In Defence of the Regional Party

Unlike the two party systems of the US or UK, our political landscape suffers from an alphabet soup of parties with about fifty expected to have representation in the 2009 Lok Sabha. It arouses frustration and indignation, particularly among the die-hard supporters of the BJP and the Congress. Stock markets hate them for the uncertainty they induce. Businesses find them impediments to progress. Several of them may win no seats whatsoever and have no more than nuisance value. However these regional parties are playing an incredibly vital role in the maturation of the Indian democracy and it would be erroneous to view their emergence only in a negative light.

It is important to recognise that regional parties are a result of the failures of the Congress and BJP. The failure has been at two primary levels - inability to address the social and economic concerns of various sections of an incredibly diverse country and failure to produce leaders with sufficient local appeal. Regional parties have filled that space by representing local concerns and having stronger leaders at their helm. The Congress is paying the price for decades of a high command driven organisation with no leadership talent being nurtured at the grassroot levels. The BJP is suffering for its inability to shape a more inclusive and universal appeal. The fact that both the BJP and Congress have been reduced to single digits in UP, is as much an indicator of the strength of Mayavati and Mulayam as the decline of Congress and BJP organizations. Till the Congress and BJP get their local organizations vitalized with effective leadership at local levels and greater mass appeal, they will have to keep whining about the existence of these parties.

There are several misconceptions and myths surrounding regional parties which are not exactly borne out by the facts.

A popular perception is that regional parties do not care for national agendas and are hence detrimental to national governance and progress. Reality is that there isn't a single headline issue which appeals to the entire nation or even if it does, no party is seen to have a better solution than the other, e.g. terrorism. For decades national issues were seemingly important whether it be poverty or corruption but the country is moving beyond slogans. The results of any government’s performance are visible at the local level and how they impact the quality of life. The disconnect was never more obvious than between the BJP's "India Shining" campaign and our rank of 128th in the Human Development Index. The verdict on the BJPs attempt at this feel-good nationalist fantasy was damning. Definition of overarching national issues grossly undermines the diversity of issues which plague the country and the existence of countless aggrieved groups. One can argue that regional parties are political entrepreneurs providing a voice to these groups and attempting to wrangle solutions that address the real issues that matter to people.

Another myth is that the crème de la crème of ministerial talent is with the Congress or BJP and hence they can provide much better governance. Nothing can be farther from the truth. For instance, in the UPA government, three of the best minsters were Lalu (RJD), Raghuvansh Prasad (RJD) and Dayanidhi Maran (DMK). Lalu's railway achievements are well known. Raghuvansh Prasad has been the quiet overachiever as the Rural Development Minister. 181000 km of rural roads, coverage of rural sanitation program went from 19% to 59% are among his major achievements. Not a mere populist, Prasad's has left behind a mammoth system of direct funds distribution of over 5 crore bank and post office NREGA accounts, in one masterstroke bringing more people in the banking system than any other measure. P.C. Gupta, the Corporate Affairs minister whose deft handling of the Satyam affair is also from the RJD. There are others from the regional parties who were terrible but they shared that dubious honour evenly with Congress ministers. Incompetence is not the unique preserve of regional parties.

A frequent charge against these parties is that they have no consistent political ideology and are driven by political expediency. It is laughable that such a charge is levelled by the two national parties given their own records of convenient embraces to be in power. In terms of ideology, both parties engage in fairly dangerous posturing which leaves you wondering where they stand vis-à-vis their stated positions. Take the BJP's doublespeak regarding the Ram Mandir. The manifesto clearly states the intent to build the mandir but the "softer" faces in popular media point out that in spite of being in power in the late 90s, the BJP did not push for it. The Congress has the secular, inclusive positioning yet it fails to take any action in Mumbai when thugs of the MNS/ Shiv Sena routinely attack non-Marathis and Muslims on frivolous pretexts. My friends in either camp will point out that it is politics and strangely that is exactly what they accuse the smaller parties of.

