Mrs Gandhi's reputation as a strong leader deserves scrutiny

People believe that Mrs Gandhi is a strong prime-minister. Important people believe it. Industrialists, officials, journalists and politicians are sustained by a faith that in times of stress Mrs Gandhi's strength will see the country through. Mrs Gandhi herself seems to believe it.It is all to the good that a leader can generate buoyancy among people. But only if the leader is really so strong as to justify the hope. Otherwise there spreads the kind of euphoria which with tragic certitude presage disaster. Mrs Gandhi's reputation as a strong leader deserves scrutiny.Much of the reputation is a legacy from recent history, particularly the Bangladesh war. But 10 years after the event any dispassionate reappraisal would throw up conclusions which are far from flattering. The political appreciation was poor, the strategy confused and vital national interests overlooked. At crucial moments the Govemment appeared to lose its nerve.This view might be challenged. What cannot be challenged is the stark truth that 10 years after India's most decisive military victory the country finds itself back to square one. There is anarchy in the east and uncertainty in the west.The country's territorial claims remain unfulfilled, international disputes unresolved and security unsure. To what end, then, that great and costly victory? History would judge the performance of a government by effects more lasting than newspaper headlines.The euphoria continues. Today it is fed by Mrs Gandhi's response to the peccadillos involving errant chief ministers. Even in this there is much style with little substance, a flurry of gestures with few actions. The activity which swirls around a few chief ministers proves curiously sterile. Except in Jagannath Pahadia's case.Turning Point: What expectations did Pahadia belie to necessitate his removal? As the first Harijan chief minister of his state he proved fair game for the casteist cutthroats within the ruling party who stalked him for the kill from the day he was sworn in. The turning point came when Pahadia's supporters proved so rash as to shout slogans in his favour in Mrs Gandhi's presence without once raising their voice in homage to her name. That was the unforgivable sin.After conceding Mrs Gandhi's unchallenged authority withing her party the question remains - was Pahadia's removal an exhibition of her strength? In the circumstances attending it, it could be argued persuasively that it was more an exposure of her weakness. Undeniably, it requires more political strength to install such chinless wonders to high office than it does to remove them.What cannot be challenged is the stark truth that 10 years after India's most decisive military victory, the country finds itself back to square one. There is anarchy in the east and uncertainty in the west. To trace the dismissal in Rajasthan to a quest for better administration would fly in the face of facts. There is nothing so peculiar about Rajasthan as to induce exotic considerations such as the need for good administration to enter the calculations of Mrs Gandhi's Govemment. If scandals, indiscretions and maladministration had been the criteria for removing chief ministers, both Gundu Rao and Antulay would have long since been despatched to limbo.They continue to thrive in office. True, Gundu Rao had a recent brush with political death but he escaped unhurt. He was subjected to personal petulance by the prime minister and to private advice by intermediaries to shed controversial ministers and cultivate the press. The most indiscreet. scandal-prone and administratively incompetent chief minister thus obtained a reprieve. Does this episode signify Mrs Gandhi's strength?What might be glossed over is the Government's inability to deal effectively with the parallel economy, the power gneration, the grain procurement, the Assam imbroglio, the incomplete cabinet formation, and many like problems which by now have become perennial.It would be unfair to adduce a lack of strength by such failures which might equally be traced to that in-competence for which Mrs Gandhi's cabinet has earned wide notoriety. But what about the conduct of foreign affairs, long considered to be Mrs Gandhi's personal forte?Hidden Facts: Mrs Gandhi's lack of strength in her favourite domain of policy-making remains hidden only because facts remain hidden from the public. The news agency report disclosing the F-16 offer to India by America, though with a derated engine, was but the tip of the iceberg.Through negotiations that offer could have been improved. At the least it could have pre-empted America's present offer to Pakistan. The list of other ineptitudes by the Government in its dealings with America is disconcertingly long.It is not widely known how an Indian defence team mishandled the $ 800 million (Rs 640 crore) military aid component offered by America late last year. While in Washington the team when confronted by the standard agreement for such deals America puts up before recipient nations, prevaricated and sought changes in the draft. The American State Department complied. But then, inexplicably, the team returned home without signing the agreement.India sends military officers to several countries on exchange programmes every year. Inexplicably, without the courtesy even of informing the hosts, Indian officers were not sent to America last year. The Americans cannot be blamed for feeling slighted.After Narasimha Rao issued a brave statement in Pakistan respecting that country's right to purchase arms there was a quick volte-face by Mrs Gandhi after Pakistan announced the F-16 offer. Does such loss of nerve suggest political strength?All this could have been attributed to incompetence had there not emerged a distinct pattern betraying a foreign policy tilt which argues weakness. This view is reinforced by the ruling party's breathless announcement that it seeks to establish fraternal ties with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Worse, it seeks fraternal ties with the communist Party of Italy, a country which has multi-party democracy. Mrs Gandhi's willingness to explore a settlement with Pakistan under the aegis of the Soviet Union. evinced by her reported decision to visit Moscow this autumn, renders even more relevant an appraisal of her so-called strength.It were far better, in fact, for Mrs Gandhi to draw strength from the people than for people to draw comfort from her strength.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 15, 2013 10:38 IST--- ENDS ---

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Mrs Gandhi's reputation as a strong leader deserves scrutiny

People believe that Mrs Gandhi is a strong prime-minister. Important people believe it. Industrialists, officials, journalists and politicians are sustained by a faith that in times of stress Mrs Gandhi's strength will see the country through. Mrs Gandhi herself seems to believe it.

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