Vedanta might or might not acquire Cairn. But the CPM seems to have taken over the BJP....
Written by The Indian Express
3 min read
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The first few years of the Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government saw India climb back to the higher growth path it had stumbled off in the late 90s; it seemed committed to deregulation and openness,friendly to the private sector selling itself as a party of the urban middle class. So why is the BJP today sounding like fellow-travellers of the Left? The duties of a responsible opposition involve tackling the government at places you differ fundamentally,or where it appears accountable not obstructing reform that you yourself have trumpeted as important.
What would a voter think is the public face of the BJP today? Coordination with the Left on noisy protests against inflation in Parliament. Coordinated carping with the Left over individual provisions of a very necessary nuclear liability bill. Coordinated nationwide bandhs with the Left over the decrease in subsidies to some petroleum products. The Congress might think that we are in the bad old days of one-party rule,in which it reigned supreme and felt no need to reach out to the opposition; but surely the BJP knows better? And if it does,why does its sole motivator on policy questions today appear to be the anti-Congressism bred by that difficult era? Some in the Congress appear soft enough on the backward-looking Left; why does the BJP give us the impression today of being even softer?
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And to the extent that it is not dancing to the tune hummed by the CPMs general secretary,it has allowed all its worst,xenophobic tendencies expression. Consider the Rajya Sabha debate on amending the Foreign Trade Act recently; to a series of necessary changes was added one on the imposition of quantitative restrictions to protect domestic industry from an import surge in merchandise. Thats of doubtful economic value. But what was the BJPs contribution to the discussion? Endless concern that the markets were full of images of deities that had been imported from China. Meanwhile,BJP-ruled states are the ones blocking consensus on the goods and services tax. It begins to look like the BJP has abandoned the principles that made it an acceptable party of government for many. So easily,in fact,that it is willing to oppose,tooth and nail,ideas that it itself has in the past vociferously supported petrol deregulation,tax rationalisation. Its the season of mergers and acquisitions but even if Vedanta doesnt get Cairn,it looks like the Lefts got the BJP.
