Congress leader Kapil Sibal had much to say about the Narendra Modi government's one year on his recent visit to Mumbai. Excerpts from an interview with Kanchan Srivastava:
The Narendra Modi government is completing one year in office. How do you rate its performance?
In the last one year, Modi has toured the world for 53 days, while he toured India for only 48 days. He says he has brought good luck to the country, that even global oil prices have come down and he says the world trusts him. He has been able to project his larger than life image among NRIs. These are all great achievements, but we only see Modi and nobody else. So it is really “achhe din” for Modi. There is nothing on ground, other than that.
Modi has a mandate of five years, but you're marking him as 'failed' within a year?
We are not marking him failed. Modi has failed himself. People are assessing his government's poor performance. Have you seen any student writing his own report card? Modi and Arun Jaitley are writing their own report cards. We never showcased our achievements. None of the poll promises have been fulfilled till now. He had said in the Nanded rally in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls that he would ensure cases of all tainted MPs fast-tracked and disposed off within a year. Now his 21 ministers face various charges. His promises on reducing crimes against women, bringing black money from abroad have also fallen flat. Modi is obsessed with himself and his image. He must know that Newton's law of gravity applies to him as well. Things which go up, also come down.
What is your take on the National Judicial Appointment Commission?
People need-justice for all. Instead of filling up vacancies, improving infrastructure of courts, the Modi government sought to control the judiciary and saffronise the appointments through NJAC. This is not going to work.
But wasn't the NJAC Bill was passed by the Parliament unanimously?
True, but I had opposed the Bill even then. There is a dangerous clause in the Bill which says that two people in the NJAC can stop any appointment. The collegium system has its flaws, but NJAC is worse.
Former MoS for coal Dasari Narayan Rao has pointed fingers at former PM Manmohan Singh for taking the 'final decision' in the coal allocation scam. How do you see his involvement in the case?
There was no scam in the coal allocation. The allocation method was being used since the time of the PV Narsimha Rao government. The Vajpayee government continued with the method. No Congress leader or minister is accused of taking any favour or bribe in the so-called scam which was just the creation of the opposition and the media.
A lot of changes are being brought in at the HRD ministry that you once headed.
Worse things have happened in the education sector in the past one year, forcing even eminent scientist like Anil Kakodkar to voice his concerns. We all know about the appointments made in the ICHR, RK Shevgaonkar’s resignation as IIT-Delhi director and then the attempt to castigate Delhi Vice Chancellor. These are not healthy signs. If such people are protesting, it means something is wrong. What other news is the ministry making?
You had been instrumental in getting JEE the national admission test for engineering. However, many states didn't join it and those which joined it and abolished state-level tests are contemplating to go back to state-level exams. Do you admit that the consultation with states was inadequate then?
That is not true. All states were consulted enough. There must be some vested interest for doing state-level tests.
We have been hearing about a revamp of the Congress party under the guidance of Rahul Gandhi.
We will see changes.
What is your assessment of Rahul Gandhi version 2.0? He raised the Amethi food-park issue which turned out to be a non-issue.
You can see the impact of it. About Amethi park, I don't have much knowledge. But when Rahul Gandhi has raised it, there must be substance in it.
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