Change in Leadership

Bikash Choudhury




UPA govt. smartly (laid out red carpet initially & once that did not work unabashedly used force) and very tactfully evicted Baba Ramdev from Ram Lila Grounds; eventually stopped a countrywide mass movement against corruption & black money on its track. As for now there is no threat to UPA-II Govt.in spite of strident opposition campaign on the issue of eviction of Baba Ramdev from New Delhi.But,Baba has never the less raised very pertinent issue of National importance and has done very well in his own inimitable style with a lot of substance very unusual for a person claimed to be a Sadhu with millions of ardent follower; however, this has caught the imagination of a large section of our people including those young at heart who have been greatly enthused by Baba and his antiques and other dare devil spectacle.
Some time back, no less a person than Home Minister Mr. Chidambaram conceded with rare candor about the "Governance Deficit" in UPA-II Govt. and also separately talked about his limited mandate being Home Minister; tacitly putting his name into the leadership sweepstakes. Somebody has said before" India is a rich country with poor people" this is precisely because, the National wealth which otherwise would have brought succor to poor people in the country, siphoned out of the country without any checks & balance. And, further counterfeit currencies pumped into the country by same evil forces that run havoc in our money market and entire financial architecture. If Govt. fail to take concrete action now then when? And, to what consequence? While poor of country suffer with cascading effect of price rise on food items and petroleum products. Apart from corruption & black money the UPA-II Govt.is actually very slow on many important issues where alibi of coalition compulsion may not hold good. Both Air India in Aviation & Railways are floundering. Industrial production is taking a nose dive, while economic growth numbers are being revised downwards. What is going wrong with this Govt.and where and what needs to be done to arrest the very visible slide in Governance that calls for immediate decision not another JPC(Joint Parliamentary committee or IMG (Inter Ministerial Group).

Million dollar question that defy answer at the moment is what kind of public perception will go down in the minds of prospective electorate of E-14 and how much of it remain residual for the discomfort to UPA-II, three years later difficult to predict. But, in view of election outcome of TamilNadu; where, demonstrable action against corruption in the form of A. Raja behind the bars and so do Mr. Kalmadi of CWG fame did not help at the hustings.It is now crystal clear, the image of UPA-II Govt. has taken a serious beating in the game of public perception. Only a change in Leadership of Govt. may usher in a fresh opportunity. Congress President may think of giving incumbent PM a graceful exit as time runs out for that and install Pranab Mukharjee as PM & Mr. Chidambaram as Deputy PM to crack the whip on Governance. At the moment Pranabda remains the best bet being from the eastern region and he being the most experienced, shrewd political manager in the Congress who has the stature & necessary skill to drive the Govt. into action with defacto Prime Ministerial authority which is not same as being the top adviser. With Chidambaram as 'number 2' in cabinet will help the team Pranab to deal with complex issues of governance facing the govt. and taking decisions on real time. Both the gentle men have long term aspiration for top leadership in Govt. and that would alone drive them into serious contemplation and action with demonstrable result.Failing which BJP most likely to return to power in the next round;though,the party seems to be in great disarray at the moment.