In power or in opposition, responsibility, challenges increase

New Delhi: “Inflation is an immediate problem and it will be controlled in time. There is enough food grains in the country. Production of pulses and oilseeds are also good. The only problem is to provide jobs to the educated unemployed, for which the government has to undertake large-scale construction work. The attitude of the people (towards employment) will have to change. People’s interest has to be increased towards labour or business instead of merely job.” You may understand this is a quote of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But almost a similar perception was articulated by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a senior minister in the Janata Party government, in 1978. Vajpayee had narrated this to me in an interview with the weekly ‘Hindustan’. A copy of the interview is still with me. At that time, Janata Party government, led by Morarji Desai consisted of old Congressmen, socialists and experienced leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, including Atalji. Such a government naturally faced many challenges and mutual conflicts.
Flip to the rising inflation rate now. The opposition’s stout protest in parliament and the BJP government’s response have brought one reality to the fore: No matter how much times may change, the responsibilities and challenges of those in power and the opposition remain almost the same. It would be appropriate to give one more example in this context. The Janata Party government could not last more than two years and Indira Gandhi’s Congress government came to power in the mid-term elections. While addressing an important conference in Delhi on March 1980, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said, “Although India has become relatively self-dependent on food grains, there is a problem of malnutrition. So basically, the problem is to provide employment.” Therefore, it has to be accepted that problems like inflation, unemployment or issues like health, pollution, water, electricity and the responsibility of dealing with regional and local disputes lie with the ruling party. No other democratic country in the world has as many political parties as there are in our country. Along with the national political parties, regional parties and newly formed parties also come to power from time to time. A party’s movements for power, promises etc. are understandable, but after coming to power, its responsibilities multiply manifold. The latest case is of Aam Aadmi Party. As soon as it came to power in Punjab for the first time, it passed a resolution on Chandigarh in the Legislative Assembly. This issue is not new, it has been there since the partition of Haryana-Punjab and being a border region, it is more necessary to keep it unionized in recent years. Then for Haryana also, the right of Hindi speaking people or river-dam issue has been related to the decisions of the governments and the court. Shouldn’t it be a priority of the Aam Aadmi Party to improve Punjab’s health services, take steps against drug menace, tackle stubble burning by farmers and getting the right price for crop, develop industry, and improve the economic condition? Two weeks later, not only the party’s convenor, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, but also the new Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann set out on election campaign for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, while elections are to be held after six months. Delhi is basically a city and here various government apparatus such as DDA, municipal corporations along with ministers and MLAs of Kejriwal are here to run the show, but Punjab has been affected by disturbances, corruption and crime of the Akali Congress Raj and to some extent terrorism. Shouldn’t the Chief Minister and the party focus on the state by putting more and more energy?
The tendency to ignore the duties associated with democratic rights has increased in recent years. In the federal structure, countries like Germany, America have governments of different parties in the state and at the Centre. Differences also come to the fore quite often, but there are no political conflicts like in India. Will the FBI there not have the right to work in any part of the country or will stop any of its high-ranking officials from performing duties by keeping them in local police custody? In West Bengal and Maharashtra, such strange and serious incidents are common. Ministers or leaders of Maharashtra are sent to jail on serious charges of corruption worth thousands of crores and the state government is defending them as if they are freedom fighters. If proven innocent in court, any party can give importance or respect to them, but before that, the moral responsibility of keeping distance lies with the ruling party. Similarly, after coming to power twice in Delhi, to what extent will the claim of not having arrogance or ministers, MLAs are not tainted and their illegal assets worth crores not being investigated, be justified?
However, there is no doubt that due to the good success in the recent elections in four states and majority government at the Centre too, the responsibility of ministers, MPs, MLAs, councilors, and workers of the organization is at the peak. That is why in the party’s foundation day and in the meeting of MPs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all the members to be in constant touch with the people, help in resolving their problems and to inform and benefit from the programs of public interest and welfare of the Government of India or the state governments. The emphasis is on being continuously active. Even now, people in many areas are facing socio-economic problems. One of the reasons for the defeat in many constituencies of Uttar Pradesh has been the lack of local candidates and workers. In the capital Delhi, the BJP organization is still largely dependent on digital connectivity instead of direct contact. The condition of Congress is very bad in most of the states. Mere statements, symbolic dharnas and cliched agitations do not solve problems of people, nor can they win their trust. Democracy can be safe only if the ruling party or the opposition is constantly responsible for the country’s problems and public interests.
The writer is editorial director of ITV Network-India News and Aaj Samaj Dainik.