People's Democracy

Harkishan Singh Surjeet

STUNG by criticism from some of the Sangh Parivar outfits and recently by the RSS itself, and finding it difficult to cope with the dissentions within the ruling NDA, more so after the recent cabinet reshuffle, prime minister Vajpayee has sought to pose as if he is a man of will power who will eventually overcome all these hurdles. This is what he tries to convey to us through his exclusive interview to The Indian Express given on September 9 (published on September 11), in fact to Shekhar Gupta who is regarded as close to the prime minister. Nay, his very words which the paper used as the caption of the interview, sound (Don) Quixotic: "People say I bend easily. When did I bend? On nuclear tests?"

Then, just a day after Vajpayee’s interview to the paper (September 10), the RSS criticised his government through its spokesman M G Vaidya and, in the words of the same paper, "sought to distance itself from the government." Vaidya appeared so incensed with the government’s policies that he did not even spare Madan Dass Devi who acts as the "interface between the RSS and the government." Vaidya’s frustration was evident from the query he made: "Is he an interface only with the government?"

Only a few days ago the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (an RSS outfit) had allowed the former defence minister, George Fernandes, to use its forum to give vent to his ire against the government.

First we come to what was the central point of Vajpayee interview to The Indian Express. Having dwelt at length on his views about India’s relations with Pakistan and the Kargil war, he comes to the question of economy that has of late been a thorn in his flesh. A clever politician that he is, he does admit that he has not been able to do much in this sphere, but immediately offers a ready-made justification of his failure. He says: "Until now, I was more concerned with the survival of the government. It’s a 24-party coalition; there should be political stability." This was indeed the prelude to his bombastic declaration that there is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with his economic policies and therefore he will now implement the same policies with a renewed thrust. In the name of introspection, if any, Vajpayee has only this to say: "The situation is tough. But it hasn’t gone out of control. The steps we have taken will show results."

Little does Vajpayee realise, in fact little is he prepared to accept, that the steps he talks about have already shown results during the last ten years which are deceptively called the years of "reform." Is it not a fact that the poverty ratio again increased in 1994-95 after coming down all along? Is it not a fact that the rate of foodgrain production has again fallen below the rate of population growth? Is it not true that lakhs of industrial units have closed down in this period and a large number of people have been rendered jobless? Is it not true that rupee has become most vulnerable vis-à-vis the hard currencies and the Vajpayee government has been unable to halt its precipitous slide? These are, however, only a few bitter pieces of reality of the period. If Vajpayee likes, we can quote for his benefit a number of other products and byproducts of the same LPG regime that his government is hell bent on pushing ahead.

The starvation deaths in Kashipur in Orissa, side by side the FCI’s overflowing godowns with 61 lakh tonnes of grains has only added a most ugly and detestable feather to the Vajpayee regime’s cap.

And it is the same LPG regime which the prime minister has now promised to push ahead. Only a day before the said interview, the self-same economic advisers of the government had already said what their prime minister said a day later --- that there is nothing wrong with the policies; only the pace of their implementation has not been what it should have been! This is the way the regime’s unabashed proponents are bent on justifying these suicidal policies.

And what is the reason that the supporters of the LPG regime are not prepared to see what is only too obvious? In his reply to a question about the "freebies" offered by the NDA allies "like the Akalis in Punjab," Vajpayee says: "But they are now learning. They know we cannot bring in money from anywhere. The state governments’ finances are in a mess. Now tougher question will be asked before any money is given out."

The question is: Who will ask tougher questions before giving out any money? Is it the centre that will dictate terms to the states before giving out any money? Or, is it the masters abroad who will ask such questions? Or, more pertinently, is it the masters abroad who are pressing the central government and the latter is, in turn, trying to browbeat the states and make them fall in line?

No idle question this is. The fact is that the LPG policies are being implemented at the instance of the US-led imperialist powers, and that the IMF-World Bank-WTO trio is serving as the instrument of these very powers. The way the NDA government withdrew the quantitative restrictions on agricultural imports, is yet another pointer to the fact that the government is doing only what these masters abroad are bidding it to do, at the cost of the Indian people.

In his interview, Vajpayee conveniently forgot that if the states’ finances are in a mess, the centre is also responsible for it.

The interview is also remarkable for its unashamed defence of the finance minister. Vajpayee says Simha "spoke the truth when he said he did not know" about what was going on in the UTI or stock market and this, to Vajpayee, proves Simha’s honesty. Strange logic! Something happens under the finance minister’s nose and he is ignorant. Was he sleeping?

