POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, 17 November 2007

UPA In Tailspin

STUCK IN INDEFINITE LIMBO

By Poonam I Kaushish

It was a collision waiting to happen. Amidst the Congress-Left Parties continuing spat over the nuclear deal, the Congress’ doublespeak on Nandigram, the DMK’s derision of Lord Ram over Ram Setu, the RJD’s  raucous volley on rising prices, the NCP’s  stealthy subterfuge in Maharashtra and the BSP playing hardball. One thing emerges crystal clear: all is not well with the Congress-led UPA Government and, indeed, with the Congress itself. Any which way.

It remains to be seen whether there will be a mid-course correction? Or will it lead to an ignominious end of the coalition or yield to a new Front? Will the Left and other allies back-off as usual? Or, will the Congress have the last laugh?

The winter session of Parliament is still in its first week and the air is bristling with resentment. Reaching ludicrous proportions wherein it is difficult to distinguish between the Treasury and the Opposition Benches. Perhaps, it is too early to call it quits for the UPA Government. The alternate of a ‘communal’ BJP is too scary. What to say of the MPs mortal fear of losing power and pelf by going for early polls.

However, one thing is obvious. The tu-tu-mein-mein between the foes-turned-friends, going on from Day One of the UPA’s formation, has turned acerbic. The Congress, too, is fed up of backseat driving. But unlike in the past, the face-off over each and every issue is sure to widen the cracks drastically, which could well lead to a point of no return.

Specially, post the Assembly elections in UP wherein the Congress had to eat the humble pie while its bete noire, BJP, has formed the Government in Karnataka, its first in the South. The coming State polls in Gujarat and Himachal too hold no beacon for the party’s revival. A weak Congress is fodder for the allies who are busy extracting their pound of flesh. No matter the thunder and volley alongwith the show of strength (sic) at the AICC session in New Delhi last Saturday.

The signs are already there. The Congress response to the Nandigram violence over the setting up of a SEZ since March last exposes the dichotomy. Instead of slamming the CPM, the Congress ambivalence over the West Bengal Government’s brutal action exposes it as a Party in a no-man’s land. Shockingly, it refused to denounce Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s “moral and legal” justification of armed Left cadres “recapturing” the district from the farmers.

All it was willing to express was that “the violence is regrettable….it should not have happened…could not be condoned by any civilised society... law and order is a state subject, but the Centre has provided CRPF forces there and the Home Minister has assured that whatever is needed to be done will be done." Nothing more, nothing less. Never mind that the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priyaranjan Dasmunshi called it “state-sponsored massacre” and its State unit termed it a “genocide” and demanded imposition of President’s rule.

Worse, both the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveniently chose to ignore the State Governor Gopal Gandhi’s unprecedented indictment of the State Government in his letter to the Chief Minister wherein he stated, “The manner in which the recapture of Nandigram villages is being attempted is totally unlawful and unacceptable…Nandigram has become a war zone. No Government or society can allow a war zone to exist without immediate and effective action…Thousands of villagers have been intimidated into leaving their homes.

Ironically, the very same Congress continues to accuse Narendra Modi’s Government in Gujarat for the Godhra genocide. Arguably, are the Gujarat Muslims different from the Bengal Muslims, killed and gang raped in Nandigram? Whatever happened to upholding secularism?

The plight of the Grand Dame of Indian politics is understandable. By keeping the CPM in good humour, Sonia Gandhi ensures that the Government stays afloat. The Congress, with only 145 MPs in the Lok Sabha, is critically dependent on the support of 61 Left MPs Left and Co for its survival. But it has to grapple with the question of how much space should it cede to the Left. And it’s rippling effect on the other allies.

The Left has now allowed the Government to negotiate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). But with a rider: get back to us before operationalising the deal. Undoubtedly, backseat driving pays rich dividends with the CPM having its cake and eating it too. No matter it has pushed the country into suspended animation.

Moreover, in the event of the Left deciding to network the other allies on key policy issues like price rise, disinvestment, FDI, insurance, reforms, sale of PSUs, foreign policy etc. it could adversely affect Manmohan Singh’s governance agenda.. Worse, with ministers pulling in different directions, the Prime Minister has very little elbow room. Fire-fighting is fast becoming the signature tune of the UPA.

