The Raja episode epitomized the weakness of Government functioning, where a Cabinet Minister breaks with time-honoured conventions and flouts the authority of the Prime Minister with abandon for his own purposes. The DMK Minister has denied having done anything wrong and says he has resigned because his leader Mr Karunanidhi directed him to do so to avoid embarrassment for Government. Mr Raja is out of Government at last but not out of legal proceedings which are on.

The Bihar poll outcome is a major setback for the Congress in its bid to regain its place in the Hindi belt. Another November development, with unpredictable fall-out in the coming months, is the change of guard in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh weeks before the Centre takes a crucial decision on the question of Telengana. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy, hitherto Speaker in the State Assembly, was sworn in as Chief Minister on November 25 in succession to Mr K Rosaiah who resigned reportedly at the behest of the party high command.

The Sri Krishna Commission, which was set up early this year to go into the question of reorganization of Andhra Pradesh, after violent agitations in the Telengana region and counter demonstrations in coastal Andhra against bifurcation, is due to present its report before the end of December. Whatever the decision, the Centre will seek to ensure that it remains firmly in control of Andhra Pradesh, which has sent the largest contingent of Congressmen to the Lok Sabha.

Elections in Tamil Nadu in May 2011 have equal importance for the stability of the UPA-II Government. Both DMK and the Congress feel indispensable to each other. But so far, everything has gone the way the DMK supremo Mr Karunanidhi desired. Even before the Raja episode, tensions had surfaced at the state level over the DMK leader Mr Karunanidhi’s firm stand against power-sharing with Congress which has been supporting a minority government. The DMK Government was also blamed for taking credit for welfare programmes launched and funded by the Centre. This is a matter which was also noted by Ms. Sonia Gandhi during her last visit to Tamil Nadu.

Central leaders have held Mr Karunanidhi in esteem and often praised his leadership. In fact, the Congress spokesman spurned the offer of support from the AIDMK leader Ms. Jayalalithaa who had called for the dismissal of Mr Raja by the Prime Minister with the assurance that 18 of her party MPs would back the UPA Government. “Subsequently, on a visit to Madurai to attend the marriage of Mr Karunanidhi’s grandson, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee reiterated that “we have understood each other well and we will continue to work together for UPA to complete its remaining three and a half years”. Nevertheless, it is expected the central leadership would try to work out the arrangement for the forthcoming election in a manner acceptable to both sides as equal partners.

For the immediate future, UPA-chairperson and the Prime Minister must turn to put the organization and Government in a better shape and ensure effective performance without gaps as was palpable in regard to controlling inflation. Our policy-makers should take note of how vigorously China is tackling inflation, especially on the supply side, once CPI exceeded the official target of 3 per cent and reached 4,4 per cent in October. Monetary tightening was accompanied by administrative steps with a mix of price controls, subsidy to the most needy, warning against hoarders, and ensuring through local authorities supplies of grain, cooking oil, fertilisers, diesel and gas to consumers

Be that as it may, the Prime Minister and his colleagues must sit together and discuss how best to ensure that the Government’s image is not dented any further and that the Cabinet is seen to function with collective responsibility, that each Minister does not exceed the limits of his domain or lay down policies while relevant to his portfolio would have inter-ministerial implications, without clearance at the highest level.

Effective superintendence at the Ministerial levels is extremely important. Clear lines of responsibilities within the Ministries and accountability for results must be enforced. Greater transparency in the functioning of Government as a whole should become a wholesome feature. Since the Minister must bear constructive responsibility for any serious irregularities occurring within his area of jurisdiction, the policy-making, implementation and accountability at all levels have to be re-invigorated with a new determination to provide clean and effective administration with demonstrable results. The forces of vigilance must be strengthened to look out for evil-doers.

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister with all the high esteem in which he is held for integrity has been dragged into the 2G spectrum issue over certain delay in communication and has had to be answerable to the Supreme Court through an affidavit. This may be too secondary to the major issue of allegations against the Telecommunications Minister Mr A Raja who has already resigned to save himself and his party which has to fight elections within six months. In recent weeks, India’s economic success stories have been dwarfed by the reporting in the international press about corruption scandals coming fast one after the other and on how paradoxically, even a Prime Minister known for probity, is called upon by the Supreme court to make an explanation on a matter related to the spectrum scandal.

Political governance and effective delivery of public services must become hall-marks of efficiency if the Congress, which heads the Government, has to consolidate its strength over the next 18 months to be able successfully to complete its current term of office till 2014. The Bihar poll provides a lesson on how performance pays the way Chief Minister Nitish Kumar leading the JD(U)-BJP alliance sought and secured renewed mandate on the strength of development record of his government. Bihar proved barren for the Congress, with only 4 seats out of 243 it contested, and this underlines the enormity of the challenge that the party confronts, especially in UP in 2012. Rightly Ms. Sonia Gandhi said, “We have to start from the scratch”. (IPA Service)