To and fro-thing economy

evitably come with stern conditionalities, including a cut in government spending and even an all-round rise in taxes. There is one problem though. The IMF, it is clear, will not extend a loan to a lame duck government. It will only negotiate with a government that has the stability to carry out the undertakings.

This is why there is concern in Washington over the timing of the general election. If the election is held as per schedule in April-May 2014 and a new government takes office in the last weeks of May, the macro-economic plight of India will have worsened considerably. But the decisionmakers in the Congress realise that the party is still not prepared for a snap poll.

They believe that more time is needed, not least because they believe that the long interregnum between now and April 2014 will see Narendra Modi burn himself out.

The calculations are all premised on assumptions and a bit of wishful thinking. But that isn’t the point. For India the real concern is that a government that has run out of ideas and political determination will leave a nightmare legacy that will affect the well-being of all but those who have been the beneficiaries of the most venal form of crony capitalism and irresponsible populism.

Manmohan Singh’s speech from the Red Fort was overshadowed by the pretender from Gujarat not merely because the PM’s delivery is insipid, but because he has lost the ability to give India any hope for the future.