Adding to the Congress woes, all its allies have gone hammer and tongs against Finance Minister Chidambaram for ‘goofing up’ on the prices front. True inflation has come down, but consumer prices are on the upswing. Sonia’s staunchest ally, RJD’s Lalu Yadav castigated the Congress for ‘giving short shrift’ to the aam aadmi and the farmers. “Yeh GDP, FEP kya hai, aloo-pyaaz itna mehanga kyun hai?”

In Maharashtra, mistrust between the Congress and NCP has led to a tit-for-tat policy. Both are wary of each other and fought the panchayat and municipal polls separately early this year. With each party nursing grand ambitions of ruling the State independent of the other, the strain in this marriage of convenience is widening. Why NCP. Even the tiny Peasant sand Workers Party’s (PWP) ensured the defeat of the Congress in the zilla parishad poll.

Other allies too are upset with the Congress’ Big Brother attitude. If in Tamil Nadu, it is the ruling DMK, in Jammu & Kashmir it is Mufti’s PDP. In Chennai, Karunanidhi is shooting his mouth in all directions be it heaping scorn on Lord Ram or demanding the demolition of the Ram Setu, his flip-flop on the nuclear deal and the latest wanting a new federal Constitution!

The RJD’s Lalu and the BSP’s unreliable Mayawati too are there as long as it suits them. Mayawati has made no bones that she has her eyes on the Prime Ministership. Ditto is the case with Laloo. Till such time, they are busy extracting their pound of flesh to woo their vote-banks. See how the allies bludgeon the Government on increasing the subsidies and giving preference to the Muslims and other minorities. Exposing the fragile nature of the UPA.

Worse, the Congress’ own house is in disarray. The Congress is its own enemy. In Haryana, Himachal, UP, Gujarat and Maharashtra, senior party leaders have raised the banner of revolt. In Himachal an erstwhile Congressman was the raison de atre for the Party’s defeat in the recent by-poll to the Lok Sabha. And, things don’t look too rosy for the Assembly poll.   

In Maharashtra, the MLAs want a change of leadership. In UP, the party is in a comatose state without any sense of direction. Even Gandhi scion, Rahul, acknowledged this by stating candidly that the “challenge lay within.” In Gujarat, the Party has no “tall leader” to take on Modi. In Karnataka, Maharashtra Governor Krishna continues to play ducks and drakes with the State unit.

What next? Events have their own momentum. More so in the farcical nature of the Congress-UPA allies-Left ties and the inherent contradiction of being arch rivals in the State election arena. The allies have made plain their stand: Don’t take our support for granted. It remains to be seen how long the “tail will wag the dog”. The Congress needs to remember the wise adage: Power breeds arrogance and arrogance leads to defeat. Else, it should be prepared for the last tango. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)          

POLITICAL DIARY

NEW DELHI, 10 November 2007

Cracking Whip Inadequate

SACK CORRUPT MINISTERS

By Poonam I Kaushish

What is it that scares our ruling polity more than anything else? Having to declare their assets and liabilities. Specially when they love talking ad nauseam about honesty and cleansing the political cesspool. They even go blue in the face about belling the big fat cat of corruption with insatiable appetite. Go to any extent to proclaim their honesty and sincere endeavours. Yet when it comes to acting on their words, they feign ignorance and play dumb, even blind and deaf. Declaration of assets and liabilities, what’s that? 

So what if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has now issued his third diktat in three years, reminding his ministers of the ‘Code of Conduct’. This requires them to submit to him at the earliest details of their and their family assets and liabilities and business interests. Shockingly, despite a deadline of March 31 every year, his recalcitrant brood has not only missed three such deadlines (for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07) but also ignored his earlier two missives.

Look at the tragic dichotomy. We have today an honest Prime Minister who allegedly not only heads India’s most dishonest Government but even justifies it by arguing that there is no law or convention that bars tainted Ministers from holding office. Nevertheless, Manmohan Singh deserves to be complimented for showing much-needed guts to crack the whip through a reminder from the Cabinet Secretary on October 30. But if he still cannot get the Union Council of Ministers to declare their assets, what good is the whip and high-sounding lectures on honesty and transparency.