A feature of parliamentary democracy is that each voter is faced with a difficult decision - whether to vote for the best representative for one's constituency or the government in Delhi. For several decades, voters seemed to have exercised the latter option. It was Indira or Rajiv or Vajpayee at the expense of electing the best representative for the constituency. MPs who spent most of their elected tenures in Delhi rather than with those who elected them became the norm. Over the last two decades, voters' are engaging in a more nuanced decision making process balancing the choices and issues in front of them rather than being swayed by one headline concern or the other. It would be naive to assume that they have no concern for national issues. Problem is there are very few candidates who can claim to strike the right balance across the multiple concerns and till we have such candidates, the pendulum will keep swinging. Competition from a source which is closer to the people has come in the form of these regional parties. The onus is on the Congress and BJP to get down to the grassroots level and bring people to the fore who can provide the local leadership and real actions which the people really need. This is Surf vs Nirma in the political marketplace. Blaming the consumer for selecting an "inferior" product will go nowhere hence the whining must stop.

Admittedly it is not all hunky dory with the regional parties either. The BSP and SP have more candidates with criminal records than the others. Neither do many of these parties have any clarity on their stance on various issues. The BSP did not even consider it worthwhile preparing a manifesto. Yet as much as we might wish, reality is an orderly two party system is more feasible in a monocultural society where taxes and abortion are election issues than roti-kapda-makaan and bijli-sadak-paani. In our fragmented and stratified society with polar opposite developmental landscape, it is not going to follow an orderly script and we have to get used to these parties being part of our political landscape

The Satyam Drama and Non-State Actors

The Satyam saga has rounded off a double whammy with the Mumbai attacks giving us our very own version of 9/11 and Enron in close succession. The magnitude of the fraud is jaw dropping but the mechanics remain unclear. Most in the industry find it inconceivable that this was going on for seven years with nobody outside of a few people getting a whiff of this. It is possible to cover up revenues and profits to such a large extent in a business which relies on trading or other form of non-physical revenue sources but to do so in a business as straightforward as billing people's time seems hard to fathom. If it was indeed so, then it was an extensive cover-up operation in collusion with several people and key stakeholders. In any case, a lot more should emerge in the coming days and months. But this is not about the anatomy of the fraud but the responses thereafter.

While it took a lot of flak for taking 4 days to arrest Raju, the Central government has surprisingly responded effectively and prudently. Speedily overhauling the board with eminent members has certainly restored stability and decelerated the flight of customers and employees at the very least. Whether Satyam has chance of surviving or being acquired is a different matter but then that is not the government's responsibility. Despite calls from the AP government and sections of the industry, the government has rightly ruled out any bailout or legal immunity for new management. While my heart goes out for Satyam employees, employment guarantee for highly paid white collar workforce funded by taxpayer money is stretching things too far.

While the government has done as well as it could have, it is the others - non-state actors - who have not covered themselves in glory.

Topping the list in my book is the ICAI. They have openly stated that they will take action against the partners but not Price Waterhouse. This even before an inquiry into the auditing failures has been initiated. So if it turns out that there was inadequate adherence to auditing procedures and standards at the firm, we are being told that the watchdog will look the other way. ICAI vice-president Uttam Prakash Aggarwal sounds like the Hyderabad police 4 days after Raju's confessional - “The institute can proceed only if we receive a complaint. Despite the public outcry, so far we haven’t received a single complaint — neither from banks, nor from shareholders”. The GTB-PwC accounting probe by the ICAI is continuing for over 4 years with no end in sight. Is the ICAI more interested in regulating auditors or protecting its members? Chances are that PWC will come out unharmed after 7 years of certifying the books in the biggest accounting fraud in Indian history. Another example that businesses can never effectively self-regulate.

Then we have the demand from potential acquirers that the government assume Satyam's liabilities as a precondition for acquisition. Henry Paulson's singular contribution to M&As will be that we will continue to be treated to this ridiculous demand from suitors of any failed enterprise. Acquiring a $2 Bn outsourcing business at rock bottom prices and no risk sounds like a bright idea provided you can find a sucker government to buy into it.

Among the FIIs, we have the curious case of Lazard acting like cry babies at not being granted a board seat and offloading their 7% stake in a huff. If this is indeed true, are we to believe that Satyam's valuations would be considerably higher if Lazard had a board seat? Whatever happened to the reasons for hiking their stake from 3 to 7% over the last week itself after the scandal broke out? Was Lazard pumping in cash to angle a board seat or there was a genuine belief that the investment could yield a return? Anyone with funds invested with Lazard should be terribly worried.

