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Congress : ‘Garibi Hatao’ resurrected to regain lost vote bank

	October 09, 2006

Facing the twin spectre of price rise and farmers’ suicides, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government has decided to resurrect the three-decade old late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Garibi Hatao slogan, ahead of Assembly elections in key states like Uttar Pradesh. The Garibi Hatao slogan had helped Indira Gandhi to sweep the 1971 general elections.



On Thursday, Oct. 5, a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the restructuring of the 20-point programme initiated by Indira Gandhi in 1975 to make it relevant to the 21st century with reference to economic reforms, liberalisation and globalisation of the Indian economy. While doing so, the sanskratised Garibi Unmoolan (poverty alleviation) was replaced by Garibi Hatao (eradicate poverty) with the objective of conveying more directly the message that the Government is committed to the interests of the common man.



Information and Broadcasting Minister P.R. Dasmunshi said the Garibi Hatao call would reflect the content and objectives of the government’s anti-poverty programmes better.



The changes in the TPP (Twenty Point Programme) will come into force from April next year, almost coinciding with the election campaigns in Punjab, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh.



Dasmunshi said the repackaged 20-point programme would make a difference. The new TPP is a mix of social sector schemes and initiatives whose implementation will be closely monitored to ensure that the benefits reach the targeted sections.



Observers say that the timing of the revival of the Garibi Hatao slogan is significant. The Manmohan Singh Government has almost reached the midway point of its five year normal tenure and crucial Assembly elections are due next year in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab, Gujarat and Manipur. Three more states - Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi will have Assembly elections in 2008, followed by the Lok Sabha polls in 2009.



Congress sources said the decision to put in place a restructured 20-point programme emanated from the recent Nainital conclave of the party. The general feeling at the conclave was that the Centre was seen to have become ‘farmer unfriendly’ with policies like special economic zones about which Congress president Sonia Gandhi herself expressed concern. Coupled with this, the rash of farmers’ suicides caused intense worry to the party leadership.







Plan to offset anti-incumbency factor



The Congress hopes to offset the gathering anti-incumbency mood by training the spotlight sharply on, among other things, ways and means to improve the plight of farmers and to check the perceived terrorism-related insecurity among Muslims. As the incumbent Congress governments, both at the state and Central levels, enter the critical phase of their tenure, both the Congress president and the Prime Minister asked their 14 Chief Ministers to start “delivering the goods” as they are the frontline implementers of government and party programmes.



Sonia Gandhi stressed the “overriding priority” of the farm sector for Congress-ruled state governments, which has a bearing on the lives of a vast majority of people. Rattled by the continuing agrarian crisis and rural distress ~ manifested in a spate of debt-ridden farmers’ suicides in different parts of the country, the two top Congress leaders have been repeatedly reaffirming their pledge to arrest such trends and fashion a “new deal” for rural India.



Making a policy declaration on the conflict between Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and the agriculture sector, Sonia Gandhi also sought to take the initiative away from the Left parties on the controversial issue at Nainital. Against the backdrop of growing unrest among SEZ-affected farmers across the country, she made it clear that the establishment of SEZs should not be at the expense of their interests, even as she argued against diversion of prime agricultural land for such projects.



In the coming sequence of Assembly elections, the Congress will be facing the “anti-incumbency” factor engendered by both state and Central governments. Sonia Gandhi recently noted that Congress governments in the states will have to work “doubly hard” as, in the absence of a “national issue”, the 2009 Lok Sabha poll is likely to be determined by the electoral outcome of state polls.



Another issue that concerns the Congress is internal security in the backdrop of regular strikes by terrorists and Naxalites. The manner in which governments, especially at the state-level, handle the issue will have a significant electoral impact. Both the Congress chief and the PM were, therefore, quick to emphasise a tough counter-terrorism approach, but also made the point that the exercise should not lead to “targeting” of Muslims.





PM confident of consensus on financial sector reforms



Side by side with the emphasis on eradicating poverty, the Government is trying to forge a consensus on economic reforms. Speaking to media-persons during his recent overseas tour, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conceded that the consensus needed to take the next step in economic reforms was not there, even though the economy was in good shape and will continue to be in good shape. He spelt out the rationale for the next qualitative step in economic reforms, especially opening up of the Banking and Insurance sectors. Dr. Manmohan Singh said, “We need large amounts of investment, as large as 150-200 billion US dollars in the next seven or eight years in our infrastructure.”