The moot point: what has the UPA Government done so far and is doing to combat the   spreading cancer of corruption? A big zilch, if its track record is anything to go by. In fact, like many earlier Governments, it has indulged in a surfeit of sickening, empty rhetoric and convenient amnesia. Whenever push has come to shove, it has fallen flat on its face.

One scandalous example out of many which exposes the Government’s so-called serious intent or, shall we say, indifference to corruption is its failure to appoint a long-needed Lok Pal, an appointment which has been hanging fire for over 30 long years. Yes, dear reader, the Lok Pal Bill has been awaiting Parliamentary approval since 1977. The measure was designed to go a long way in curbing corruption and making our netagan accountable. Alas, successive Governments of all hues and ideologies have been equally guilty of playing truant and fooling the people.  

The last one heard of it was three years ago. The Union Cabinet, presided over by Manmohan Singh, then took it up for consideration. But nothing came of it as the Cabinet was divided. A few favoured it. Most others sought tongue-in-cheek clarifications. Some simply trashed it as useless. The main stumbling block? Should the Prime Minister be included in its purview. Predictably, the draft Bill was referred to a Group of Ministers. And it remains there till date. Dumped and conveniently forgotten!

Early this year, amidst a slew of scandals, the Government once again talked about introducing a liberal dose of “Ethics in Governance”. The institution of the Lok Pal was suddenly rediscovered, when the Administrative Reforms Commission, headed by Veerappa Moily, senior Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister, pushed for  the eagerly awaited Rashtriya Lokayukta at the Centre and in the States but excluding the Prime Minister once again from its ambit. Notwithstanding Manmohan Singh’s view that the PM too should come under the scanner.

What troubles one is the new dimension to this age-old malaise. That it does not strike any chord among our leaders who have reduced graft to a farcical political pantomime. Nowadays, they conveniently wash their hands off corruption by calling it a “systemic failure.” Or cursorily dismiss it as one of the ‘unlisted’ perks of their jobs. No, they are not kidding. In plain English, they are damn serious.  

Most distressing is that there is no longer any sense of outrage or shame even when caught red handed. Corruption today is naked, unashamed, and brazen. Tragically, the downslide has been rapid. With every passing year and election, the barometer of corruption and immorality has steadily risen, wherein it no longer shocks or causes mass protests. Curse all to your hearts desire, but India’s majority has willy nilly come to lump it. Shrugged off as a price one has to pay for democracy.

Sadly, even an ongoing Gandhian Satyagraha, spearheaded by the Lok Sevak Sangh of the Servants of the People Society (founded by Lala Lajpat Rai and inaugurated by the Mahatma in 1921 at Lahore) at Raj Ghat since 19 August last against the failure of successive Governments to combat mounting corruption has left the polity unmoved. Not even the threat of indefinite fasts by satyagrahis aged between 70 and 90 years.

The satyagrahis have reason to protest and protest forcefully. Incredibly enough even letters to the Prime Minister over the past two years and more demanding eradication of political corruption and criminality failed to elicit any reply, leave alone  acknowledgement. What is more, their demands were not out of the blue. Many before them had suggested the same, time and again.

Briefly, they have been demanding immediate appointment of a Lok Pal with adequate powers. Secondly, disqualification of candidates with corrupt and criminal antecedents from contesting elections to Parliament and State Legislatures (as suggested by more than one Chief Election Commissioner). Lastly, forfeiture of illegally acquired property of public servants including Ministers, MPs and MLAs (suggested by the Law Commission of India).

Where does one go from here? How does one eradicate this scourge? There are many remedies if one is dead serious. For starters the Government could set up a Public Grievances Redressal System. Like the institution of Ombudsman, which is becoming a standard part of Government machinery the world over. Take Sweden. The Ombudsman functions as a watchdog over all public officials, including Ministers and has all the power to take action on a complaint. Denmark and New Zealand also offer appropriate models.

