Opinion A post-Anna politics

If one looks at Hazare’s style carefully,he appears very rigid about his demands when he is fasting. However,he is quite flexible and pragmatic when dealing with the political class in normal times. This showed in the easy and natural personal interactivity he has with some Maharashtra politicians,such as Vilasrao Deshmukh and others,who are not exactly perceived as paragons of clean politics. It was also interesting to see that finally two Congress leaders,Deshmukh and Sandeep Dikshit,were allowed to be part of Team Anna’s victory recital of the national anthem from the high stage at the Ramlila maidan. Earlier,Anna Hazare had been very careful not to allow political leaders to use their platform.

The Anna Hazare campaign,such as it was,will have a lasting impact both in political and systemic terms. Politically,the mainstream parties were startled at the support that progressively developed for Hazare during his 12-day fast. The presence of youth cutting across class,regions,religions and possibly caste would have got mainstream parties worried. The insecurity of some regional and caste-based party leaders in the Lok Sabha was visible during the debate,as they questioned whether there was anything in the Jan Lokpal bill for the poorest among the Dalits,backwards and Muslims. The DMK expressed worry over some provisions which could change the federal character of the constitution. Which is why speaker after speaker from the Congress kept giving assurances that the provisions of Jan Lokpal bill would be considered only within the contours of the present constitutional arrangement.

The real political impact,if at all,of the Jan Lokpal campaign will be known in the way strong regional parties,which have been vehemently asserting their federal autonomy,perform in the next general elections. The fundamental character of Hazare’s Jan Lokpal draft is to push the envelope towards a more unitary system of governance. Theoretically,this tendency should suit the BJP which has historically believed in a unitary system of governance. However,the progressive fragmentation of India’s polity on caste and regional lines has made both the BJP and Congress go against their instinct,and accept the coalition form of governance.

It was therefore a bit ironic to see the BJP fully supporting Team Anna’s campaign against corruption — but the convenor of the National Democratic Alliance,Sharad Yadav,expressing loads of scepticism over the nature and character of the Anna Hazare movement. Even Mayawati has invited Team Anna to implement his agenda by fighting elections and formally entering the system,however flawed it may be.

The interesting thing to watch is which way the millions of youth supporting Anna Hazare get radicalised politically in the two years before the next general elections. Surely most of the Anna supporters would have voted for the Congress,BJP or regional parties in the last general elections. If they consolidate in a big way on the issue of corruption against the establishment,then it is bad news for the Congress-led UPA. The BJP and other regional outfits could gain. Given the utterly fragmented nature of voting in the general elections,a small swing of up to 2 per cent away from the Congress is all that will be needed to weaken the UPA. And this small swing could be brought about by Anna Hazare’s new voters.

The Congress sensed this during the last four days of Hazare’s fast. Initially,it hardened its position against Team Anna. Then it went out on a limb to accommodate them. The Congress’s anxiety not to completely lose what seems like a new political space created by the Hazare movement was reflected in Rahul Gandhi racing ahead to offer a “game changing idea” of giving the Lokpal a constitutional status like the Election Commission. The idea seemed too radical even for the most ardent civil society activist.

The Congress is evidently trying to seize the new space created by Anna’s politics (some TV channels described it as apolitical!),and therefore Jyotiraditya Scindia tried hard to explain in his Lok Sabha address that the UPA had institutionalised the interface between civil society and the government through the institution of the National Advisory Council. He claimed the RTI Act as the biggest contribution of this interface. While there is some truth in Scindia’s assertion,the Congress-led UPA has already benefited from those initiatives in the 2009 general elections.

Now they have to do a lot more to beat anti-incumbency building against them. The UPA’s best bet is now to come up with some real,tangible governance reforms in its remaining two years. The Lokpal may come up in whatever form it does after the standing committee dovetails the provisions endorsed in principle by Parliament. That alone will not help matters. The Congress needs to make good on other promises made by Sonia Gandhi at the Burari session last year.

A model public services delivery legislation needs to be brought about. It will be in line with the spirit of the citizen’s charter,and the demand to bring the lower bureaucracy under the Lokpal. The political class must involve civil society in making public services delivery work at the state level. Anna Hazare must shift the energies of his supporters to a form of active interface with the lower bureaucracy,to ensure effective implementation of Lokpal provisions in regard to delivery of small public services. Another initiative which is practical and could redeem the Congress somewhat is a new electoral funding system. India will have a GDP of $2 trillion by 2012. Only 0.3 per cent of a year’s GDP is needed to generate over Rs 30,000 crore,which is roughly what is spent over five years in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The state should create this fund,and put it under Election Commission’s administration for transparent allocation to political parties. A special cess can be put on corporate India to recover this. This is easy — and does not require an agitation by civil society!

The writer is managing editor,‘The Financial Express’