The Satyam fiasco has also severely dented the credibility of dime a dozen corporate awards being given out some of whom were conferred on the company for Corporate Governance. We have become a nation obsessed with lists and awards and every media outlet worth its salt has corporate achievement awards doled out in televised ceremonies with the sole purpose of driving TV ratings. The more the awards, the more questionable their credentials and value. It would make sense for India's best corporate names like Tatas, Infosys, Wipro etc to do an Aamir Khan and excuse themselves from consideration for these meaningless awards from media outlets and so called think-tanks. This should automatically bring the value of these dubious awards to nought.

We haven't surely seen the last of corporate scandals and it would be naive to assume Satyam is an isolated incident. In a country where anything can be forged for a price, cooking of books is common occurrence. Auditors, bankers and others work in cahoots to execute fairly well-oiled scams. So it should come as no surprise if many more come to light as they often do after every era of economic excess.

A Rude Awakening

Not even more than two decades of terror had prepared us for the kind of assault Mumbai has suffered. We were used to bomb blasts, not rampaging gunmen across streets, platforms, bars and five star hotels. Unlike anything before, the dangerous drama has unfolded in front of our eyes for two long days on live television planting fear firmly in our living rooms. For us, the educated elite of India, it never happened so close to us. Terror strikes were reserved for trains, crowded markets, courthouses, mosques and temples - not the kind of places we went to. Not the Taj or Oberoi, not a Unilever board meeting.

It is not just that the targets were upscale, they were the theaters of a confident, aspiring superpower. The protective veneer is broken, confidence shaken. We are angry, very angry. Never have we been so infuriated with our politicians and their utter lack of intent to protect our lives.

But we also need to introspect and apportion some blame to ourselves. These incompetent politicians are sitting in seats of power because we let them get there. We, the educated upper classes have been so acutely apathetic towards the country's problems, that it is now coming back to bite us.

First we ran away from the process in order to secure our futures. Then we closeted ourselves out in the safety and comfort of sanitized, gated communities insulated from the problems of the common man. We remained mute spectators as the system degenerated. We prospered and we thought we could buy our way out of every problem. Many argued that the rot was so deep that we can't make a difference but the truth is we have hardly ever tried. If we don't step out now and become involved in the political process, we will continue to be misgoverned by the Shivraj Patils, Modis, Deshmukhs.

The last great generation of Indian leaders were western educated lawyers who planted and nurtured the roots of Indian democracy. Time will tell whether the anger with the Mumbai attacks will spawn a new generation of leaders from our midst. The terror victims, commandos, cops and firemen risking their lives this very moment, deserve a lot better from us than calls for POTA from the comfort of our living rooms. For a start, let's vote and make ourselves count. An active role in public life would be a lot better.

Obama and the End of Racial Bias?

Barack Obama's election is just the kind of advertisement America needed. The flurry of celebrations across the globe suggests that finally the world may again look up to America. It sets to rest months of speculation whether Americans can ever elect an African American as President. Even the cynics are forced to acknowledge that America is not just about Stupid White Men with guns and SUVs.

But countries and their media tend to give more credit to themselves than they deserve. Just like we in India took pride in the diverse minority power troika of Manmohan-Sonia-Kalam, it cannot mask the utter lack of equality of opportunity in the country.

While Obama's election is being hailed as bridging the racial divide, fact is that that any white male half as good as Obama would have won as a Democratic candidate (and Obama had to be that much better than a white to do it). If it was not for the anti-incumbency wave against the Republicans bolstered by the greatest shrinking of American personal wealth in years, Obama wouldn't have had the kind of resounding win he did. As somebody said that "when your house is on fire, you don't care if the fireman is black or white". Not many cared if thr President would be ideal company for a backyard beer and barbecue. So there isn't enough evidence that this marks the end of racial bias. Also let's not forget that he is only the 3rd black senator. Arguably this election will help in dismantling racial barriers and prejudices much faster than anything else would have.

But there's no case whatsoever for US bashing . Obama is the first black Head of State in the entire developed world. A sobering thought for Europeans so fond of deriding America for being "racist" among other things. It also underscores that no other country on the planet offers the equality of opportunity that America does

And now for a little pat on our own back. While we are still some time away from a popular elected Prime Minster with Hussein in his or her name, there is probably no country as accepting as India of people of any background in positions of power. If only we could find more like Obama who did not exploit their identities for political advantage!

