PM must sack Gajendra Chauhan
The Prime Minister stood for merit. He must rediscover his old self.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not have won such a decisive mandate in 2014 without the over- whelming support of India’s youth. There were two reasons above others because of which India’s under-35s were attracted to Modi. First, he seemed to embody the one value that the children of post-socialist, liberalised India hold dear — merit. Of course, he was far removed from the dynasty-sycophancy of the Congress. But also, he had risen to the top despite his own party, which seemed wedded to old notions of seniority and which was reluctant to anoint the upstart Gujarat Chief Minister. Second, he promised change, a different (from governments of the past) way to conduct politics and government in New Delhi.
Why then is the same man permitting the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India? The reason that the students of FTII — backed by several stalwarts of the film industry — are opposing the appointment of Chauhan isn’t only because he is associated with the BJP. It is because they see that merit played absolutely no role in the selection. Chauhan is a failed actor, who has made little (if any) contribution to the development of either India’s film industry or television industry. This isn’t change. It’s more of the same.
It’s of little use for the government or the BJP to argue that the Congress too appointed its favourites to all manner of posts. It is well known that the Congress had mastered the art of patronage and rewarding fellow travellers. It is equally well known that the grand old party cared little for merit or for public opinion. Modi’s USP was that he opposed all of this. Now, if he does precisely the same when in government, he risks losing a significant chunk of his support base. If anything, it is possible to argue that Congress cronies had marginally better qualifications than the ones the BJP seems to be appointing to key positions. Amazingly, the government seems unable or unwilling to even appoint reasonably respected fellow travellers. Nobody would have opposed Anupam Kher or Shatrughan Sinha or even Dharmendra as chairman of FTII.
Modi is missing the perfect opportunity to decisively change the system of patronage (cum sycophancy), which determined appointments to various government-controlled bodies. The Prime Minister is within his rights not to appoint people with clear Marxist/Left leanings to cultural and academic bodies. But must he necessarily appoint apparent right-wingers with obviously no qualifications? There are plenty of eminent persons who have no clear political leanings who can be suitable candidates. If the government tries hard, it can possibly find people with right-of-centre views and respectable academic/ professional credentials — many people in the world of films or even in academics (particularly economics but also management, sciences — less probable in history) could easily be found.
The fact is that it doesn’t take scams, or perceived scams, to weaken the credibility of a government. Other things also matter. Modi, in particular, will be judged by what he promised as a candidate, and that was a change in the system, a preference for merit over all else. Mistakes have been made but it isn’t too late to change course. Start by annulling the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan. There has been intense speculation, both in the political circles and the media, on whether Narendra Modi will go in for a Cabinet reshuffle to overcome growing perception that the Bharatiya Janata Partyled NDA government had failed to live up to people’s expectations. While it is for the Prime Minister to decide his course of action, with a revamp of his ministry being his sole prerogative, various acts of impropriety by senior leaders have hurt the image of the government and the party. The latest Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh seems to have given a handle to various opposition parties to further attack the government.
Thus when the monsoon session of Parliament begins in a just over a week, the treasury benches would have to be fully prepared to meet the onslaught of allegations on one hand, and on the other go about the business of getting important legislation through. Things obviously would be smoother if the irritants or the targets of the combined opposition are somehow taken off the radar so that Parliament can function in a smooth and orderly manner.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is in the eye of a big storm following her request to the British authorities to grant relevant travel documents to former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. Indications so far have been that the BJP was going to dig in its heels and defend her inside the House in the same manner in which it did outside. Swaraj is a senior BJP leader, who could very well have been the party’s choice for Prime Ministership, given that she was the Leader of Opposition during the UPA regime and as per parliamentary practice a potential head of government. That did not happen and she was inducted into an important position by PM Modi on assuming office.
Similarly, in Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje is on a weak wicket due to an outcry over her support for Lalit Modi. Shivraj Chouhan, the nominee for the Prime Ministership of the anti Narendra Modi lobby outside the BJP comprising so called secularists before the Lok Sabha elections is perhaps going through his leanest patch with even his own colleagues doubting his sincerity and integrity. The Pankaja Munde episode and other happenings in different states do call for stern and decisive measures from the party’s leadership in order to protect the credibility of the entire saffron brigade.
The situation in many ways is similar to what existed in the early 1960s when Jawaharlal Nehru’s image started getting dented within one year of his leading the Congress to victory in the 1962 parliamentary elections, following the Chinese invasion and with some of his colleagues challenging his authority through nuanced manoeuvres. Happily for Modi, there is nobody in the BJP who has so far tried to take him on, since he continues to enjoy his unique elevated status. He is their supreme leader and therefore is entitled to make his own choices for the betterment of both the party and the country.
In this context, it is important that he realises that there is the option of a Kamaraj type plan that can help him to both recast his government and thus redeem its image by getting only performing people of his choice appointed in various important positions of his Cabinet. Like Kamaraj, the third time Chief Minister of Madras had in 1963 quit along with five other Chief Ministers and six senior Union Cabinet Ministers including Morarji Desai, Jagjivan Ram and Lal Bahadur Shastri, Modi could set to motion an exercise where his key ministers and if the party agrees, also the Chief Ministers could be asked to put in their papers to go in for a complete overhaul. Since the proposal would not single out anyone, it could help in easing out those who were dispensable in order to have the best talent for the government and the party.
It is natural that in one year, PM Modi has made his own assessment regarding his colleagues, both at the Centre and in states, and knows who all were compatible to his style of functioning. He is the unchallenged leader as he brought in an unprecedented victory for the BJP in the Parliamentary polls and is comfortably placed since the Congress, the principal opposition, continues to lose its mass base even after the drubbing it received in the Lok Sabha elections. In the past one month, the BJP’s image has suffered due to the role of some of its prominent leaders. Its high command can take a call on them in the wake of a Kamaraj type plan.
The opportunity could be used in adjusting loyalists to important positions such as Governors and ambassadors. There are nearly ten states where new Governors need to be appointed. There are Chief Ministers who have outlived their utility who could either be brought to the Centre or given some other assignment. The Prime Minister must go for an out of box solution to ensure that his partymen’s actions do not diminish his popularity. Between us.