A Bill needs a will

Of all the actors, it was the Finance Minister who came out best and worst. He stuck to what he has always made clear he intended to do but has ended up carrying the can for the United Front’s incompetent floor managers, the BJP’s flip-flops and the Prime Minister’s curiously drastic decision to withdraw the Bill instead of merely deferring it. The upshot is that legislation will have to be put off till the next session of Parliament. In the current uncertain political climate that could mean a very long time indeed.

The communist parties’ ill-disguised joy at having at last outmanoeuvred the reformist Finance Minister is bound to be dampened by the fact that they stood on the same side as muddle-headed members of the BJP. That it is probably a passing triumph which will not survive the next introduction of an IRA Bill or coming battles over amendments to the GIC Act seems to have been overlooked. The discomfiture of BJP leaders is plain for all to see. Having given Chidambaram every indication of understanding and supporting the Bill, they, in turn, were outwitted by party hardliners proving that internal disputes on economic reform are still far from resolved. But at the end of the day, it is Chidambaram who has to answer as best he can the riddle of where the UF Government is taking the reform programme and whether it knows how to proceed. He is justified in feeling let down by all sides but it would only make a bad scene worse if he were to throw in the towel at this stage.

The IRA Bill fiasco is more than an embarrassment for the government. It is seen in the midst of its other distractions to be incapable of acting coherently and firmly. Unlike the setback over copyright legislation when the Narasimha Rao Government failed to seek a consensus, unlike the Bill on reservation of seats for women when the UF had not done its homework, there were strong indications after months of preparatory work that the IRA Bill would get adequate support even with the communists holding out. However, with most of the Congress entrained for Calcutta, the UF played into the hands of those who had political scores to settle or, in anticipation of early elections, struck populist postures. The UF could not have chosen a worse time for its display of helplessness and confusion. The question on everyone’s mind for the last few weeks has been about the impact of the disarray in the Janata Dal on the business of government. Hope of economic reforms staying the course, regardless of what went on in other departments, will be hard to sustain after Wednesday’s performance.