes, Congress got 3 more). The margin was 19 votes and it really looked pretty good for the party. With the help of the rule that the speaker will not admit another non confidence motion for the coming 6 months, may be, Manmohan Singh could take up the courage to complete all those pending decisions that he did not take due to the pressure from the left parties in the past. One does not know how long will Manmohan Singh will want to rule before dissolving the parliament. It looks like it is really not an appropriate time. Developments in the coming months in the polity will decide the election dates for Indian Loksabha.

With this, Manmohan Singh had indeed emerged stronger. From a bureaucrat to the Finance Minister and then to the Prime Minister, every body called him a lucky person. But now he had really become a politician. His speech in the parliament (not made fully, it is available in PM’s website) is an indication of it. He spared no words to malign the opposition leader L K Advani and Prakash Karat, the Gen Secretary of CPI(M). Let us hope that now he can take decisions without pressure (of course, Sonia is there!). For a man who wrote India’s turnaround story in 1991, it is the ideal time to take the country from strength to strength. While people admire him, all that he lacks is grass root support within the party and probably it is time for him to work towards that.

At this rate, one is not sure if Mr. L K Advani will get an opportunity to lead the country. For a person in politics for close to 6 decades, PM-ship is the only thing that eludes Advani. The saying that you cannot get everything you wish, is quite apt here. Here is best wishes to him!

There is yet another person who will have to work hard and do a lot of explanation and that is Prakasah Karat. It is his steadfast tough stand that precipitated matters and led the situation to this extent. One is not sure if Harkishen Surjit was the General Secretary of the party, things would come to this pass. Karat is not flexible and inflexibility is a bane for a politician. The Bengal gang led by Jyoti Basu, Somnath Chatterji and others will haunt him for sure. He is definitely not on a strong wicket and has to play his cards very carefully for consolidating his position in the party and among the left front constituents.

It also looks like Congress party had finally found a partner more appropriate than the Left front and the BSP. Amar Sigh of Samajwadi is a perfect foil to the Congress veterans. His shrewd game planning will do the Congress a world of good. Though one is not sure how much will it cost the Congress to keep him.

One also hopes that that the ding dong parties having one MP, two MPs will get wiped away by the electorate in the coming elections enabling the ugly horse trading practices to come to an end and also for the smooth forward movement of democracy in India. The Ajit Singhs and Deva Gowdas must see the writing on wall and retire gracefully from politics or align with larger parties after throwing their ego in the dustbin.

Having watched the parliamentary proceedings for some time yesterday, I must admit that the quality of debate in it was above average. One enjoyed the speech by Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdulla. Lalu Yadav, as usual was in his elements (all said and done, one must say hat’s off to this guy for his ability to lighten up any tough and difficult situation)

How is it going benefit the India? Nothing in short term. In fact, inflation still is galloping to reach 12 mark and beyond. Cost of living indeed is getting hotter every day. There is no immediate respite in store. On long term, the aftermath of the agreement delivers energy security to the growing country and probably that should help the growth faster and easier.

Though we are the largest democracy in the world, this free for all democracy style must come to cease. It is time India matures as a strong democracy.

Here is hoping for a better and stronger India, both economically and politically