NEW DELHI, APRIL 28: While the Capital today experienced its hottest day yet, the heat was being turned on at an annual meeting of industrialists here. The target of their fire was the species loathed by an entire nation: the politician.The annual Confederation of Indian Industry session gave expression to a lot of pent-up hostility, as reflected by the rumblings of disquiet, ``Gill's getting a real pasting inside. But is it enough?. Well, there's always the closing remarks.''In the main halls and ante-rooms, people were less polite, and were taking on their adversaries, one by one.Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill came in for sharp criticism from the cream of the country's business class for what it felt was an attempt by the Election Commission to delay elections.Opening the session with politicians, former CII chief Rajive Kaul began with a blistering attack on his panelists - Prithviraj Chauhan of the Congress, Jaipal Reddy of the Janata Dal, and Amar Singh of the Rashtriya LoktantrikMorcha. ``It is these people including the gentleman who is not here,'' Kaul began, with Amar Singh a little late in coming in, ``who are responsible for pulling down the government.'' ``I'd like to know their views are on whether political instability has an adverse impact on the economy.''Kaul hadn't even warmed up, and went on to the Opposition's sometimes-on-sometimes-off unity. ``Will Mr Chouhan and Mr Reddy tell us if their parties will fight alone or as a group - and if your party hasn't decided, please tell us your view.''A visibly shaken Chauhan tried defending his class by arguing that the cost of coalitions was greater than that of fresh elections, as was the hiatus in till the elections were held. ``Trying to make unnatural coalitions work does its own damage, the economy has suffered a lot more in shaky coalitions than in any other period,'' Chauhan argued. Reddy argued, as only Reddy can, that the country actually benefitted from the fractious mandate, which has ensured a consensus on allmajor economic reforms today.That sounds good, retorted industry, but not good enough. Passing the Budget, or agreeing on World Trade Organisation issues is just one step, who's going to follow them through, asked J J Irani of Tata Steel. A host of bills were pending in Parliament and given its short attention span, added Eicher's Subodh Bhargava, who's to guarantee when they will be passed.The Companies Bill, for example, is now almost a metaphor for delays, with Parliament refusing to pass it for over four years. And, as Rajendra Pawar of NIIT added, the tax implications of various proposals such as the Employees Stock Plan and Venture Capital have still not been worked out - till this was done, they would be non-starters. Theoretically, much of this can be cleared by bureaucrats, since the policies have already been passed. The catch is, few trust the bureaucracy, and feel they will go back to delaying things. It doesn't help either, when a facetious Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar says: ``Nothinghas changed with the political uncertainty, we'll continue to obstruct (things)!''
