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UPA affairs : Problems galore |
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The Congress, which unexpectedly came to power, heading the coalition United Progressive Alliance, has an important political agenda before it at the AICC session scheduled for August 21. Economic growth that keeps in mind the requirements of the common man is likely to be the focus of the government. The sharp rise in inflation as a result of poor monsoon in some parts of the country and heavy floods causing huge losses in other parts, is a major cause of worry. The activities and signs of defiance by some Congress Chief Ministers too are posing a headache for the ruling party. Punjab, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are problem states. While Punjab has got embroiled in a court case over the sharing of the river waters, Maharashtra’s Chief Minister has promised unrealistic free power to the farmers as an election sop. The Andhra Pradesh CM announced a 5 per cent job quota for the Muslims as a populist step, creating a backlash from the BJP-led Hindutva (Hindu activism) lobby.
The case of former Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren who finally surrendered in a Jharkhand court after evading police warrant for over a week, is now out of the way as he has resigned and will face legal proceedings. An arrest warrant against the Telengana Rashtra Samiti chief caused some panic, but was sorted out in time before it became an embarrassing issue. The furore over the “tainted” ministers has silenced for the time being Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.
On the positive side, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Left parties have agreed to formalise the working of the coordination committee. They appear keen on giving the impression that there was a commonality of approach and willingness to create the right environment for the smooth functioning of the Government. The purpose of the committee was to ensure that the UPA Government completed its full five-year term.
But the compulsions of coalition politics have been admitted in public by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The powerful Left combine has been accommodating on issues like FDI, but has shown its strong disapproval of the recent petrol and diesel price hike. The seven senior Congress leaders entrusted with drafting the political resolution for the August 21 AICC session are thus faced with an uphill task.
The party’s political resolution will need to reflect the concerns of governance and this new message has to be delivered to the Congress rank and file, for whom change in the party’s political fortunes came as a surprise.
The group headed by HRD minister Arjun Singh will take note of the major change in the political situation since the last AICC meeting in May, 2002 in the Capital. A year later, the party leadership met at Shimla to define its ideological moorings in the struggle against BJP’s Hindutva doctrine. The difference between then and now is that the Congress is heading a coalition government at the Centre. And, the party think-tank feels it is important to keep this in mind while drafting the resolution. “The aggression that comes naturally to a party in Opposition needs to be tempered when it is in power,” said a member of the sub-committee constituted by party president Sonia Gandhi. The problem is that the positions that the party took until recently have raised expectations among sectors like labour, minorities and the unemployed.
The Congress is fully aware of the problems in translating the pre-poll rhetoric to action that will satisfy the voters. In the coming months the role of Sonia Gandhi will be very important as she is considered a real leader of the UPA, not the Prime Minister. The Maharashtra assembly poll will show whether the Congress still retains the popularity that helped it to dethrone the BJP =led government at the Centre. The party is planning to involve Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul and possibly Priyanka in the election campaign. Promises of job generation and sops to minorities make good poll promises, but are quite difficult to implement.
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