End the political siege on reforms

It may sound impossible to reach a consensus, but just remember that politics is the art of the impossible

Last Friday, Supreme Court judge A.K. Sikri weighed in on the eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), something that has caused legislative paralysis for the past two sessions of Parliament. Unfortunately, the intervention, which can be key to resolving the face-off, was buried in the cacophony that passes for debate, both in the electronic media and between the two political parties.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, he very pertinently observed, “If a few parties can come together to form a government with a minimum common programme, why can’t all the parties think of a minimum common programme in the interest of the country?”

The judge then went on to elaborate: “Why not have certain issues, those issues which will be for economic development, maybe social issues also, and other kinds of issues? Why should we not shed our party politics, come together, sit together, all the leaders of the different parties, and devise some common programme for the development of the country? It may include GST (goods and services tax), it may include SEZs (special economic zones), it may include even land acquisition.”

In Saturday’s edition, Mint ran a survey conducted by instaVaani, which had some revealing results. Not that three out of four people surveyed believed that the Congress was wrong in obstructing Parliament. Significant, but it is obvious to all (except perhaps the Congress).

More importantly, the survey revealed that an overwhelming proportion—nine out of 10 people—say political parties need to collectively take responsibility and accord priority to legislative business. In other words, judge Sikri and the people—both of whom have elected our politicians—are sending out a singular message: The time has come to strike a consensus.

It may sound impossible, given the complete breakdown in communication between both sides. But just remember that politics is the art of the impossible. Even better, there is evidence that this has been done—all it requires is sage leadership on both sides. And revealingly, the example involves the two central actors in the ongoing drama, the Congress and the BJP.

In 1995, Gujarat inked a loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to fund long overdue structural reforms in the state. It was path-breaking as it was the first time that a state government had directly negotiated with a multilateral lending agency—normally the Union government would negotiate and then pass on the funds. Now, this trend is passé.

The ADB had one condition though: there should be political consensus on the economic reform agenda, which included politically tricky issues like overhaul of the state’s fiscal rules, public sector reform and a greater role for the private sector in economic activity.

What transpired was seminal. Both the Congress and the BJP, which between them have ruled the state since it was formed, jointly signed off on a reform blueprint—committing not to disturb the agenda, regardless of who was in power. This consensus paved the way for reform, a key reason the state turned around and was able to be part of India’s unprecedented growth trajectory when it launched at the turn of the millennium.

On the 20th anniversary of the pact, it may be a perfect moment for both political parties to do an encore. For the Congress, it can understandably hurt as it would have to grudgingly hand over the baton to the BJP, which is now taking over as the central pole of Indian politics. To the BJP, it means overcoming their instinctive desire for payback for the targeting of its current leadership all these years.

It may sound naive to think so. But then, history tell us it can be done and the instaVaani survey says it should be done.

The writing is on the wall. Very rarely do countries get a second chance at redemption. India is one of the lucky ones. Let us not blow it once again.