A SELF-INFLICTED WOUND FOR CENTRE

T he decision of the Uttarakhand High Court to reinstate the Congress Chief Minister Harish Rawat is a setback for the Modi Government. The Centre showed extraordinary ham-handedness in dealing with the open rebellion against Rawat by nine of his own party MLAs. The imposition of the central rule on March 27 was challenged by Rawat. From the tenor and tone of the judges from the word go it was amply clear that they had already made up their minds. On the face of it, there was no faulting the verdict, though dark doings caught on the camera of Rawat offering cash and/or ministerships to rebel MLAs ought to have weighed with Their Lordships. Judges are not supposed to be loquacious, to the point of being headline-seekers. But in this case they made headlines even before delivering their verdict, pronouncing well-worn homilies instead of exercising restraint and circumspection. Yet, their verdict cannot be faulted. For, clamping President’s rule a day before the Assembly was set to test the majority of the beleaguered government did seem a bad idea. Yes, there was every likelihood of the Speaker, who was a henchman of the Chief Minister, suspending the membership of the nine Congress rebels before allowing the floor test. This would have unfairly given advantage to Rawat. In order to foreclose that possibility, the Centre imposed President’s rule. It also relied on the sting operation which showed Rawat offering money and ministerships to a few rebels. It was a game of brinkmanship in which Rawat was handed a winning card when the Centre dismissed him, especially when Governor K K Paul had asked him to seek the floor test on March 28. The apex court in the Bommai case too had prescribed for such situations a floor test rather than an outright dismissal of a government. Reportedly, the President Pranab Mukherjee was convinced about the need to impose central rule after he was shown a video of the sting operation against Rawat. Yet, the Uttarakhand High Court said this was not relevant. The court might be right, since corruption in one form or the other has become an integral part of our constitutional system, or at least the way it has been worked over the years. All institutions, including, of course, the judiciary, are infected with the deadly virus of corruption. Another reason cited by the Centre was the failure to pass the Appropriation Bill. Here again, the judges seemed unimpressed. Sensing danger to the Government after the nine ruling party MLAs indicated their intention to vote against Rawat, the Speaker indulged in thuggery, announcing that the Appropriation Bill was passed through a voice vote. He refused to conduct a division as demanded by the Opposition. This fact too did not seem to matter for the court. Apparently, the court is not equipped to prove the Speaker’s decision. The High Court while reinstating the Rawat Government has directed it to prove its majority on April 29. The fear that in the intervening period Rawat would do everything in his power to firm up support by means fair or foul, essentially foul, is not misplaced. But morality and politics have been long divorced and there is no point lamenting that it is so.

Meanwhile, the Modi Government will do itself a favour if it draws the right lesson from the rebuff in Uttarakhand. Its political management is terrible. Inexperience and arrogance are a recipe for disaster. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has scored so many self-goals that it is time he is given a refresher course in realpolitik. Unthinking aggression and belligerence is a poor substitute for well thought-out strategies to defang an adversary. His handling of the relatively minor incident in JNU needlessly embarrassed the ruling party. Now comes the blow from Uttarakhand. Given that there was no way the motion seeking approval of President’s rule would have met success in the Rajya Sabha, the Government ought to have pondered long and hard before taking resort to it, especially when the RS was set to meet after the intersession break in the Budget session. Mature political sense is definitely lacking and what makes for it in the Modi Government is a rough and ready attitude towards matters which require sensitive and even clever handling.