OPINION: Singh was original darling of corporate India and western investors.
By Shobhan Saxena
SAO PAULO: Rahul Gandhi can still manage a smile. Stunned and shocked he may be with the crushing defeat the Congress party has suffered at the hands of Narendra Modi-led BJP, the Gandhi scion smiled a bit as he arrived at the party headquarters with his mother Sonia on Friday afternoon to concede defeat. “The Congress has done pretty badly, and there is a lot to think about … I hold myself responsible,” said Rahul. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing about 10 years of UPA rule. Nothing about the good work done by the alliance. Nothing about the social welfare programs launched by the party. Nothing about the party’s future plans.
Rahul has not only conceded the present, he seems to have given up on the future as well. Actually, Rahul was never meant to be Prime Minister of India. He is not the natural successor of Manmohan Singh. That honour undoubtedly goes to Narendra Modi. Strange it may sound, but the fact is it’s the 10 years of Manmohan Singh rule that made an opening for Modi in Delhi. It was during this time that Modi was able to transform himself from the “Butcher of Gujarat” to a “pro-business” leader. The original title holder was Manmohan Singh, the darling of corporate India and western investors who, ironically, turned their back on him after he was no longer useful.
Those with short-term memories may not remember, but it’s difficult to forget how Manmohan Singh used to get the same adulation – the great reformist — till a few years ago. After the 2004 elections, when Sonia Gandhi declined the prime minister’s post in favour of Manmohan Singh, the Indian corporations – biggest beneficiaries of the so-called economic reforms started by him in 1991 – became ecstatic with joy. And Singh didn’t disappoint them as he worked tirelessly on “opening up” the economy more – a euphemism for privatization of public units and services. Throughout his tenure of 10 years, whenever the Prime Minister was seen in public, it was generally at corporate events – from business award functions to talk fests by big media groups to lectures oragnised by lobby groups like the CII and FICCI. It’s impossible to recall a single instance of Manmohan Singh being seen in the “real India” – with farmers or rural workers or tribals or ordinary people in small towns.
The appointment of Manmohan Singh to the top post and his behavior as Prime Minister set a new mantra of governance: the only thing that mattered is economy; and the economy was all about allowing big corporations to do whatever they wanted to do, even it meant plundering of national resources for private profit. The so-called India growth story was the biggest scandal that happened on Manmohan Singh’s watch. All the sectors which created the illusion of growth — telecom, mining, coal, gas and real estate – turned out be multi-billion dollar scams. As these scams unfolded and union ministers and corporate honchos landed in jail, with the Supreme Court tightening its noose around the culprits, the India growth story came to a halt. And then the Indian Inc turned its back on Manmohan Singh for not doing enough to protect their interests, which, in their opinion, is their birth-right to gobble up precious national resources at throwaway prices – from telecom spectrum to coal to gas – and use it for windfall profits. With Manmohan Singh crippled by corruption allegations, the big corporations began to look for a new savior. And they found one in Narendra Modi, who, with the blot of 2002 riots, was desperate for an image make-over: from a divisive figure to a decisive leader.
Even as all this was unfolding in the Congress-led UPA’s second term, Rahul Gandhi was trying to position himself as the champion of the other India – the invisible India of the poor, tribals, dalits and the unwashed masses who have been left behind in the India growth story. In one of his speeches, he made the cardinal sin of saying there were “two Indias” and that he stands for the invisible one. That was like breaking the unwritten code of Indian politics: don’t talk about class conflict.
Even as Manmohan Singh’s government was rolling out the red carpet for big corporates, Rahul Gandhi was trying to “discover” the real India in its dark, forgotten corners. This set the alarm bells ringing in the corporate boardrooms. And with the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council pushing for big social welfare programmes like rural job guarantee scheme, right to food, right to education and right to information, the big money bags became deeply suspicious of the Congress leadership. They thought the Congress was going “Socialist” again. With Rahul Gandhi constantly talking about “empowering the marginalized”, the suspicion turned into fear.
And it was at this stage, sometime in 2010-11, that the corporate media launched an all-out war on the Congress, which has now resulted in its massive defeat. Make no mistake. Narendra Modi’s win is actually a big victory for India Inc, which was the biggest beneficiary of all big scams. They pumped massive resources – from money to men to executive jets and choppers to their media – in his almost six-month long campaign.
The way the Indian corporates and foreign investors have reacted to Modi’s victory (the stock exchanges are at record high even as the economy in growing at the slowest in 20 years) is a proof enough that their efforts to get a “business-friendly government” have succeeded. From “Manmohanomics” to “Modinomics” is a natural progression of things in Indian politics and polity. Having tasted the blood under Manmohan Singh’s 10-year rule, the Indian corporate sector has become more hungry and greedy. Now, they want a leader who is so “strong” that he delivers whatever they want without any concern for any rights or liberties. Narendra Modi is the natural successor of Manmohan Singh. He is the creation of 20-odd years of Manmohanomics. The aspirations created by Manmohanomics – for big corporations and the middle-class – can’t be fulfilled by a leader who talks of “two Indias”. It can only be done by “decisive” leader, even if he has blood on his hands.
A Rahul Gandhi-led government would have been seen as an impediment on the way India is progressing. He talked of two Indias. He seems to have lost both. He was spot on when he said he holds himself responsible for the party’s defeat. (Global India Newswire)
Shobhan Saxena is a Sao Paulo-based Indian journalist. He has reported for Times of India and The Hindu from South America. He is also a visiting professor of international politics at the University of Sao Paulo. Before moving to Brazil, he was a senior editor with Times of India in New Delhi