According to the Prime Minister, the need was to create “a strong debt market and this strong debt market can come only when pension fund activity gets a boost, the insurance industry gets a boost.” But these reforms remained blocked “because we do not have a consensus in our coalition.”



On the Special Economic Zone issue, he insisted that SEZs “have come to stay” but that these would have to be operated in a manner as to address the concerns that have come to the fore. He said, this was the way things happened in a democracy.



Dr. Manmohan Singh suggested that the growth process had to be “inclusive” and that “our programmes for social services, social development and education, health, and rural development” needed to be strengthened. And yet, “we have to create an environment where business and industry can move forward.





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Congress Youth leaders to play shadow Ministers



From next month, national office bearers of the Indian Youth Congress will be required to upgrade their intellect to survive in the party. As part of a new training programme, youth leaders will be ‘shadow’ Ministers each attached to a Union Minister. They will be required to read a book every two months and familiarise themselves with the texts of major religions.



The mechanism of ‘shadow’ cabinet is usually meant for Opposition parties, deputing members to be constantly on the heels of ministers. The Congress, however, will get its ministers to train the youth attached to them. IYC leaders say the mechanism will equip them to fight political opponents as well.



The AICC has directed all IYC leaders to read at least one book every two months. Each one will have to make a short presentation of the book read at the meeting of the national executive - as a test and for exchange of ideas.



To be sensitive to all faiths, IYC office bearers are being presented with a copy each of the Bible, Bhagvad Gita, Koran and the Guru Granth Sahib.



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Foreign Secretary briefs Left and BJP



In an unusual move and a departure from convention, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon met leaders of the Left and the BJP separately for wide-ranging consultations last week. Observers say that while Foreign Office top officials do maintain contact with political leaders, it is usually over the telephone. Menon made an exception by visiting both senior BJP leader L.K. Advani and CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury.



The meeting with Sitaram Yechury was not at the Left’s initiative, but reportedly part of the Government’s effort to keep the Left in the loop on key issues.



Reports say that Menon heard out Sitaram Yechury on foreign policy for nearly an hour.



The Left leader conveyed to him his party’s views on the “entire gamut” of foreign policy, ranging from the Indo-US nuclear deal to Nepal. The CPI-M is known for its “different” perceptions of the subject.



Yechury said Menon had come as a Foreign Secretary, but he was an “old friend” too. There was no agenda for the meeting and Menon could be talking to leaders of other parties as well, the CPI-M leader said.



Yechury told the Foreign Secretary that unveiling of evidence of Pakistan’s complicity in Mumbai’s train blasts meant that the time had come for testing the joint mechanism that the two countries had agreed to set up.



Yechury said, India could tell Pakistan about the phone calls and Pakistan could confirm whether the calls had indeed been made from the country. “It was time for Pakistan to show its sincerity,” he said, adding, the Interpol could be roped in as well.



The CPI-M leader said his party had made it clear that the Indo-US deal on nuclear energy must not affect the “independence” of India’s foreign policy, and that the country’s sovereignty was not compromised in any way.



Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had allayed the apprehensions of his party, Yechury said, and that “no deal violating the assurances” would be now acceptable to the CPI-M.



On Nepal, Yechury said he had told the Foreign Secretary that the matter of Maoists joining the national mainstream could be decided either by the constituent assembly or through a referendum. On the laying down of arms by the Maoists, the party’s suggestion was they could form an armed force like India’s CRPF.







In a couple of days, Yechury is to visit China with a party delegation.



Menon is a former Ambassador to Beijing. During former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to China, when both countries agreed on appointing special representatives to address the complex boundary issue from a political perspective, Menon was closely involved in the difficult diplomatic exercise.



The Left parties have been critical of what they call “selective discrimination” by the Indian government against Chinese companies that has barred them from winning infrastructure projects on security considerations.



This could be a source of embarrassment, given that Chinese President Hu Jintao will be visiting India in November. It is against this backdrop that Menon discussed India-China relations with the CPI(M) leader.