It could also look at several thought-provoking suggestions made by none less than the former Chief Vigilance Commissioner, N Vittal.  These include implementing the Benami Transaction Prohibition Act 1988 amending the Prevention of Money Laundering Bill to cover income tax, customs, excise and sales tax; enacting the Corrupt Public Servants (Forfeiture of Property) Act; amending the Income Tax Act on the principle of zero exemption.

The UPA and its leaders, especially Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chairman Sonia Gandhi, are clearly on test. With the next general election only 18 months away, and public anger growing by the day over spiraling prices and rising corruption, they need to watch out and get their act together. Their sincerity and credibility are on test as seldom before.  Are they serious about combating corruption or have they willy nilly surrendered shamelessly to horrendous corruption?

All in all, it is not enough for Manmohan Singh to issue fresh missives and crack the whip. He must follow it with ruthless action. Those colleagues who have amassed assets beyond their known means or do not file their returns must go, coalition or no coalition. Manmohan Singh needs to prove that he has the political will and courage to take tough decisions – and that he is not the “weakest Prime Minister” as repeatedly denounced by L K Advani.

Additionally, the Lok Pal Bill must be enacted soonest, preferably during Parliament’s winter session, beginning on Thursday, and the other two demands made by the Gandhian Satyagrahis conceded without further procrastination. The people at large are sick, damn sick of corruption and want the cleaning process to start from the top. They remember well the age-old saying: Yatha Raja, Tatha Praja. Else, the people will be justified in concluding that all talk of eradicating corruption by even a good man like Manmohan Singh is nothing more than shameless hypocrisy and a Himalayan humbug! ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)      

POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, 3 November 2007

Katnataka & Governor’s Role

PLAYING THE CENTRE’S CHAPRASI

By Poonam I Kaushish

Public life in India has hit a rotten disgusting low. Free India hasn’t seen or experienced anything like the goings-on of the past fortnight in Karnataka. And how developments there continue to deteriorate from bad to worse. Today, it is a stinking example of the murder of democratic morals and principles at high noon on a busy crossing! All to attain power and yet more power. And, at any cost. All else be damned!

Tragically, the continuing charade being played out in Bangalore and Delhi has once again brutally exposed two highly reprehensible facets of our rulers’ democratic temper. At the political level, governance is shamelessly all about cutting deals, side deals and underhand deals. At the Constitutional level, the Governor has been reduced to being the Centre’s chaprasi.

Think. From the “worst ever betrayal” by the conspiring father-son Gowda duo to becoming ‘bhai-bhai’ once again for the sake of power, both the BJP and Janata Dal (S) have come a long way. Brought about by the former Prime Minister and JD supremo Deve Gowda through a dramatic U turn after he came to know that the Congress was two-timing him --- by simultaneously talking to him and his party’s rebel leader Prakash. Faced with the prospect of a Congress-backed government, the BJP too did a U turn to join hands with the ‘betrayers’ again. Never mind, the continuing mistrust and the 12-point charter of demands set out by Deve Gowda.

What should one say of the Governor Rameshwar Thakur’s role? Suffice it to state that it has been over a week since the BJP-JD(S) coalition in the State paraded 129 MLAs, which is more than half of the 225-member Assembly, at Bangalore’s Raj Bhawan in the hope that he would revoke President's rule and swear-in a BJP-led coalition Government.

Nothing of the sort. Instead, of doing the Constitutional right thing of reviving the suspended State Assembly and asking the BJP-JD to prove their majority on the floor of the House, as opined by the Supreme Court in the landmark SR Bommai judgment, Thakur stated that he had to “consult the Centre.” Why? He had to take instructions from his mai-baaps in Delhi on what to do next. Just as his fellow Congressmen Governors Buta Singh and Syed Sibtey Razi had done two years ago in Bihar and Jharkhand. Forgetting, that they too had got a sharp rap from the Apex Court which led to Buta Singh’s ignominious exit.