It is here that the RSS and its outfits enter the picture. That the BJP-led regime is engendering discontent all over is no secret. The way the BJP and its allies badly suffered in Tamilnadu and Assam assembly elections and in Andhra local bodies, is one pointer to this fact, among many others. And now comes a most unmistakable proof of this discontent. Orissa chief minister Navin Patnaik of the BJD, a BJP ally and a partner in the central government, recently faced the wrath of the people when he visited the Kashipur villages where more than two dozen starvation deaths have been reported. (See "on file" in this issue.) The episode well demonstrated that people are capable of chasing to the other side of the globe such persons and parties as are out to make their life hellish.

The RSS well realises the depth of this mass discontent and has pushed to the fore its outfits like the Jagaran Manch to shout against the Vajpayee government’s policies. This is something like trying to have both worlds in its hands. This is but an attempt to exploit this discontent and mould it into divisive channels.

There is one more reason for the RSS’ uneasiness with the BJP-led government. For decades, it has been trying to polarise the Indian masses on communal lines in the hope that once it gets hold of the central government, it will be able to do much in the direction of realising a theocratic state in the country. But now the RSS cadres feel that the Vajpayee government is failing to do much in this regard. It is not that the Vajpayee government has done nothing in this regard. The way the HRD ministry is functioning, has already created a lot of apprehension about the future of the country and its secular edifice, its Ganga-Jamni culture and its syncretic ethos. Also, there is now no sector where the large-scale RSS penetration is not seen. But the RSS is not content with the pace of communalisation and infiltration under the Vajpayee government, and the VHP has already threatened an agitation in case the ground for temple construction is not cleared by March 12 next year.

The RSS is particularly incensed over the fact that the coalition politics has forced the BJP to keep issues like temple construction, article 370 and common civil code out of the NDA’s agenda. This was what M G Vaidya indicated when he said: "We are not going to bind ourselves by the compulsions of coalition politics." And this despite the fact that BJP leaders have given ample indications that they care a hoot for the NDA agenda!

It is in such an unenviable situation that Vajpayee has been doing his acrobatics off and on. One can indeed take pity on him that the poor fellow has to please two masters at the same time. On the one hand, he has to assure the IMF-WB-WTO and US imperialists that he is the best man in India to do their bidding and that he will not leave any stone unturned to thrust their policies down the Indian people’s throats. On the other hand, he has also to mollify his superiors in the RSS that he is ever prepared to do what they want him to do. Forget his earlier statements from Straten Island or from Kerala, his quite recent statement about clearing the ground for temple construction by next March and his meeting with the RSS chief were aimed at this very mollification, regardless of what the NDA allies may think or say.

Yet, one need not harbour any confusion or illusion regarding the RSS-BJP relations. The bourgeois media have done their best to make a distinction between the BJP, on the one hand, and the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, etc, on the other. They also try to project Vajpayee as a moderate who is a misfit in the parivar. But the fact is that no BJP leader, including Vajpayee, can ever go against the Nagpur establishment. Nor can the RSS, in its turn, dispense with the BJP that is its political mask. As the RSS was, after the Gandhi assassination, forced by circumstances to project itself as a cultural organisation, it cannot directly participate in politics and replace the BJP. Thus, despite slight differences in perception here and there, they both are birds of the same flock and are incomplete without each other. As for the present economic policies, the fact is that the RSS has all along been a staunch advocate of these very policies, including military tie-up with the USA and support to the USA on all international issues. Can it really give up the BJP that is pushing up these very policies?

Behind Vajpayee’s interview also lurks the shadow of opposition from some of the allies. The recent cabinet reshuffle has caused a lot of heartburn among the allies, including Shiv Sena. Paswan, Sharad Yadav and George are trying to put up united opposition to the big brother, and the latest moves of labour law ‘reforms’ have given them an opportunity for it. Rightly or wrongly, it is also being said that Yadav and Paswan were shifted out from their ministries only because they were creating obstacles for Air India privatisation and labour law ‘reforms’ respectively. Still, one is yet to see whether they are true to their professed opposition to the anti-worker moves or whether their opposition is motivated by the fact that they have been shunted out of their plum portfolios.

Also, the way Vajpayee has expressed his desire to enlist Congress support for his anti-people policies only shows how desperate he feels about the future of his government and party. His plea is that the policies he is pursuing were initiated by the Congress regime in 1991 and are being followed by Congress-run state governments. At the level of facts, this is true. But a plain untruth is his assertion that their exists "a national consensus" on these policies. No such consensus has there been in the last ten years, nor can there be in future, as these policies are out and out anti-people, anti-national and suicidal. It is known that the Left has always been a vocal critic of these policies. Now all the Lok Morcha constituents as well as other democratic and secular forces have to raise public awareness and launch campaigns on these issues. (The CPI(M) is already in the midst of such a nationwide campaign.) This is the way the emergence of a third alternative can be catalysed in the coming days.