Are Sonia Gandhi's letters just a PR stunt?

DEBATE

She has emerged as the government's conscience but the issue is whether she's now just helping let steam off unpopular decisions.

V Narayanasamy,
General Secretary,
AICC

Whether it is the RTI, NREGA, land for SEZs or FDI in retail, the Congress President has only the interests of the common man on her mind

The UPA government has been implementing the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) which was agreed to at the time the alliance was formed, and along with the Left parties, the Congress President has been monitoring this in her capacity as Chairperson of the UPA. The Congress party is also implementing its manifesto, which forms part of the NCMP.

Though it was agreed that the central government would implement the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme throughout the country, once the Congress President took a personal initiative, the government implemented the NREG immediately. Today, 200 districts of the country are enjoying the fruits of the NREG.

Similarly, in the case of the Right to Information Act (RTI), the Congress President's role in its implementation was obvious to anyone. It was the urging by the Congress President that led to the enactment of the legislation for the tribals. She wrote a letter to the prime minister to give due regard to the farmers' interest when land was acquired for SEZs. When it came to the question of FDI in the retail sector, the Congress President intervened keeping in mind the interests of millions of small traders and asked the government to review its policy. All these indicate that Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party are working for the welfare of the common man.

The performance of the UPA government has been very good: the economy is booming, purchasing power is up and people belonging to the middle and lower middle classes are happy with the government's functioning. To dissipate farmers' distress, the central government reduced the interest rate on farm loans from 15 to 7 per cent. Various anti-poverty programmes are also being implemented in right earnest through the monitoring system adopted by the Congress President to help the poor.

If foreign investment in telecom, power, health and education is increasing, it is because of the liberal economic policy adopted by the UPA government under Sonia Gandhi's able guidance. But when these policies go against the interests of common man, she intervenes. For instance, when the government increased the prices of petroleum products, the Congress President put her foot down and it was because of her intervention that the prices were brought down. Similarly, the finance minister's plan to remove the subsidy on cooking gas was given up after the Congress President stepped in to safeguard the interests of ordinary families that use gas cylinders.

The strategy adopted by the UPA Chairperson is to guide the government without disturbing economic policy; in other words, to ensure that the common man is most benefited.

There is perfect coordination between the party and the government and this can be seen from the smooth sailing of the economy. We can proudly say that regardless of the party in power in any given state, all state governments are getting adequate funds under the centrally sponsored schemes including Bharat Nirman, Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rajiv Gandhi Village Electrification Scheme, tribal welfare schemes, and so on. This was not so during the NDA regime.

The central government, apart from developing the urban economy, is concentrating on rural infrastructure as well by implementing various schemes. The states are flush with money, which, in fact, they have not been able to spend. This is because of the impartial approach of the Congress President towards the all-round welfare of the poor and the downtrodden.

The party has every authority to guide the government. Look at what is happening in West Bengal? During the NDA government's regime, the executive was in thrall to the party, namely the BJP. On the contrary, for the UPA, the Congress's aim is only to guide the government in the right direction. The criticism by the BJP is ill-founded and unwarranted.

Prakash Javadekar,
Spokesperson,
BJP

The idea is to pay lip service to the public anger, as in the case of retail FDI, and to show beyond doubt that Sonia Gandhi's writ is supreme

The letter diplomacy between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the UPA government is by design. There are two purposes of this, one is to pay lip service to public anger over FDI in retail and the second is to show beyond doubt that Sonia Gandhi's writ is supreme in this government.

The problem with the Congress is that they have no cohesive economic policy. First they were votaries of a mixed economy. After that they favoured liberalisation, which, if Ashok Mitra would have us believe, was a choice thrust upon them by the US. This is the reason why they have always fumbled with regard to the economy. I firmly believe that Manmohan Singh as finance minister under Narasimha Rao was more honest and effective than he is as prime minister under Sonia Gandhi.

This is not the first letter that Gandhi has written and which was systematically leaked to the media. These leaks are not about the subject of the letter, but a way to show Dr Singh his place. Which is why this letter diplomacy, in a way, explains the internal dynamics between the Congress party and the UPA government.

My thesis goes like this: the letter has very little to with its subject; it is basically a shock absorber for the furore which arises after the government decides on a course of action. It also appears that there are other purposes to be achieved by the letters "" to express resentment against certain actions of the government which cannot be voiced publicly.

Let's go a little into the history of this letter diplomacy. The first such letter written by Gandhi was about price rise. The Congress became hyper active, the prime minister and the finance minister were humiliated at a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting and the news leaked to the media. Then the government announced some policy measures in terms of the export of wheat and pulses. Ultimately wheat import was ineffective, pulses were not imported and prices continue to remain high. The common man continues to suffer, but that does not seem to have forced Gandhi to write on the matter again.

The second letter was about the prices of diesel and petrol, and keep in mind that this was written when prices were $70 per barrel. Now the prices have come down to $50 per barrel, but the cuts offered by the government have not been commensurate with those demanded by Gandhi or even what the public deserves. She played to the gallery, the government showed that it jumped through hoops to bring down prices, and the public got only marginal cuts, but lots of drama.

The third outburst was about farmers' plight under the SEZ policy. But in this case too, the government has not come up with a comprehensive rehabilitation policy, despite the fact that in one of its last acts before Sonia Gandhi quit its chairmanship, the National Advisory Council (NAC) had written to the government with a draft policy. Neither the centre nor any Congress-led state government have issued any substantive directives to fulfil at least some of the demands made by the farmers. This third issue which Gandhi raised has also remained in limbo.

The latest letter is on FDI in retail, which the BJP believes will lead to massive unemployment. The letter, portions of which were selectively made available, does not seem to oppose FDI in retail on principle, as the BJP does. There must be something personal that has spurred Gandhi to write. Looking at the last few examples, there is no doubt in my mind as to how this latest round of letter diplomacy will pan out. There will be no follow up and indeed, as Kamal Nath has already shown, it's business as usual on this matter in the commerce ministry. Thus the whole thing is a charade "" more political than real "" and designed to fool the people. But the Congress should realise that one cannot fool all the people all the time.