The madwoman is on a rampage
again. Ever since last night’s announcement of increasing of FDI to
49% in insurance, and a possible corresponding raise in the FDI cap in pension,
she has gone on a complete rampage, egged on and supported by such massive well
wishers of the “common man” as BJP.
It is pertinent to remember at
this point that the BJP, in its avatar as the NDA government, was the most avid
and vocal advocate of financial reforms and FDI, and it was partly over reforms
in pensions that they lost power in the first place. So what is this about face
really about? Is it a populist attempt at garnering some share of the
amm-janta-who-have-no-clue vote bank? Or is it envy, at the UPA managing to
push through some unpopular, though much needed, reforms when they were unable
to do so? Or is it part of some much deeper political game where toppled governments
and early elections are supposed to give them back the lost throne?
Whatever the motivation behind
the strident anti reform chorus, it is not helping to improve the overall
situation. What with an abysmal fiscal deficit, rampaging inflation, and a staggering
debt burden in the midst of a global financial meltdown, we can’t exactly ignore
the fact that we need serious infusions of cash and hundreds of thousands of
new jobs to get us to some kind of sane level where the economy actually
functions and maybe even grows. So, where is this cash, these jobs, going to
come from? It sure as hell won’t suddenly materialize out of thin air, neither
are the billions already spent on fruitless social programs by the government
suddenly going to bear fruit for no reason, especially since the billions have
already gone well into various pockets of the various babus from the top of the
rung all the way down to rock bottom. In short, things being as they are, the
only way to breathe some life into the economy and to infuse some much needed
lifeblood, is to throw investment options open to foreign players. Provided, of
course, that the BJP, and other political parties, ever let it happen.
To top it all, we have Madame
Bannerjee, screaming herself hoarse and threatening dire consequences like no
confidence motions. She’s always been notorious for reacting first and thinking
later, for basing political decision on emotion rather than rational thought, and
– more recently – for being unashamedly populist. Given the fact that she had
to break the leftist stranglehold of 34 years in the state of West Bengal to
come to power, one understands the motivation behind her obviously successful pandering
to mass sentiments. However, all she is doing now, is being is obstructive,
obtuse, and frankly destructive of the very state she was given – with a lot of
trust and hope – to try and improve, to drag kicking and screaming into the 21st
century.
For some reason, she has decided
to be more left than the left she defeated. This seems strange to normal, not
knowing anything, people like me. After all, wasn’t she brought in to REPLACE
the left because their system was NOT working? Presumably then, people want you
to be everything they were not? So, in my limited logic, it seems that what
people want for Bengal is more industries, more jobs, more open market, more
opportunities for earning, given that those are the exact things that the left
government systematically eradicated over the 34 years of their reign. However,
she seems to have gone the opposite direction.
Instead of encouraging industries
and laying down the red carpet to Indian and foreign investors, throwing open
retail markets, and basically doing everything she possibly can to bring in the
moolah and the jobs, what she’s actually doing is the exact opposite. Having begun
her march to power on the back of the Singur/Nandigram controversy, she seems
to have assumed that “revolutionary” posturing and pig headedness are more
important than governance, especially in the run up to the municipal polls. So,
neglecting the glaring problems at home, and the questions being raised about
mismanagement and unnecessary delays in funding and completing projects of
essential infrastructure and so on, she chooses to pay more attention to, and
invest more time in, proving her revolutionary mettle on the national scene.
As for her own state, she is driving
away whatever investments had already been inked, like Haldia, and talking of
closing down even existing domestic retails chains like Spencer’s and Reliance
and More, thus depriving a whole section of semi educated but presentable young
men and women of decently paying jobs. She is rabidly anti FDI, supposedly to
protect the common man when both farmers and the man on the street stand only
to gain from the changes big chain retail can bring in, from contract farming,
better prices to the farmer, better prices to the consumer, better quality, huge
number of jobs from front office to back end operations, to better
infrastructure to cater to the needs of these investors. So who is she trying
to protect? Either the middlemen and business interests who pumped in money for
her rise to power are being given their pound of flesh, or she is reacting in
her usual irrational, emotional, knee-jerk way without any real thought or
concern for the overall welfare of the state. Given the approaching municipal
polls, where she desperately wants to establish a majority, the choices make
political sense, maybe, even if they are unproductive and harmful in the long
run.
As for the UPA, its sudden passion
for reforms is suspect in itself. Had they made these moves soon after they
came to power, one could have given them uncomplicated applause. Given that
they choose to do this so late in the day, with the 2014 elections on the far
horizon, in the middle of general public outcry and disgust over some of the
greatest scandals and scams of our independent history, the whole thing smacks
of a roman circus. Looks like a case of give the public, and the market, a feel
good lollipop of reforms, and they will forget about all the indecision,
inactivity, and the scams. Also, given that their numbers in parliament ate precarious
at best after Mamata withdrew her support, things become murkier still. The cabinet
has passed the reforms, well and good, but these are early days. The bills have
to be passed by Lok Sabha, marginal possibility, and the Rajya Sabha, which is
almost impossible.
Seems to me like the Congress is
playing one of its age-old games. The bills will fail in parliament, and the party
will go to the polls telling Johnny public “look, we tried, we want to make
changes for you, but these allies, and this strong opposition, they didn’t let
us succeed! So the next time give us a clear majority so that we can push the
reforms through without hassle!” God
help us if the public takes them at their word! For now, all one can hope for
is that some of the parties will see sense and help make these reforms a
reality. Because we really can’t do without them.
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