It is Sonia146;s call

The Congress party should think about circulating its 2004 election manifesto among its chief ministers. Copies could be despatched with a few choice sentences emphatically highlighted. For instance, the party8217;s pitch to voters that its 8216;8216;philosophy of governance is based on a strong Centre working purposefully with strong states8217;8217;. Ever since a Congress-led alliance took office in New Delhi, there has been little sign of any such purposeful cooperation. In fact, virtually every chief minister striking off hot-headedly 8212; and unilaterally 8212; in pursuit of policies at variance with the Centre8217;s belongs to the Congress. In doing so, in pursuing competitive populism in his state, each of them poses a dire challenge to both his party and to an ever fragile consensus on economic reform. If the Congress is truly desirous of presenting itself as a national party mindful of national interests, party president Sonia Gandhi had better begin instilling policy discipline among its ranks.

This week Sushil Kumar Shinde joined the Congress8217;s select group of policy renegades by announcing free electricity for farmers in Maharashtra. In opening his re-election bid, he presumably drew inspiration from Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who marked his first days as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh by announcing free power to farmers. And like Reddy, he clearly chose to forget one of Manmohan Singh8217;s first statements upon being designated prime minister this May, when he recommended reasonable user charges for goods and services provided by the government. Reddy, in any case, added to the confusion by carving out a 5 per cent quota for Muslims in his state, without any national debate or consultation on a policy that could have immense repercussions. Elsewhere, Amarinder Singh withdrew Punjab from decades-old water sharing agreements, sending the Manmohan Singh government hurtling to the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of his legislative initiative.

It is not just that these chief ministers have committed themselves to misguided proposals. The case against free power has already been made. The dangers encoded in demarcating a section of society along religious lines is evident. And the challenges to inter-state cooperation in reneging on signed accords are equally horrifying. No, matters are made considerably worse by the current evidence of competitive populism each of them has sparked off. Shinde in Punjab, Amarinder in the northwest, and Reddy in diverse parts of the country. The sooner these chief ministers are disciplined into responsible and responsive politics, the better it will be for India. And for the Congress.