O J's Corner : Reflections

Damp squib

Immediately before the Assembly elections, Congress and the DIC(K) leaders had apparently come to a patch-up. The leaders had given an impression that there was still a semblance of love left with them towards each other party

But the ordinary mortals, the voters, thought otherwise. They had reckoned the fact that there was no love lost between the two parties.

Ordinary human beings could not comprehend how a party which had belittled Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her coterie could come to terms with the UDF bandwagon.

The leaders might declare it from the roof-top that everything is hunky dory, but the masses do not take everything for granted. Their only opportunity to hit back comes during the election times. They exposed the damp squib.

Likewise, in the LDF, which was preferred by the electorate to the battered UDF, the leaders might be living in a dream world, now that power has come to them. This is not without strings attached. People cannot be hoodwinked.

CPM leader V S Achuthanandan’s was a heroic comeback from doomed oblivion. A substantial number of the party cadres and the people at large came to his rescue.

They wanted to know whether he would deliver the goods. As far as he is concerned, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, for the party is big brotherly. It does not brook individualism.

Achuthanandan tried his best to retain the Vigilance portfolio with him, but the party would have none of his penchant for altruism. He wanted a straightforward government that would deal with the erring high and mighty sans mercy.

That the Chief Minister has the final say about all matters, including Home and Vigilance, is euphemism for bypassing his wishes. If the Home Minister wants an investigation in a particular way, he can go ahead with it. The Chief Minister cannot always be watching over the action or inaction of a Minister. He is only first among the equals. If he had the Vigilance portfolio with him, he could have flaunted the ultimate State-level inquisition before his other equals. Still all is not lost, for he is left with some prerogatives.

In a democratic set-up, particularly in a coalition government, there are inherent limitations. However, the individual in a Chief Minister matters. He can ride the crest of the moral high.

Everybody knows that Achuthanandan’s intentions are clear, even if his hands are fettered.

High-falutin claims would do no good to the commoners. They want results. Let us hope everything about this government would not be a damp squib. Achuthanandan has nothing to lose at the fag end of his political career. And so let him deliver, with all the shortcomings.