SPECIAL FEATURE The grand old party of Indian politics, the Congress, is very much like the grand old car on Indian roads, the Ambassador. Both have become rickety and frayed at the edges yet both have an aversion to changing their model. Both are remnants of a protected era: the Congress reaped the benefits of its role in the Independence struggle and ruled without serious opposition while the Ambassador reaped maximum benefits of the licence-quota raj and a sheltered economy.
When a people artificially deprived of choice lapped up the Maruti and later hundreds of other vehicles that took to the roads, the Ambassador did not know what hit it.
Similarly, the Congress had no answer to the rise of caste and region based parties which sprung up as a result of its own divisive politics and lack of concern for such aspirations. When faced with crisis, the Ambassador lobbied to strengthen entry barriers for other car makers and the Congress imposed the hated Emergency.
They acted (as the myth goes) like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. Even if the myth is ignored and we take the fact that the ostrich puts its head in the hole to find out whether the eggs it put there are safe, both of them cared for the safety of the eggs without providing for better upbringing for what comes out of the egg.
The Ambassador introduced an Isuzu engine, bucket seats and power steering to give power and style to its vehicle; the Congress introduced MNREGA and Food Security Bill to add fuel to its policies. Both of them thought that running the work at hand was the main issue. But both forgot that aspirations had risen dramatically. Now, power and style need to be supplemented by good looks and substance.
The Ambassador did not factor in the issue of the omnipresent foreign television shows that aired images of classy vehicles or the Indian traveler going abroad and coming back to hate the dabba car. The Congress forgot that the educated youth did not want dole, they yearned for jobs and a modicum of self-respect.
Both have their die-hard fans who do not think beyond them. The Ambassador has loyal buyers among taxi operators who need to stuff seven to eight people in the car and make it profitable like a SUV at less than half the cost. The Congress attracts people who are benefitted by its various subsidy schemes. But in the end, the car is destroyed much before its normal life cycle in the first case and the country is looted and only a few benefit in the second case.
It is not for the people to think about the approaching extinction of the car, but since more than 35 percent still vote for the Congress, it must be debated how the party should reinvent itself to remain relevant in a youthful India. The biggest problem of the Congress is that it is still clinging to the archaic leftist notions of a complete welfare state. In this age of globalization, second generation economic reforms and a focus on growth should have been the major initiatives.
But the Congress has outlined a rights based approach to welfare, which sounds good on paper. But why do we have to give rights? Is it not the duty of the government to provide what the Congress is saying it will make a right? Having failed in its welfare attempts for the last ten years, the Congress has put out old wine in old bottle in its manifesto.
Since the Aadhar card has not really taken off, with the Supreme Court having said several times that it cannot be made mandatory for delivery of welfare schemes, an alternative technological mechanism has to be decided for delivering welfare schemes to the intended beneficiaries. The leakages have to be plugged in a foolproof manner if the public is to benefit.
There is widespread corruption in these schemes, including MGREGA. This point is best illustrated by narrating an Akbar- Birbal anecdote in reverse. Actually the story was about full taxes not reaching the treasury, but the reverse is also true. Once, Akbar asked Birbal why the people kept complaining that the Emperor was not doing anything for them, despite millions being sanctioned for welfare schemes. Birbal asked for the full court to assemble. Then he asked for a slab of ice to be brought.
He asked the ice slab to be taken from the Emperor, down to the several officials who handled the treasury and finally to the gate as if being given to the people. By the time the slab reached the gate, it was one-third in size of the original. Likewise, Birbal told the Emperor, your schemes also reaching the people in only one third of their intended amount. The same, or even worse, in happening in India today.
The second thing that the party should have looked at is cutting down the fiscal deficit which balloons every time it is in power. Populist schemes do not always result in vote or pro incumbency, as the party must be realizing this time. Instead they are a drain on the exchequer and restrict the government’s ability to spend where necessary.
It should have laid the emphasis on creating infrastructure and on judiciously utilizing the natural resources of the country. But on these, it has become so bogged down by the various corruption charges in housing, land acquisition, telecom and mining that it has gone into reverse gear. It has made land prices so high that they will become an inhibiting factor for new industrial units.
If the Congress wants to reinvent itself and looks ahead for 2019, it should follow the UK system of a shadow cabinet. This time it has lost out by not having a captain at the helm. But it should keep the next government (it is assumed that with the anti Congress wave, the Congress will not be able to form the government in 2014) on its toes by keeping shadow ministers trailing their every move.
It should have alternative policies in place. It should at least show the people that the last five years of policy paralysis and inaction are a thing of the past. It should show that it will be pro active while in opposition. Then, and only then, it can truly make a comeback.
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