Can Ganga clean government?

The Union Cabinet needs a dip in the holy river

The government of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is in desperate need of a good bath in the Holy Ganga. Even this may not cleanse the government of its many sins (see editorial) of omission and commission, but nothing short of ritualistic purification combined with a wholesale reshuffle of the Union council of ministers can revive the fortunes and reputation of the second Manmohan Singh government. It is not surprising that the entire Opposition has gone for the jugular and Parliament has had to be adjourned till next Monday. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s demand for a joint parliamentary committee is, however, ridiculous. As Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee very correctly said the Adarsh Housing Society issue is a matter for the state government to investigate. Parliament cannot begin enquiries into housing scams and corruption scandals across the country. There are state governments and there is the judiciary. Let relevant institutions do their job.

 

On the question of Union Telecommunications Minister A Raja’s continuation in office, in the aftermath of serious questions of misgovernance raised by no less an authority than the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the Opposition has a good case. Mr Raja ought to have stepped down long back. The argument that his decisions were within the framework laid out by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) served as an adequate fig leaf till the CAG’s indictment. Even a banana leaf cannot now hide his ignominy. Mr Raja must step down. The spurious argument proffered by some Congress party spokespersons, and gullibly swallowed by many in the media, that the UPA coalition will unravel if one minister belonging to Tamil Nadu’s DMK party is removed, is hogwash. The minority government of Mr M Karunanidhi survives in office in Chennai because of the support extended to it by the Congress party. A tumble in New Delhi can be accompanied by a tumble in Chennai. That is how the balance of blackmail has kept the UPA together. Even the argument that Mr Raja’s exit will alter the power equilibrium within the DMK sounds spurious, since it is likely that Mr Raja will be replaced by Ms Kanimozhi, and they belong to the same side in the DMK’s complex succession struggle.

The events of the past few weeks make a reshuffle of the Union council of ministers now a necessity. Clearly, the limits to procrastination have been reached. Perhaps the prime minister and the UPA chairperson took too seriously the American management dictum, “if it aint broke, don’t fix it”. A pity. They should have recalled that other famous English adage, “a stitch in time saves nine”. Now the prime minister may well need more than nine stitches to put the UPA humpty-dumpty together if it were to tumble. Nothing short of a “Kamaraj Plan” of sorts will revive the fortunes of UPA-II and enthuse the government to get on with its job. It has another four years ahead of it!