Two-faced politics

Observers of the Indian economic policy scenario over the last decade would be forgiven for thinking that a broad national consensus had indeed emerged on the reforms road map""since four different formations have been in office during this time, representing a wide spectrum of political thought.

While they have differed on priorities, emphasis and pace, none of them showed any inclination to abandon the basic reform platform that was established in 1991 or effect a radical change in direction. Reforms, it appeared, had by and large become politics-proof.

But that impression would change dramatically if the behaviour of political parties who have transited from government to opposition is taken into account.

No sooner does a party lose an election than it completely dissociates with the very positions and policies that it espoused while in office. The announcement by the BJP-governed states last week that they would not meet the April 1 deadline for the implementation of the value- added tax (VAT) is the latest example of this double standard.

The BJP-led NDA government, even while accommodating the collective decision by states to defer implementation from the original deadline in 2002, had nurtured and encouraged the collective framework that the state governments had set up to see this process through.

If the party itself was broadly convinced that the move was in the best economic interests of the country when it was in office, there is absolutely no reason, short of a vindictive and destructive attitude, why it should not direct the state governments that it runs or supports to comply with the deadline.

Yes, states like Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, which are not governed by the BJP, have also indicated difficulties. There are, clearly, technical issues to be resolved. But the en masse stalling by the BJP-governed states cannot be interpreted as anything other than being politically motivated.

The party may argue that this is in response to Jharkhand and/or Goa, but in that case it is cutting the country's nose to spite the Congress' face.

This is not the only issue on which the split personality has been manifested. On the passage of the new patents law, something which the NDA government had initiated to comply with WTO commitments, it has refused to go along with the government.

Insurance sector reforms were given a big thrust by the previous government and yet it refuses to co-operate on the legislation required to increase foreign ownership limits to 49 per cent, which would be a logical extension of the opening up of the sector.

On both these issues, the government is dependent for passage, and its own face, on the Left, which has always been uncomfortable with these legislative positions.

With the volatility that has come to characterise political outcomes in the country, it simply is not in the national interest for major parties to show one face while in office and another while in opposition.

The reform road map has been in place long enough and has, in practice, been accommodated by the major formations. It is up to them to develop the maturity to take a consistent stand on issues, regardless of which side of the Speaker's chair they occupy.