Also, most oddly, thereafter Governor Thakur, sent a ‘statement of facts’ to New Delhi rather than ‘his report’ and recommendation. His reported contention that the BJP-JD(S) formation could lead to “horse-trading of the worst kind,” is as shocking as Buta Singh’s report based on “hearsay” read bazaar gossip. Not only that. He continues to wait for instructions from Delhi. No matter that the jo hukam darbari Thakur is crossing the lakshman rekha of constitutional propriety and violating all norms by his outrageous and unprecedented actions.

True, the Centre's brazen vacillation may have been influenced partially by Deve Gowda’s letter of 24 October to Thakur urging dissolution of the Assembly and calling for fresh elections. It could also be because of JD rebel Prakash’s factor or the JD’s new charter of demands to the BJP, which raises a big question mark over the stability of the coalition.

Either way it matters little. The issue is not whether Thakur invites the BJP-JD combine to form a Government or dissolves the Assembly for fresh polls. It is all about the role of the Governor, his qualifications and Constitutional obligations and duties. Or, should one say, politicization of this high Constitutional office. Questionably, are they the Centre’s chaprasis? Or, are they the keepers of the people’s faith as heads of their respective States?

All seem to have forgotten that the true function of the Governor is not just to represent the Centre but, as the Head of State, serve his people and fight their battle with the Centre and not vice versa. He has to bear in mind the overall national interest, not partisan party interests. He has to be in tune not with the party in power at the Centre, but with his own people.

The Constitution empowers him to influence the decisions of an elected Government by giving him the right “to be consulted, to warn and encourage”. His role is overwhelmingly that of a “friend, philosopher and guide” to his Council of Ministers with unrivalled discretionary powers. A lot more than those of the President.

As noted by the Sarkaria Commission and endorsed by the Supreme Court, the Governor’s role is that of “a Constitutional sentinel and that of vital link between the Union and the State… Being the holder of an independent Constitutional office, the Governor is not a subordinate or subservient agent of the Union Government.”

Tragically, however, successive governments at the Centre have successfully used, abused and debased this high office by reducing Governors to the position of the Centre’s chaprasis nee kathputlis, ever ready to destablise the ship of the State, if so desired by New Delhi. Most have no qualms of conscience in rubbishing it in personal or party interest, barring honourable examples such as Karnataka’s erstwhile Governor Dharam Vira, who refused to take orders even from Indira Gandhi!

Clearly, the office of the Governor has been unabashedly politicized over the past two decades. Times out of number, the Governor has acted as a pawn of his political masters. Overlooking the letter and spirit of the Constitution. But none has done what Thakur did: acted as a police inquisitor and openly asserted that he had to “consult” the Centre before making his recommendations

.

Thus the Governors today have become a convenient tool in the hands of the Centre to run Opposition-ruled States by proxy. By playing the I-spy game---petty politicking, gross interference and open partisanship at the Centre’s behest. Even using a minor law and order problem to impose Central rule on the State. Bluntly, make life hell for the Chief Minister and use him as a springboard for returning to active politics.

Alas, gone are the days of Nehru, who is now regrettably considered by many, including Congressmen, as obsolete on the ground that times have changed and his was another world! As India’s first Prime Minister, he laid emphasis on the integrity, merit and stature of the Governor. He said: “I think it would be infinitely better if he was not so intimately connected with local politics of the province or with the factions of the province.”

Nehru believed that it would be desirable to have as Governor’s “eminent people” who had not taken too great a part in politics. Remember, he handpicked Dr. Zakir Hussain, an eminent educationist, for the Governorship of Bihar and thereafter had him installed as India’s Vice President.

Sadly, his daughter Inidra Gandhi changed the rules of the game. Politicians close to her were rewarded with plum postings. She successfully used gubernatorial appointments as bait to get bureaucrats to do at her bidding. For the first time, even a former Chief Election Commissioner and retired intelligence and police officers came to occupy Raj Bhawans.