Chandrayaan-I and India's Scientific Temper

The Chandrayaan-I launch has been the big news story of this week. While there are those who believe that for a a country with millions living in poverty an unmanned lunar mission is an expensive distraction, nobody can deny that it is an achievement and even the most ardent critics would congratulate the scientists and engineers behind the mission. The business case projects a 3x payoff for India's budding space launch industry and it is hard to argue that there is any extravagance involved here.

Such missions serve another very important objective - promoting Scientific Temper in our society.

Amartya Sen in "The Argumentative Indian" highlights how traditional Indian discourse and thought has been seeped in logic, rationality and openness. Nehru held Scientific Temper as dearly as Secularism and Socialism. He placed tremendous emphasis on combating superstitions and religious bigotry via spread of scientific thinking and a development model based on research in science and agriculture.

Over the past few years, I do believe we are losing this scientific temper or maybe it never percolated deep enough. One has to look through popular media to find numerous strains. India's most watched news channel is Aaj Tak and anybody tuning into it will find loads of coverage on religious miracles, godmen of all kinds and the occasional TRP toppers of milk drinking Ganesha statues and Shivalingams. Recently hundreds of educated Mumbaikars ran to the sea side to drink "sweet" water from the Arabian Sea. Astrology is big business and astrologers are celebrities. Godmen and their establishments are booming. Vaastu was not fashionable two decades ago but now India's newly rich make their buying decisions based on it. The Ram Sethu controversy, saffron brigade vandalism, religious fatwas - all evidence of a resurgence of irrationality and the polar opposite of scientific temper.

Oddly, the above regression has taken place in the backdrop of an IT driven economic boom, the nation's top scientist as President and foremost economist as Prime Minister. Almost every Indian middle class family has a son, daughter, nephew or niece working in the IT industry. We still aspire for our children to become doctors or engineers. Yet it is inexplicable that large sections of the educated class remain rooted in orthodoxy and distanced from rationality.

Initiatives like the Lunar mission provides the kind of folklore that is needed to shore up belief in science and engineering. People will start holding scientists and researchers with more awe and respect than they presently command. I am hoping that Dr Madhavan Nair and some of his scientists will become celebrities in their own right and spur a few people to switch off from the next Bejan Daruwala show. I am also hoping that many more schoolkids would dream of a career in scientific research.

Anti-Intellectualism in America

All these years, I have been unable to comprehend the strain of anti-intellectualism and aversion to nuance which is central to the conservative and Republican rhetoric in America. The origins have been unclear to me.

Till I came across Thomas Frank's article in the Wall Street Journal - "Joe the Plumber and GOP 'Authenticity'" Frank quotes Ronald Reagan's poll strategist Robert Wirthlin from his election strategy in 1980: "People act on the basis of their perception of reality; there is, in fact, no political reality beyond what is perceived by the voters."

He adds "The "perception of reality," on the other hand, is an amazing political tonic, and with it conservatives have cemented a factproof worldview of lasting power. It is simply this: Conservatives are authentic and liberals are not. The country is divided into a land of the soulful, hard-working producers and a land of the paper-pushing parasites; a plain-spoken heartland and the sinister big cities, where they breed tricky characters like Barack Obama, all "eloquence," as John McCain sneered in last week's presidential debate, but hard to pin down."

With Reagan, the strategy worked beautifully and has then been embraced whole heartedly by electoral strategists like Karl Rove with remarkable effectiveness. More than two decades of feeding on this mantra has shaped an entire generation's view that anti-liberalism equals anti-intellectualism and it is not going to be easy to shake off

David Brooks in his New York Time piece "The Class War Before Palin" says "Republican political tacticians decided to mobilize their coalition with a form of social class warfare. ..... What had been a disdain for liberal intellectuals slipped into a disdain for the educated class as a whole. The liberals had coastal condescension, so the conservatives developed their own anti-elitism, with mirror-image categories and mirror-image resentments, but with the same corrosive effect."

Brooks goes on "Once conservatives admired Churchill and Lincoln above all — men from wildly different backgrounds who prepared for leadership through constant reading, historical understanding and sophisticated thinking. Now those attributes bow down before the common touch"

Time will tell if an Obama presidency (assuming he does become president) will reverse this thinking in middle America. If the economic situation doesn't improve during the term (which is a probable scenario) sadly there may be yet another republican revolution and a re-establishment of red neck hegemony.