Party hangover

The Congress party re-organisation is mostly remarkable for the risks not taken, the imagination and innovation not shown, toes not trod upon. Sonia Gandhi didn’t disturb the utter predictability of the exercise on Friday. She took care to pretty much shuffle the usual suspects, nod to the old guard, observe familiar caution. Alongwith the routine absence of inner party democracy, risk-aversion is surely becoming the outstanding feature of the party’s organisational shuffle. But ultimately, Friday’s exercise will not be judged for what happened on Friday, or didn’t. This reconstitution of the CWC and the AICC was really just a prelude to the long overdue ministerial reshuffle scheduled to follow. Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh must know that the message they send out with that exercise will be far more consequential than the limp signals emanating from the party.

Since the UPA came to power in 2004, it has acquired a formidable reputation for high-minded rhetoric. On most issues, be it the economy, infrastructure or bureaucratic reform, policy commitments await policy outcomes. Much of the gap between the two can be explained by the inefficiences and incompetencies that have been allowed to settle down in Manmohan Singh’s cabinet. There are ministers with crucial portfolios who are evidently ill-equipped for negotiating the sophisticated demands of their job. Ministers, who are intellectual and ideological captive to a simpler order that is no more with us. There are crucial vacancies, and many ministries are run like unaccountable fiefs.

Take the case of power. As the prime minister fills the space after P.M. Sayeed’s demise, he might remember the commitment he made to global industry captains at the India Economic Summit in November last year that he was personally monitoring the sector and was ‘‘determined to set things right in the coming year’’. The sluggish reform in that sector is not just a talking point at corporate conferences, it is a blighted reality on the ground even in our biggest cities. The national highways project is threatening to sputter to a halt unless someone in this government takes ownership. The foreign ministry needs a minister with a view on how best to promote India’s national interest in a changed world. Ram Vilas Paswan needs to drop his licence-control raj mindset or be dropped from his vital portfolios. There must be young talents at the helm of some crucial portfolios. The list is long and clear. Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh must step up to the challenge.