No more seventies

The Congress party’s inept political reaction to Anna Hazare’s movements has been the major contributing factor to allowing Anna Hazare’s “movement” the degree of mindspace it occupies today. And even after that,the party seems to have been unable to operate in these times with the wisdom they require. Consider,for instance,how party spokesperson Manish Tewari’s poorly thought-out accusation that Hazare was corrupt elided much of the truth. Remember: that accusation came after the government had made conceded space to him as part of the “joint drafting committee.” The back-and-forth trick that the Congress has played shows that at no point has it taken the long view; it has hurt its own cause because it has consistently reacted — or over-reacted — on the instincts of the moment.

And those instincts are too often way off-base. Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi on Wednesday accused the US of being behind the Hazare-led protests. Taking off on an ill-advised reference by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Lok Sabha to “many forces” that would not like to “see India realise its true place in the comity of nations”,Alvi asked: “Who are these forces?” He then proceeded to answer his question: “What was the need for America to state that Anna’s movement should go on? This creates doubt and suspicion.” (A junior US state department official at a daily briefing had been asked about the protests in India and said little more than that the US believes in freedom of dissent,and that India,as a democracy,no doubt shared those values,and would let protests continue.) Alvi went on to wonder how the Hazare team had managed to fund itself,implying again that the US was responsible: “We should find out the forces that are working behind this movement… What are the reasons,and why is the US supporting this movement?” With Alvi’s off-base rant,the 2010 Congress’s similarity to the statist,defensive,“foreign hand”-blaming Congress of the 1970s seems to have become complete.

That the Congress’s politics in the public glare has been so awful is another reminder of the importance of Parliament. Of course,the opposition scored a few good points at the Congress-led government’s expense,but the very give-and-take of argument that raised the level of debate somewhat restored the executive’s equilibrium. The Congress must strive for a more coherent,far-sighted political strategy — and learn to respect Parliament more.