Election Commission of IndiaNAME OF THE NEWSPAPER THE PIONEERy-

J' -

Slash; burn and destroybefore ou're voted out

, DATE: <4 APR 2013

GAUTAM MUKHERJEE

rUinS, a~ !hey prepare io move away. Many of the regime'srecent decIsIons wIIHeave behind a mess -. ---.,-.-~~

.T~esha~eless UPAGovernment is fbI/owing the practiceof retreating armies, that turn the robust to

Watching the reck-less way inwhich theCongreSS-ledGovernment at

the Ce~tre is increasing welfareexpendIture while income fallslike a stone, one has to wonder atthe underlying strategy. After all,the Congress prides itself on

.understanding governance betterthan all others. It has had cumu-lative decades in power.

Right-wing economist SurjitBhalla wrote a scathing indict-ment, calling the "bPA'seconom-IC management "disastrous~ Thiswas.in a recent Op-ed piece in TheIn~lan Express, which he ends bysaymg that Ms Sonia Gandhi, whoruns not only the party, but defacto, the Government as well,mayhave ended up killing off the .12S-year old Congress with herrampant welfarism/socialism.

Meanwhile, the dreadful eco-nomic facts pouring out fromevery survey and analysis seem tobol~ter Mr Bha1la's prognosis.Busmess and industry has slowedto a near standstill, inflation inc1ud-~g food inflation is shooting up,mvestment has stopped, the stockmarket is sinking, the fiscal deficithas rocketed up to an all-time high,FOI has dried up, domesticdemand has fallen drastically;

:~;.~~;;e~:;:c:~ iachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi - 110001ed at least 20 er cent.

More relentless bad news isprojected by non-partisanobservers, both domestic and for-eign. Everyone is horrified by theprofligacy except the seniors in theGovernment who continue toassure the public that all is well and •going to get better.

But is there a method in thismadness? The UPA is hoping thatthe huge populism of the food Billand the homestead Bill on top ofall the subsidies and welfare pro-grammes running presently willbring back 2009.

Then. the corruption-riddenMGNREGA caper is supposed tohave delivered victory to them. Sowhat if it has cost the nation some~1,70,OOOcrore, with more thanhalf the amount - Mr Bhalla esti-mates it to be about $14 billion _Siphoned off? Besides, the pro-gramme is faltering, only a fifth ofthe total spent paid out to the recip-ient poor in wages. It is certainlynot a great success on the ground.But did it give Ms Gandhi UPA2?

So there is an attempt to pulloff an encore. But if the UPA isshown the door in 2014, theCongress-led Government maywant to ensure the economy will be

Election Commission of IndiaNAME OF THE NEWSPAPER THE PIONEER , DATE:so ruined, that the successorGovernment will not last either.This is particularly because of thepopulist compulsions of coalitionpolitics.The successor Government

J will inherit empty coffers, hugeindebtedness, promises to deliveron, and an all-round fiscal mess.

This is a classic scorchedearth policy, generally employedby retreating armies on themarch. It says, in electoral terms,'If I don't get back in, whoeverdoes will rue the ddy:

The BJP-Ied NDA, most like-ly to form the next Government,is going to face huge economicchallenges. Fortunately for theNDA, they are in power in anumber of key States. This willstabilise the aftermath to at leastsome extent.

In 2014, the real electoralbattle is between socialism's non-delivery and disastrous econom-ic performance under the UPA;and development economics, witha glorious track record in Gujarat,being promoted by the NDA. Ifthis is polarisation of economicapproaches, then so be it, and hightime too. The bleating aboutgrowth without jobs and inclusive-ness is fraudulent beyondthe rhetoric.

majoritarian grandstanding, needto be replaced by Mr Modi's devel-opment plank converted into a bat-tering ram. Development needs tobe targeted and applied like a balmin minority-heavy areas and else-where alike.

The Congress loves to call MrModi a polarising figure. But thefact is, Gujarat's growth has beenmost inclusive and more produc-1ive than in other places. This isbeginning to be acknowledged bykey Muslim groups in the statewho are coming out in open sup-port of Moditva.

Big, medium and smallBusiness and Industry are solidlybehind Mr Modi. And the BJPhave recently won even municipalelections in Muslim majority areas.

There is absolutely no truth inthe kind of paranoid scare-mon-gering being promoted by theCongress in order to cling to yes-terday. And law and order underthe UPA has sunk to an all-timelow while terrorism is running riot

Some people are questioningthe basic patriotism and integri-ty of various senior functionariesof the Congress and itsGovernment. The open lootingthat has replaced governance ina procession of scams rangingfrom the thievery allowed duringthe Commonwealth Games, themultiple defence scams, the 2GSpectrum scam, the food grainsscam, the water scam, the coalscam, et make ou wonder

"The current UPA allies are dis-

illusioned by the step-motherlytreatment meted out to them bythe Congress and are looking foralternatives. If the NDA makesthem comfortable they may wellswitch sides.

Some like Samajwadi Party'sMulayam Singh Yadav are notaverse to the BJP,while also hop-ing to form another Third Front.Will such a front have the num-bers? But who can argue with thebenefits that-will accrue from bigticket development?

With the advent of Gujarat'sChief Minister, Mr NarendraModi, into the parliamentaryboard of the BJP,it may be time forthe principal Opposition to drawin more allies into the NDA.

The Trinamool Congress maybe ripe, and the BJD too. Both theSP and the BSP could join up inprinciple, but only one can in prac-tice. Ditto the equation with theDMK and the AIADMK. Since MrModi enjoys a personal equationwith Ms Jayalalithaa, the AIADMKis more likely to sign on. State byState, Modi must reach out.

Divisive issues such as theUniform Civil Code, the abolitionof Article 370 in Kashmir,Hindutva, mandir and other

THE CONGRESS ISPRACTISING THE

POLITICS OFNOSTALGIA. IT IS

HANKERING AFTERA JINGOISTIC ANDANACHRONISTICTHROW-BACK TOITS GLORY DAYS

OF SINGLE-PARTYRULE THAT

BORDERED ONDICTATORSHIP

"whom this Government is actu-ally serving? What happen~ to thehigh command when this day-.light robbery is going on?

The UPAS nearly 10 years inpower finds both the country ~dthe ruling coalition in near rum.How it came to this pass with sup-posedly competent and .experi-enced people in the-Govemment,is quite a mystery.

The Congress speaks proud-ly of its 'glue', in the f~rI? of 0einviolate and peronistic highcommand, while sneering at theBJP's democratic 'infighting: Itonly goes to show what happenswhen the glue itself is clueless.

Put charitably, the Congressis practising the politics of nos-talgia. It is hankering after a jin-goistic and anachronistic throw- back to its glory days of sin-gle party ne~-dictatorship ~thappalling SOVIet-style SOCIalism.

It is now the job of today'selectorate to wake up to the pre-sent-day reality of aspirations, ofmodernity, of prosperity andgrowth, and sweep away the tiredpropagandists of empty promis-es and routine betrayal.

han Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi - 110001