Quoting MJ AKbar -- " The Chidambaram diet can be summarised: revive manufacturing, boost exports, contain deficit, increase capital expenditure in public sector units, resolve coal supply “issues”, end environment hurdles, and make land available more easily to industry. So why did Chidambaram not do any of this in July and August 2012? Ninety per cent are administrative decisions, not legislative; they do not need cooperation from the Opposition. If coal famine is killing power production, it is because of corruption. If the deficit is out of control, it is because of UPA’s spending. The environment minister sits in the same Cabinet room as the FM and PM; what prevents them from solving a problem? The BJP does not determine capitalisation in PSUs. Nor can any opposition check inflation, which has gouged and maimed every family budget. There is a simple truth staring at us. The UPA’s agenda is over, and its will is exhausted. It has no answers, beyond blaming the Opposition on the one side and the President of India on the other. While the first is normal, the second is startling. A government does not determine who sits in the Opposition, but it does choose a stalwart for President. The crisis has moved far beyond the rupee or GDP statistics; this is becoming a crisis of the republic. Every election has a theme. 1952 established new horizons; 1957 welcomed hope; 1962 opened up a question mark; 1967 was the angry answer. 1971 saw a sudden leap of faith; in 1977 came the rage of faith forsaken. 1980 was punishment time for non-Congress parties, for their betrayal. 1984 affirmed nationalism, and 1989 indicated that corruption was a non-negotiable liability. In the Nineties the political gains of economic revival were destroyed by the politics of identity. In a unique variation, optimism became a common strand between two antagonist governments in the 21st century’s first decade. The wheel has slipped back into a quagmire of despair. Voters live through five years of meek reality to vote, on one day, for redemption and resurrection. He who mobilises hope, wins."
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 05:29:02 +0000
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