The Jalan solution

Ever wondered why non-Congress ministers never resign?

Granted, he was a lightweight and no tears will be shed over Shashi Tharoor resigning from the Cabinet. But it is curious that the only ministers who’re resigning from the UPA government are those belonging to the Congress party. Even Shivraj Patil, who was axed after the Mumbai terrorist attack, was a Congressman. In sharp contrast, ministers like Praful Patel were not axed after the mess made in the civil aviation ministry (and this goes way beyond the Mangalore accident); A Raja continues to be his cocky self even after there is enough evidence to suggest that he cost the country Rs 50,000-60,000 crore in terms of the cheap licences he handed out; and Sharad Pawar seems unconcerned by stories such as the one involving a company in which he has a stake bidding for an IPL franchise. So, what is it about ministers from the allies that ensures they get away with almost anything?

The obvious answer is that, in a coalition era, the smallest of parties gets almost blackmail power and that power is in direct proportion to the weakness of the senior coalition partner. Which is why, for instance, even in an era of coalitions, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a lot more powerful than Manmohan Singh is. Former RBI Governor and former Rajya Sabha MP Bimal Jalan has a different spin to this. Jalan’s logic is that since you have a party whip along with an anti-defection law, there is no inner-party democracy, and that makes life impossible for anyone who has even the mildest form of dissent. So, the logic goes, why risk getting expelled from a party for “anti-party” activities when you can just as easily form your own party, win a few seats, and then use this leverage to bargain for a Cabinet post or two? And yes, in case there’s a shift in the power equation, you can just as well use the same leverage to strike a deal with a new coalition centred around someone else.

Jalan has a two-pronged solution. First, get rid of whip and the anti-defection law. This will help ensure that those who disagree with the party leadership on certain issues don’t feel compelled to leave the party. In the context of the question being posed about why allies don’t resign, this would mean a Sharad Pawar/Praful Patel would probably remain as Congress members instead of having their own political parties. Second, and this is critical if the anti-defection law is to be retained, extend the law to all coalition partners. That is, if the DMK is a UPA coalition partner, a decision by it to withdraw support from the UPA and/or extend this to the NDA will automatically result in all its MPs being expelled from Parliament. In other words, the blackmail power the allies have at the moment will disappear overnight. It’s a thought worth considering.