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The Order of the Phoenix
When the history of contemporary India is written, Man Mohan Singh will find a special place in the pages of history.. Never before has an Indian leader gone on to the extent of sacrificing his government for the sake of a policy issue, one that he believes will take India beyond the shackles of energy slavery, and foreign dependence. His image of an efficient and focused man is enhanced, and India looks to him for redemption.
The debate over the vote of confidence in parliament raged for over twelve hours, some nice, some not so nice moments passed, though only very few speakers managed to make an impact. The he speech by Omar Abdullah told India that its gen-next leaders were here, and that they were willing to put national interest before petty politics. Another leader who made an impact was Union minister, Lalu Yadav, who left the house pealing with roars of laughter, while putting across the point. Difficult to imagine someone like Lalu talk about the nuances of a complicated nuclear deal, but then Lalu is no ordinary politician. Am sure he will sell the deal to the rural populace back in his home state.. Amidst all this, there were the usual charges of horse-trading that accompany a trust-vote, and some evidence of the same..
While taking things into perspective, we must note that while the Leader of the Opposition attacked the government in general, and also the ruling alliance, he refrained from making any specific attacks on the deal in itself, indicating that the deal, as such has an in-principle support from them, leave aside the rhetoric.. The biggest winner is without doubt the Prime Minister, he stands tall, and now is his chance to take up the reforms agenda with a renewed vigour.. Experience shows that mid-way through their term, governments lose the will to 'govern' and then, anti-incumbency build up.. While Man Mohan Singh can be accused of the same, now, he has a chance to redeem himself, and prove his worth, not just to his party, and the nation, but the world as a whole.. He has risen like a phoenix, and the signals that crucial reforms will be put on the fast track is a sign of the same.
No brownie points for guessing the biggest loser, it has been proven beyond doubt that to do politics in India, your policies must have grass-root support and be connected to the people, unlike certain 'leaders' who still talk about text-book philosophies, and draw their power from a mysterious source, not linked in any way to the electorate. Lasting impressions of this debate will be the impartial stance of the speaker, and the fact that despite the potshots taken at each other during the debate on the motion of confidence, here they are, the PM and the Leader of the Opposition, greeting, and smiling at each other, less than 24 hours after the acrimonious debate. This I think represents the pivot on which Indian democracy is based upon.
With this vote, the parliament has voted to give us access to the cleanest source of energy available, and examples from world leaders in nuclear technology show that not only is it efficient, it is also much cheaper than conventional sources.. I know we are not known for carpe diem, and it may take us much more than a decade to reap the benefits of this deal, but so it the case with any major policy.. Remember Rajiv Gandhi, and the computer revolution. The real fruits came at the turn of the millennium, almost a decade after he was no more.. But still, I have my hopes based on the fact that India has a good PM, and he is doing something right..
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The debate over the vote of confidence in parliament raged for over twelve hours, some nice, some not so nice moments passed, though only very few speakers managed to make an impact. The he speech by Omar Abdullah told India that its gen-next leaders were here, and that they were willing to put national interest before petty politics. Another leader who made an impact was Union minister, Lalu Yadav, who left the house pealing with roars of laughter, while putting across the point. Difficult to imagine someone like Lalu talk about the nuances of a complicated nuclear deal, but then Lalu is no ordinary politician. Am sure he will sell the deal to the rural populace back in his home state.. Amidst all this, there were the usual charges of horse-trading that accompany a trust-vote, and some evidence of the same..
While taking things into perspective, we must note that while the Leader of the Opposition attacked the government in general, and also the ruling alliance, he refrained from making any specific attacks on the deal in itself, indicating that the deal, as such has an in-principle support from them, leave aside the rhetoric.. The biggest winner is without doubt the Prime Minister, he stands tall, and now is his chance to take up the reforms agenda with a renewed vigour.. Experience shows that mid-way through their term, governments lose the will to 'govern' and then, anti-incumbency build up.. While Man Mohan Singh can be accused of the same, now, he has a chance to redeem himself, and prove his worth, not just to his party, and the nation, but the world as a whole.. He has risen like a phoenix, and the signals that crucial reforms will be put on the fast track is a sign of the same.
No brownie points for guessing the biggest loser, it has been proven beyond doubt that to do politics in India, your policies must have grass-root support and be connected to the people, unlike certain 'leaders' who still talk about text-book philosophies, and draw their power from a mysterious source, not linked in any way to the electorate. Lasting impressions of this debate will be the impartial stance of the speaker, and the fact that despite the potshots taken at each other during the debate on the motion of confidence, here they are, the PM and the Leader of the Opposition, greeting, and smiling at each other, less than 24 hours after the acrimonious debate. This I think represents the pivot on which Indian democracy is based upon.
With this vote, the parliament has voted to give us access to the cleanest source of energy available, and examples from world leaders in nuclear technology show that not only is it efficient, it is also much cheaper than conventional sources.. I know we are not known for carpe diem, and it may take us much more than a decade to reap the benefits of this deal, but so it the case with any major policy.. Remember Rajiv Gandhi, and the computer revolution. The real fruits came at the turn of the millennium, almost a decade after he was no more.. But still, I have my hopes based on the fact that India has a good PM, and he is doing something right..