In fact, many of the appointments were so brazen that the Supreme Court was constrained to order in 1979: “The Governor’s office is not subordinate or subservient to the Government of India.  He is not amenable to the directions of the Government of India nor is he accountable to them for the manner in which he carries out his duties. This is an independent Constitutional office which is not subject to the control of the Government of India…”

Trust India’s self-serving polity to trash this to the dustbin of history. Be it the Congress, Janata Dal, United Front, NDA and, now the UPA. Sadly, over 60 per cent of the present Governors are active politicians or defeated and discredited netas and the rest ‘pliable’ retired bureaucrats, police officers and Army Generals. Today, the Governor largely functions as a lackey of the Centre, ever ready to destabilize the ship of the State.

All political parties lament the decline of the crucial institution of the Governor when out of office. Tragically, however, they merrily misuse and abuse the office for personal and party ends when in office, as did the NDA before the UPA. Not only does this generate bad blood between Lilliputian politicians but, in its wake, denigrates the Constitution and undermines India’s unity and integrity.

The harsh truth is that the office of the Governor is in shambles and is no longer playing its key role as envisaged by the founding fathers. It has to be revamped and restored to its old glory with assured tenures. It is the time to rise above politics and appoint neutral non-political Governors. As long as the Centre continues to play petty, partisan politics, India and its unity will be greatly hurt. The Governor must not be reduced to the level of a glorified chaprasi!  ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)                     

POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, 19 October 2007

Karunandhi Has Lost It

Polity Plays Football With Constitution

By Poonam I Kaushish

India’s top leaders seem to have developed an uncanny knack of making confusion worse confounded. First we had Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh bombarding us about the great benefits of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Then we were suddenly lectured on the coalition dharma and how the survival of the Government was more important than the ‘nuclear’ good of the country. Now we have the DMK supremo Karunanidhi shooting his mouth off on the Constitution. Leaving one wondering whether he should at all be taken seriously.

On Monday last, the octogarian Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu asserted out of the blue: “Our Constitution has been changed many times…We need a new Constitution in the era of coalitions…The country should look towards a federal form of government in the true sense….. What should be done is that all shortcomings of the Constitution should be addressed in one sitting. That is what I feel.”

Clearly, Karunanidhi seems to have gone senile and lost it, as some of his leading critics are saying. There are no other words to describe this ridiculous and asinine suggestion. Which sensible, mature and responsible leader would speak in such a highly immature and irresponsible manner on the Constitution which is the bedrock of our parliamentary democracy? And demand that India should get a new Constitution in one sitting! Never before has anyone heard something so stupid and shocking.

Is the Constitution a football which can be kicked around here, there and anywhere? And, pray, by whom? Our self-serving and opportunistic polity? Can it be mindlessly dumped, if it does not fit into our rulers’ scheme of things? Or, rewritten, reconsidered and amended yet again? Why? Just because the Constitution does not fit into Karunanidhi’s latest agenda? Or just because he has mastered the art of blackmailing and arm-twisting his UPA allies to get his way even at the cost of the country.

What “federal structure” is he talking about? Does he know that the word “federal” does not occur anywhere in the Constitution? Does he know that India is a Union of States and an amendment changing it to a “federation of States” was promptly rejected by the Constituent Assembly. India’s founding fathers, unlike Karunanidhi, had but one concern: how to ensure the country’s unity?

Look at the ludicrousness of his suggestion. “It would take one sitting of a Constituent Assembly.” Really? Does the DMK supremo have a clue abut what it means to frame a Constitution? That India’s Constitution took over five years to frame and that too when it had the benefit of the advice of top constitutional experts. Who racked their brain and spent minutes, hours and days debating on where even a comma should be placed in a particular clause, leave alone the Article itself. Placement of a mere comma can change the entire meaning and emphasis of what is sought to be done.

Moreover, Karunanidhi has forgotten that the erstwhile BJP-led NDA Government had set up a 11-member National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution headed by former Chief Justice of India Venkatachaliah in 2000. Does he remember that he and his DMK were part and parcel of the Vajpayee Government? And that the Union Cabinet, which included DMK Ministers, had also considered its voluminous 1976 pages report, in two volumes, containing 249 recommendations.

The Justice Venkatachaliah Commission could not have been weightier. Others included the then Law Commission Chairman B.P. Jeevan Reddy, Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee, former Supreme Court Judge who headed a Commission on Centre-State relations R.S. Sarkaria, former Attorney-General K. Parasaran, former Speaker of the Lok Sabha P.A. Sangma, former Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap and former Ambassador to the United States Abid Hussain.

