The PM stayed firm on the quantum of the hike but came up with a compromise formula to assuage Sonia Gandhi’s populist instincts.
NEW DELHI: There was a subtle message from Sonia Gandhi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Congress party’s unexpected opposition to the petrol price hike last week. Don’t take the Congress for granted, she seemed to be warning him.
Surprisingly, the PM rose to the challenge. He stayed firm on the quantum of the hike but came up with a compromise formula to assuage Gandhi’s populist instincts. Congress state governments have taken the lead in softening the blow by forgoing the sales tax component on the increased price.
The show has just begun. Faced with a resurgent Left that is riding high after its recent victories in West Bengal and Kerala, Gandhi seems to have decided that it is time the Congress started speaking out too. If it means clashing with the government on policy decisions that are perceived to be unpopular, so be it.
Congress sources said Gandhi conveyed this to both Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and the PM when they explained the rationale of the petrol price hike.
She is believed to have said that while she understood the government’s compulsions, the party had its compulsions too.
The element of competitive populism that is shadowing Congress thinking cannot but be a cause of concern for the government. Till recently, the PM had only the Left to contend with. Now, it looks like he will have to tackle an increasingly assertive and vocal Congress as well. He managed to stem the petrol price hike controversy with some deft footwork. It may not be so easy the next time the Congress decides to make an issue of a policy decision taken by the government.
The move to push an aggressive party line springs from growing concern in the Congress that it is being outmanoeuvred by the Left in popular perception. Congress leaders feel that the Left has stolen a march over them on a host of key issues, whether it is rising wheat and sugar prices, the Iran vote or the education quota for the OBCs. ``The party needs to recapture political space from the Left,’’ said a senior Congress leader, speaking privately.
Twin pressures from the Congress and the Left are bound to take their toll on the decision-making process. It took the government one month to bite the bullet and hike petrol prices. The anti-reservation stir played out in major cities across the country for 20 days before the government acted. Governor vacancies are yet to be filled, although some posts have been lying vacant for nearly six months. There is still no clarity on how to tackle the impasse created by the President on the Office of Profit bill. In other words, governance is slowing down.
Realising the difficulties that lie ahead, some ministers have suggested that a new mechanism be evolved for better coordination between the Congress party and the government. They feel that the core committee that meets every Friday has become unwieldy because of its large size. Gandhi and the PM will have to come to some arrangement if they don’t want governance to grind to a halt.
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