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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

How can Congress respond to the Anna situation in a win win way

I will keep this short and simple. This is a multi-party win-win solution so let's first define the parties:

1. Dr. Manmohan Singh
2. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
3. Congress Party
4. Mr. Rahul Gandhi
5. Mr. Anna Hazare and associates
6. Opposition Party
7. General Public at large

Let's quickly review the facts:

1. People in general are frustrated with Dr. Manmohan Singh's silence and inaction. They expected that with a clear mandate, he will do some good things and improve the condition of the country. He has chosen to stay silent and inactive even when he needed to take action. He could've been a great President, watching everything, inspiring people and providing guidance but unfortunately he is sitting in the Prime Minister's seat and that is an executive position and he needs to act in some way - good bad or ugly.

He himself is confused and lost and will be very happy if there is solution to bail him out with minimum damage.

2. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, it appeared initially, never wanted to have anything to do with politics especially after what happened to Indira and Rajeev. But it became compulsory for her to step in for two reasons - Congress Party men needed a Gandhi name to act in a sensible way else they were becoming mad, secondly she had to ensure that Rajeev's reputation and family fortune are protected and also ensure a good future for Rahul Gandhi

3. Congress Party: Congress Party agreed to Dr. Manmohan Singh becoming Prime Minister only because Sonia Gandhi decided so, else there was no way they would've been so peaceful. They have been watching all the smaller parties take all the juicy portfolios and squeezing away all the money. They are now restless as the "time in power" is ticking away while they are getting nothing with Manmohan conceding to other parties than to Congress Party and with Sonia Gandhi as the head of NAC, they can't really revolt against Manmohan. They have been patiently waiting for either Priyanka or Rahul to take over as Sonia has refused, which suited them earlier. Their only hope lies with Rahul now and they think he has been trained enough in the populist activities/actions

4. Mr. Rahul Gandhi would've happily settled in some foreign country enjoying a normal life had it not been for the Gandhi tag. He would've never asked for this but "luck" has placed him where he is. Unable to enjoy simple pleasures of life and having to do something political forcibly, he has been doing a reasonable job. He is still not ready and is not sure when he would be ready. He would've been happy had Priyanka agreed to lift the mantle but now he has no option. He looks innocent enough and has enough people around him to advise him that he would be able to handle the leadership for the remaining period of the 5 years if it is thrust upon him. He would never say give it to me.

5. Mr. Anna Hazare and his associates have grabbed the attention and curiosity of the frustrated citizens and have successfully got masses behind them. Mud slinging attempts of Congress have created some confusion in people but whenever they hear Satyagraha, people think, something good will happen. For now Mr. Anna Hazare and his associates want to win this battle while we really don't know which war they are actually fighting

6. Opposition Party, which is the BJP, we can say has no agenda. All they want to see is something happening and their leaders being able to make some comments.

7. Finally we have General Public at large, which is dissatisfied with what they are getting. Inflation is rising, interest rates are going up, and to be honest nothing seems to be working at the moment. Whatever good is happening, it is happening at random and they see that the government including the politicians and Bureaucrats are either doing nothing or are making life difficult for common man and are amassing large sums of money. There could be exceptions but this is the general view. They keep seeing big numbers being reported in print and electronic media but can't really figure how exactly it is impacting them but keep feeling the pain nevertheless. They want something good to happen, they want a new leader to come up and they want some affirmative action. They would like to see supply (production) side improvement to tackle inflation and not just simple rate increases by RBI, they would like to see transparency from all those who are in a position of power - politicians and bureaucrats alike, they would like to see education getting reinvigorated in some way, they would like to see how we as a Country are going to tackle increasingly alarming environmental problems and many more.

Now lets move to the solution:

Step 1: Dr. Manmohan Singh announces that he is resigning as Prime Minister as he is unable to do justice to the position and that he is open for all investigations as he has not benefited himself even by a rupee throughout his tenure as PM
Step 2: Mrs. Sonia Gandhi welcomes the bold move of Dr. Manmohan Singh and invites him to be a part of the NAC and continue providing his services to the country in a consultative way
Step 3: Congress elects Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi accepts this while announcing his plan for the remaining tenure
Step 4: Rahul Gandhi as the new PM announces that the suggestions of Anna Hazare and associates would be accepted without any major changes

This solution will satisfy the objectives of all the seven parties for the moment and if all the parties make sincere effort will lead to a win-win future for India

Thanks for your patient reading. Jai Hind

2 comments:

  1. This is very interesting writeup! The solution provided is innovative. In my view the issue is beyond Manmohan. The congress as a whole opposed the Jan Lokpal and now they cannot make a U-turn without losing their face. In your solution Manmohan becomes a willing scapegoat but still there may be some damage to the congress party. So the Win fades out compared to the Win by the Anna party.

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  2. Appreciate your view. But you haven't understood Congress properly. Congress has no pride hence there is no possibility of getting hurt. Different stands spoken by it's representatives are only for that given moment. Imagine Rahul saying that he will take Anna into his fold and what do you think Congress will do - they will say, it is Congress that encourages Gandhism and that Anna is true Congress wala and whatever was said earlier was to some misunderstanding and that Rahul is the savior who understood the whole thing and saved the country from going into a crisis. Let Sonia come back and see how things are going to change

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