Nor-Chanakya

Wither Pranab Mukherjee's political wile?

sarthak

Sarthak Ray | March 17, 2011



Back against the wall with the opposition holding Wikileaks cables on the cash-for-votes scam to its head, the UPA government really needed a hero or a miracle to save face in Parliament today. None came to its rescue.

This is one dragon which even that aging Galahad of the Congress - Pranab Mukherjee - failed to slay.

Mukherjee's three-point rebuttal was as weak a defence as they come.

Beginning with the weakest of the three, that the matters of the 14th Lok Sabha can not be debated in the 15th Lok Sabha, we ask "why not?" Has the Bofors case not been around for decades now? Didn't UPA2 rush to point out that the first-come, first serve policy for telecom sector was a policy of the NDA government from the 13th Lok Sabha? Governance is not subject to Parliament terms. It spills over tenures, Mukherjee should have kept in mind.

He also argued that the correspondence between a sovereign nation and its mission has diplomatic immunity, and therefore, it can neither be denied nor be confirmed. It is hard to believe that the Congress veteran is capable of such political naiveté. The documents may enjoy diplomatic immunity but does UPA enjoy immunity as well? The documents are now in the realm of the public. We are well past the time when these fawning courtesies countries accord each other could have been invoked. The contents are damning and the government has to answer.

More importantly, the disembodied voice of the opposition had not asked for a ratification of the documents. It had asked for the government to bear onus and take action (always the same - the removal of the prime minister). Mukherjee's ill-geared stab at deflection, therefore, is a redundancy. And also a particularly strong hint at the grand old party's guilt in the matter, one could be prompted to think.

His final argument is one we have all made out of desperation, when cornered. The "Can you prove it?" manoeuvre. He, of course, deferring to the judiciary, added "in court" to the question. Ludicruous as it may seem, it is Pranab Mukherjee - Chanakya of the Congress - who fails to realise that judicial opinion in this case would be much less damning than public opinion.

Comments

 

Other News

AI: Code, Control, Conquer

India today stands at a critical juncture in the area of artificial intelligence. While the country is among the fastest adopters of AI in the world, it remains heavily reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. This paradox, experts warn, cannot persist if India seeks technological sovereignty.

RBI pauses to assess inflation risks, policy transmission

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun the new fiscal year with a calibrated pause, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in its April Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The decision, taken unanimously, reflects a shift from aggressive policy action to cautious observation after a signi

New pathways for tourism growth

Traditionally, India’s tourism policy has been based on three main components: the number of visitors, building tourist attractions and providing facilities for tourists. Due to the increase in climate-related issues and environmental destruction that occurred over previous years, policymakers have b

Is the US a superpower anymore?

On April 8, hours after warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US president Donald Trump, exhibiting his unique style of retreating from high-voltage brinkmanship, announced that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The weekend talks in Islamabad have failed and the futur

Machines communicate, humans connect

There is a moment every event professional knows—the kind that arrives without warning, usually an hour before the curtain rises. Months of meticulous planning are in place. And then comes the call: “We’ll also need a projector. For the slides.”   No email

Why India is entering a ‘stagflation lite’ phase

India’s macroeconomic narrative is quietly shifting—from a rare “Goldilocks” equilibrium of stable growth and contained inflation to a more fragile phase where external shocks are beginning to dominate domestic policy outcomes. The numbers still look reassuring at first glance: GDP


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter