The Lost Reformer

Although in some respects, they are as different as chalk and cheese there is an uncanny parallel between Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. Looking back, one is struck by how often in times of crisis, Vajpayee8217;s response was an emotional but evasive poem. Singh8217;s response is a reflective but ultimately, a deeply ambiguous speech. In response to the reservations crisis, for instance, the PMO put out two speeches, to Harvard alumni and CII. The former thoughtfully articulates the aspirations for higher education; the latter was an unclear exhortation to industry to live up to its social responsibilities. On their own terms, both speeches had some merit. But they are what one associates with itinerant academics, not a prime minister in the midst of a political crisis. Instead of setting an agenda or changing the terms of the debate, they merely fuelled more speculation and uncertainty. But they give a clue to where the PM8217;s vision has got lost.

His message when he took office was two-fold. The first was a reform of government itself. The second was a new social contract where the gains of growth would be translated into gains for the poor and dispossessed. The constitutional improprieties of the government, the sheer dissipation of energy internal Congress squabbling entails, and the manifest statism of so many ministers have made serious reform of the state a pipedream. The second message has been re-interpreted in Congress parlance as compassion. Compassion may be a good private virtue, but it is not a substitute for sound government policy. A politics of compassion is demeaning to citizens, it converts them into objects of pity rather than bearers of rights. But the ideology of helping the poor through compassion is the ideology of the state as a source of noblesse oblige, keep giving the poor a whole range of sops under the guise of compassion. But they do not do much to alter the basic architecture of society that impoverishes them in the first place.

This is where Singh8217;s CII speech disappointed. Industry certainly has a great deal of responsibility to discharge. But the entire debate over empowering marginalised communities is shifting from a reform of the state, to displacing responsibility onto institutions outside the state: educational institutions or industry. It is a way of cloaking the state8217;s own failures, a position least expected of Manmohan Singh.

There are many ways to link reform to the betterment of the poor. There is rank hypocrisy in our approach to empowering marginalised communities. Think of two alternatives: the Centre continues to spend Rs 6000-8000 crore on higher education and then pretends to give access through reservation. Or it has an extra fund, created through disinvestment of more than Rs 100,000 crore an easy proposition which it dedicates to intelligently empowering the poor through all kinds of education and support systems. What will create more access? There is a direct link between economic reform, reform of the state, and the genuine well being of the poor. This is a link Singh can, above all, articulate. Yes, there are constraints posed by the Left. But art of leadership consists of three things: setting the agenda, shaping prevailing opinion rather than merely second guessing it, and mobilising new constituencies. Promise Dalits a share of the wealth the state has hoarded up and see political equations change. It is patent nonsense to suggest that there is no space for social justice amidst our contemporary intoxication with growth. Even amongst the much maligned upper and middle class, there is more willingness to invest in long-term foundations of genuine empowerment, just think of the enthusiasm for cesses.

But the argument is over the instruments you use, and this is where the prime minister needs to set a bold new paradigm. The disappointing aspect of the last week is not that the PM was absent; it is that the core of his original vision is now being reduced to reactive musings.

The prime minister does not have an independent power base. But power is something that is created through bold ideas. The real danger is not just that the prime minister8217;s weakness is being exposed; his ideological and intellectual identity is being dissipated. He is not giving a vast un-mobilised constituency enough reason to go along with him. Citizens respond to leaders who carry the imprimatur that their thoughts are their own, and who can occupy the agenda space. Just see the remarkable way in which Laloo has reinvented himself as an effective reformer, on the assumption that if you build an edifice, support will follow. Perhaps it is graceless and presumptuous to second guess the prime minister8217;s difficulties, but too much is at stake. How we use the good times will define us as a nation as much as moments of crisis do. Vajpayee made the mistake of thinking that being himself was enough: given the alternatives he would remain the repository of hope. But Dr Singh has to also realise that being Dr Singh, admirable as it is, is not enough. He has to be Prime Minister Singh.

The author is a member of the Knowledge Commission