INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS – LOYALTY ALWAYS PAYS…

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi who was recently consecrated as the Vice-President of the Party, whenever they get a chance to speak about Prime Minister Sardar ManMohan Singh they do have thousand tongues and the enthusiasm to extoll his virtues as one of the best Prime Minister of India. Both Sonia and Rahul despite being the top of leaders of the Grand Old Party, ie the so- called Indian National Congress are reluctant to take up any ministerial post including Prime Ministership since both are aware of their limitations. In order to camoflague their limitations they have discovered a short-cu ie.t, by canvassing the most loyal ones to take up various prestigious positions in the party. Knowing this psychology of the Nehru-Gandhi clan, a number of sycophants have flocked around them each one competing with the other in drawing the attention of Sonia and her family members Rahul, Priyanka and even Robert Vadra, Priyanka’s better-half. These sycophants even go to the extent of prostrating before them t please them and thus to grab plump posts in the party and the Government.

Soon after the 2004 general elections to the pleasant surprise of party emerging as the single largest party in Parliament, President following the precedence invited the Supreme leader of Congress Party. Mrs Sonia Gandhi whether her party was interested in forming a Government. A delighted but confuse,d Sonia with an aim to to stop the emergence of NDA alliance to come to the front, on a war-footing cobbled together an alliance with the active support of many anti-BJP parties including the Left front which also had cornered almost 61 members, in the history of the Left Front it was a massive total. With the then Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Comrade Harkishen Singh Surjit who played the kingmaker to help the Congress and its allies to form a government. The alliance was named UPA (United Progressive Alliance) and the Left Front decided to extend support from outside. .

Due to the large-scale protests by BJP leaders against Sonia Gandhi occupying Prime Ministerial post, the reason being she is a foreign product and she being already reluctant to hold the prestigious post, Sonia had to face a herculean task of finding a loyal personality, the face of Sardar ManMohan Singh appeared before her who was more loyal than the King. She entrusted him to take up the mantle. Dr.ManMohan Singh an Oxford product and also was the Finance Minister of the P.V.Narasimha Rao government to be the apt person to hold the post of Prime Minister.

Under the Narasimha Rao govt, ManMohan Singh, in his capacity as the finance Minister in the Rao govt had stolen the limelight as the one who did away with the socialist economic policies followed by the previous governments and initiated liberal economic reforms with the intention of attracting Foreign Direct Investment, most of them Multinationals to open shops across India by deregulating the economy. In the capacity of Finance Minister and with the total support of P.V.Narasimha Rao (some are of the opinion that the credit (discredit?) goes to Mr.Rao for initiating neo-liberal reforms by providing  a favourable climate to foreign investors to put up shops in the country.  License Raj was abolished and govt controsl were brought to the minimum.

Sensing the enormous potential of large-scale investments in India, the multinationals were in a hurry to invest in the country.

In this connection it is worthwhile to recall the speech of ManMohan Singh just before presenting  his first budget before the members of Parliament in1991, the need to initiate neo-liberal economic measures doing away with economic policies followed by the former govts, he spoke passionately about the plight of the lower strata of the society including the farmers who constitute 60% of population and millions and millions of poor and lower middle class. Large-scale poverty, malnutrition, lack f better health care facilities, women’s plight, large-scale unemployment, lack of sanitation facilities  lack of education facilities and the sad plight of those millions who don’t have roofs over their heads.

The erudite scholar and economist in him saw neo-liberal measures as the panacea for the overall betterment of Indian society. Through neo-liberal reforms he dreamt of a high growth trajectory which would improve our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and with the GDP at its highest foresaw vast improvement of the economy which would lead to a trickle down effect that could naturally raise the standard of living of the poor. In other words ‘inclusive growth’ which he still continues to harp on.

Now that eight years have elapsed and the result we witnessed and still witnessing is a the corporates growing exponentially cornering a huge chunk of benefits with the blessings of the govt and about 70% still suffering from poverty, large-scale unemployment, malnutrition, women enslavement, lack of sanitation facilities, lack of education facilities, lack of pure drinking water, the gigantic problem of millions without covers of their heads. Whither went his ‘inclusive growth’? Whither went his ‘trickle down’ effect? He won’t have answer.

After all,  what all India witnessed and still witnessing are scams and scandals, corruption at its peak involving lakhs of crores of rupees draining the exchequer.Sky-rocketing price rise of essential commodities. The 2G Spectrum scandal involving Rs. 1.76 lakh crores of rupees, coal-gate scam involving 1.85 lakh crores, Common Wealth Games, scam involving Rs.70000 crores, Adarsh Housing Scam -amount involved is alarming and several other scams and scandals. Besides these, the law and order problems at its worst, women and girls always under the threat of gang-rape especially in the capital city where rapes are occurring day by day (the rape Capital in the world). With about 10 percent billionaires and remaining 90%  struggling against odds finding it difficult to make both their ends meet.

Still Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi harping on the ‘enormous growth the nation has achieved and eulogizes the Prime Minister - the weakest PM India has witnessed. Loyalty always pays…..