The objective of the exercise was to ensure that the tenets of democracy --- government of the people, by the people and for the people --- were practiced in letter and in spirit. Encompassing stable governments both at the Centre and in the States, improving the quality of our netagan, ensuring that the Executive was strong, capable and willing to resolve major problems, and, most important, to establish the Rule of Law and usher in transparency and accountability.

The Commission made many good recommendations. It wanted the Fundamental Rights to be enlarged to include the freedom of the Press, the right to elementary education, the right to privacy and the right against torture. The right to religious freedom was made “non-suspendable.” It favoured greater decentralization in Centre-State relations and recommended minimum use of Article 356. It also mooted the setting up of a National Judicial Commission to oversee the conduct of  judges.

Importantly, it advocated that the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister be directly elected by the Lok Sabha and the Assembly to obviate the need to test majorities in the Rashtrapati Bhawan or in a Raj Bhawan and combat horsetrading. It also mooted changes in laws governing elections and political parties. It wanted that only candidates who secured 50 per cent plus one vote of the popular mandate should stand elected. If necessary, another poll should be held between the first two.

Tragically, the Commission’s recommendations were never brought before Parliament and were consigned to the dustbin of history. What the NDA and Vajpayee needed to do was to convene a special session of both Houses of Parliament, akin to a full-fledged Constituent Assembly to debate and dissect the Commission’s report. Following which, the recommendations should have been thrown for a national debate, involving legal luminaries and thinking public. Crib all one might but sadly, the same fate was meted out to the Sarkaria Committee report on Centre-State Relations by the then Congress regime. It too was dumped.

Now adding insult to injury, the Congress-led UPA Government, comprising again the DMK, set up in May last yet another Commission to review the entire gamut of Centre-State relations. The three-member panel is headed by former Chief Justice of India MM Punchhi. No matter that the Sarkaria Commission had undertaken the same exercise two decades ago.

This new Commission will not only examine and review the existing arrangements between the Union and the States but also go into a highly controversial areas: (i) the role, responsibility and jurisdiction of the Centre vis-à-vis States during major and prolonged outbreaks of communal and caste violence. (ii) setting up a Central Law Enforcement Agency to take up suo moto investigation of serious crimes that have serious inter-state/ international national security implications.

That apart, Karunanidhi has gone wholly wrong when he advocates that the Constitution should provide for a “true federal form.” He needs to remember some basics facts. India is an independent sovereign republic and a Union of States, not a federal republic like Germany or a federal state like the USA. The Constituent Assembly rejected a motion seeking to designate India as a “Federation of States”. The reason? The Indian Union is indestructible but not its constituent states; their identity can be altered and even obliterated. This is a crucial departure from a classical federal feature.

India’s largely uninformed leaders, including Karunanidhi and Union Ministers, do not seem to understand a basic difference between a classical federal set-up and one that is not. The word “federal” implies a polity in which sovereign independent states voluntarily surrender a defined part of their sovereignty to forge a federation for larger collective good, even as they retain control over their own affairs and their political identity and integrity through a perpetual covenant. Moreover, the constituent states often retain constitution-making rights of their own.

This is simply not the case with India, which was one whole under the British Raj. True, there were 500 and more princely states. But, as we all know, they were indirectly ruled by the British under the overall umbrella of paramountcy. Thus, what we witnessed in India was not a case of sovereign states coming together to form a federation. But just the obverse. We were one country, the Union of India, dividing its vast territory into provinces, redesignated as states.

All in all, we must stop talking mindlessly of a new Constitution and India as a federal polity and federalism. The next time Karunanidhi chooses to shoot his mouth, he would be well advised to heed the Father of the Constitution Ambedkar’s pertinent observation: “A good Constitution in the hands of bad people becomes a bad Constitution. A bad Constitution in the hands of good people becomes a good Constitution.” Much ultimately depends upon how “We the People”, who gave ourselves the Constitution, choose to work it. ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)