Birthday bumps

In between the serial crises,the UPA has allowed others to dictate the agenda. It allowed those agitating for an extra-large version of the Lokpal to monopolise public attention. It arguably created the problem,by capitulating in the first instance and allowing civil society activists to think they could take over the job of elected legislators. It failed to provide minimal public justification for its own decisions. When the courts started trespassing into political and administrative domains and telling the executive how to frame policy,there was barely a cheep out of the UPA. If other actors have invaded the governments legitimate space,and assumed greater powers,it has only itself to blame. It must take responsibility for the mission creep among institutions,and their ambition,not always matched by their legitimacy or capacity,to take on ever-expanding roles. The CAG,which has not always been rigorous in adding up the numbers in its recent reports,is poised to extend its remit,perhaps recklessly. Outgoing CAG Vinod Rai has called for powers to audit public-private partnerships and panchayati raj institutions. The courts,too,have brought their powers to bear on many crucial matters,to check the perceived flaws in intent or implementation. But whether in telecom or mining,their interventions have been inevitably blunt. The Centres crisis of authority has ended up hurting sectors vital to the economy.

The teetering of the balance between institutions will be the unhappy legacy of the UPA. It doesnt even have the option of blaming the drift and constant sense of crisis on coalition politics or compulsions,since the significant allies have now left the building. In its final year,before it faces the elections,the only thing the UPA would appear to have going for it is the disarray in the opposition ranks.