Right time for Rahul

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his much-commented news conference last week, announced not only the candidature of the 42-year-old Rahul Gandhi, for succeeding him if UPA wins a third term this year.

He used the podium-it belongs to the government and not a party platform, but who cares for niceties when it's time to sing one's swansong in power-to give the Congress the defense arguments that it must scrape the bottom of the barrel for, as the general election advances. What is intriguing is his claim that he could finish 10 years in power "without any hiccups" in his relationship with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

The self-complacency displayed by the octogenarian in the autumn haze of his political career is sad as it shows that reputation in political life is elusive and is not guaranteed by personal integrity alone. If it were so, Singh would have had no compulsion to give himself a certificate. Besides, he may be honest personally, but his attitude to corruption is warped. In the 1990's, as Finance Minister under P. V. Narasimha Rao, he bagged all the applause for reform. But, when rogue trader Harshad Mehta looted banks, he attributed it to "systemic failure".

However, Rahul Gandhi, who seems certain to be Congress' contender for the PM post, will do well to take Manmohan Singh's diagnosis as well as prognosis of the Congress party's present malady with no more respect than it deserves. The man has little judgment he can claim to be his own. As Rao's Finance Minister, he used to wave his hand in the direction of the Congress office, and taunt it as Mughalia darbar. Later on, he became the prime darbari. Manmohan's self-analyses are hopelessly wrong and giving them more attentive audience than the prattle of a geriatric uncle may be a recipe for political hara-kiri.

Prattle 1: the inflation that has been buffeting India for four years is an imported disease. Fact: it is not so. Food prices have reached stratospheric heights because of a torrential outflow of cash in the name of welfare. The MNREGA spend may be just ` 30,000 crore annually, and rising, but it is creating a wage spiral in rural India to the extent of 2.5 times in agricultural wages in the past five years. Cloaked as welfare, it is the lure of rural votes the rural wealthy can mobilize that has led the government to constantly raise the Minimum Support Price of food. On the other hand, UPA has wasted ten long years, doing almost nothing to create a new generation of skilled workers. So, despite the industrial wages rising in China, a gilt-edged opportunity to make India the next global destination for manufacturing has gone for a toss. To a good measure, that accounts for inflation, failure to create jobs and decelerating growth.

Prattle 2: that innocence in graft charges is vindicated by electoral success, not through a proper trial. Apart from the fact that Manmohan Singh was taking a chance thinking that people might not remember that the charges concerning the various "gates" (2G, CWG, coal blocks distribution, Mumbai's Adarsh fraud) came after the 2009 election, not before, it also exposes the distorted thinking process of the respected economist. Rahul Gandhi has already shown that his sensitivities on the issue of integrity are much stronger than that of his elders. He must keep it up.

Prattle 3: Manmohan's innings is admirable because there was no "hiccup" between him and Sonia Gandhi. The fact is, there is no mention of the word "party" in the Constitution (except in a Schedule added in a later age to pre-empt defections), and therefore the designation "party president" is extra-constitutional and it is of no consequence if the prime minister hiccuped with the party president or kept his throat clear. Backseat driving of government is undemocratic, much like communist parties and BJP are undemocratic as they are run from party headquarters, or a chimera like RSS. Like his prime ministerial ancestors, Rahul must drive the government alone if he gets a chance.

But will he get a chance? Probably not, if he refrains from politely requesting the incumbent to leave South Block, maybe as early as the 17th next, when a high-powered meeting of Congress is due. The election this year has been turned by Narendra Modi into a personality battle, with practically no challenger in the ring. For a while, Congress thought that the AAP experiment of Arvind Kejriwal would be a 'killer app', splitting Modi's votes in all cities and, who knows, villages too. He is the new darling of the media and changed political discourse by his shrewd political moves. The AAP may turn out to be a pipe dream, especially after Kejriwal's vulnerabilities are now showing, like initially agreeing to have a two duplex house residence, and clinging on to the innovative car for his use, beside plain gassing in the name of being charitable with water and cutting power bills, in Delhi, where he sheepishly agreed to head the government with Congress support. In next elections, people will reason that a dog that craves for biscuit is unlikely to bark when the house is burgled.

It is time that Rahul takes control of government and party, and faces Modi head on as a man of ideas and authority, not just a sonny boy. In 2000, the CPI(M), which was still a party of strategic thinkers, felt the time for Jyoti Basu was over. The party showed him the door in October and brought in Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, an untried leader with reformist ideas. Four months later, the novelty factor alone gave the party ten more years in power. The fire-brand Mamata Banerjee had to cool her heels for a decade. May be Congress should take a lesson from Bengal.

It's time Rahul takes control

of government & party and

faces Modi head on as a

man of ideas and authority

(The author is the

National Editor of the

Lokmat group newspapers at Delhi)