Recent elections in U.P. and Punjab have ensured regional satraps dig in their heels firmly. This growing trend is bad news for the country since we are set to witness a reinforcement in the parliamentary elections.
An alliance begins with horse-trading and most regional parties walk away with a couple of plum ministries. Since the chieftain has to be based in the kingdom, an incompetent (and often inexperienced) stooge is typically placed in the capital. This leads to a serious compromise on administrative efficiency. A DMK is content with ministries like Telecom and Shipping so that coffers could be filled. Mulayam or a Jayalalitha will probably insist on an additional portfolio like Home given their extraordinary penchant to control the law and order machinery.
Given that anti-defection laws are restricted to parties and not alliances, a coalition breeds pockets of irresponsibility. So if a matter of national import runs at cross-purposes to regional interest, there is petulant stone-walling . This has been a significant contributor to the policy-making freeze that we are currently gripped by. The intra-coalition tug-of-war that such trade union tactics cause are beginning to hit at the root of the federal system. Mamata Banerjee has converted this into an art form and her subsequent electoral success will encourage many others to follow suit. This has serious consequences for industrial growth and expediting economic reform.
Regional leaders who are in the opposition in Parliament see a sporadic need to assert themselves as first-among-equals. They often tend to pick up irrelevant issues and rabble rouse them to a point of national distraction. Naveen Patnaik's passionate opposition to the proposed terrorism prevention structure is a classic example. Here is a CM who watched quietly as Naxals systematically took control of nearly half the state. There was no administrative or political will to curb the menace. But instead of setting his house in order, his advisers goaded him to pick an issue and create enough noise to position him as a "statesman" worthy of fighting a battle that went beyond state boundaries. Nitish Kumar does the same albeit with a more nuanced style. The Govt is left with no choice but to take two steps backward lest they create a 4th (or 5th) front.
One of the primary reasons for this phenomenon is the Congress' policy of weakening any strong local leader. In doing so, they have left the royal family intact but with a vastly eroded empire. The BJP on the other hand has created a structure with multiple state-leaders all of whom are consolidating their state bases impressively. But it has left them with nobody with national stature.
Unfortunately, no easy solutions come to mind. But amidst all the noise around the need to smell the coffee with the growing strength of regional parties, it is important to be concerned about the consequences. There are hardly any positive outcomes.
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2 comments:
Maybe the coffee smells of a change in the way voters want to give a mandate ??
If they vote a majority in the largest state - could it be that we get back a majority single mandate in the centre in 2014..or before..
What you have written is partially correct. Perhaps voters are also voting tactically, they are voting for regional parties in assembly election and for ational parties in parliament. We need to keep in mind that Congress had done reasonably well in 2009 election in states like Punjab, UP etc.
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