Why does Rahul Bajaj's embrace of Yashwant Sinha feel like a straitjacket? There is no reason why corporate bosses should not enjoy the same rights as ordinary mortals and be free to state their choice for finance minister in the new Union Cabinet. So there is nothing really to quarrel with when Bajaj announces his preference from the rooftops. Usually discreet, the corporate world lets known its opinions by dropping a word in the appropriate ear. Not one for winks and nudges when plainspeaking will do, the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry chose to root for Sinha at a press conference. Public endorsement by such a powerful representative of corporate interests as the CII should not do a finance minister any harm.Bajaj may be a bit blinkered when he unreservedly praises Sinha's past performance. But much of what he said in an interview to this paper is quite sensible and is in accord with the spirit of economic reform which the National Democratic Alliance is expected to support. No one butthe politicians who may be out of job can take serious exception to the CII president's views about improving decision-making in the economic ministries. He is right when he says it will be suicidal to split Finance into two. He may be somewhat biased when he plays down the virtues of C Rangarajan and Murasoli Maran but that is a relatively minor matter. He argues for cutting out the flab, for quick and coordinated decision-making, for coherence and experience, that the government should keep its hands off regulatory bodies, and that it would be rational to merge Commerce and Industry under one minister. All this sounds reasonable. Why should Sinha then worry about being endorsed by the CII chief?Because Bajaj seems to have one leg on the side of liberalisation and one leg on the side of those who resist the winds of change. He still sounds like a protectionist. He is in favour of reform in the public sector and getting the government off the back of the private sector. So far so good. But he resistsanything that amounts to serious competition for Indian industry. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers to which he belongs is opposed to the OGL import of second-hand cars on the ground it will wipe out domestic automobile manufacturers. On the one hand it is far from proven that this will indeed be the case and on the other, the obvious benefit to consumers of cheaper models is not taken into account. The bogey of foreign takeover is raised time and again unconvincingly. There is an appeal to gut instincts instead of a cold rational presentation of facts and figures. No distinction is made between unfair and fair competition from abroad. Protectionist, swadeshi lobbies are not arguing for strategic choices based on core competencies but would like to shelter all sectors, consumer goods along with the aircraft and information technology industries. The new finance minister should watch out. Such advocacy is a throwback to the closed economy of the past when all producers, inefficient along with theefficient, were protected at the cost of the consumer and of growth.
