Govt demonstrated its inability to act decisively

They disrupted fashion shows, issued a fiat against `disco dandiya’ on Navratri, beat up students in the name of checking ragging right in Ahmedabad, smashed Coke and Pepsi vehicles, burnt ice cream parlours, ransacked the Hussain-Doshi Gufa, burnt copies of the New Testament at Rajkot, dug out a coffin at Kapadwanj, and made Muslims flee Randhikpur.

Initially, Patel watched them like an indulgent father. But soon questions began to be asked about his government’s capacity to discharge its constitutional responsibilities. In August, the National Commission for Minorities visited Gujarat to take a closer look. It was then that Patel, after some prodding from the Centre, acted to restore peace.

But before long, the Hindutva warriors got back to business. In October, they attacked Christians in Vadodara. On Christmas, they launched a Dharmayudh (religious war) against Christian missionaries in the Dangs district. In spite of enough warning signals, the government failed to prevent clashes and attacks on religious places.

Skirmishes continued within the government also, in spite of the much-talked about discipline of the BJP. When the price of groundnut oil shot up in summer, Food & Supplies Minister Jaspal Singh fumed that the chief minister was hand-in-glove with the oil millers, who were holding the people to ransom.

In September, Industries Minister Suresh Mehta, the number two man in the cabinet, sent in his resignation, saying that the chief minister wasn’t taking any interest to ensure that the killers of one of his supporters in his home district Kutch were brought to book. BJP national vice-president K.L. Sharma had to fly down to Ahmedabad to defuse the crisis.

Ministers alone weren’t unhappy with the chief minister’s ways. On one occasion, even Governor Anshuman Singh, who replaced the controversial Krishna Pal Singh, had to remind Patel that his government was expected to show certain courtesies. What angered Singh was a government decision to shelve construction of the Raj Bhawan building without informing him.

The tendency to avoid tough decisions was also evident on the financial front. As it is, the situation was difficult, with the state having to shell out Rs 1,000 crore to employees by way of pay revision, and another big amount for restoration of the infrastructure damaged by the cyclone in June.

Worse, the promised assistance from the centre never came, and the flow of revenue from various sources fell below target. Officers suggested new sources and a cut on subsidies, which would hurt only the well-off. But the government lacked courage. Already, development work is suffering and a big cut in the plan look unavoidable.

It wasn’t a surprise, therefore, when the BJP fared badly in the municipal and panchayat by-elections in September. But it managed to win the Bharuch Lok Sabha by-election in November, and by a bigger margin, thanks to the inability of the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Party to agree on a common candidate.

This silenced the CM’s critics within the party. The clout of party general secretary Narendra Modi, who could be a potential source of trouble, was reduced by the BJP defeat in Madhya Pradesh. The central BJP leadership, having got entangled in the post-election problems, had little time to look at Gujarat. So, in spite of all, the chief minister looks comfortable in his perch.