Amit Kushari (IAS Retd.)
What was quite apparent to all of us , and was not apparent to the Congress leaders, actually came out in the open on 8th December when the electoral results of four big states were declared. The exit polls are usually not very much off the mark and we had got a fairly good idea of what is going to happen on 4th December evening itself. All the exit polls were more or less correct, and in fact, the estimates made by “Today’s Chanakya” were almost totally correct. The Congress party refused to see the realities and look at themselves in the mirror and tried to blame the mirror itself. They refused to participate in discussions on the exit polls and an angry Shiela Dixit said, “I do not believe in exit polls.I will come back as the Chief Minister of Delhi.” She could not believe that she will not be elected as an MLA — far from becoming a Chief Minister. Too much of self confidence and total arrogance was one of the prime reasons for the total defeat of the Congress across 72 Lok Sabha seats. If these 72 seats are taken as a sample it is not difficult to conjecture that in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, likely to be held in April, the tally of the Congress in the Lok Sabha will be below 100….in 2 digits.
Have the leaders of the Congress party realised what were their grave mistakes? From the brief speech of Rahul Gandhi it was quite clear that he has not understood the mistakes that the Congress party had committed. The party has consistently followed anti people policies and the people have felt that they have been oppressed by the UPA II. The popular perception is that UPA II, especially their Finance Ministry had invented many innovative methods to harass and tax the people to fill up their treasuries so that UPA II could indulge in a ‘maha loot’ for filling their own pockets. As a result there was uncontrolled inflation in the country. Ultimately it hit the common man very hard. Petrol and Diesel prices were hiked almost every month, The govt. was unwilling to subsidise LPG cylinders and restricted the number of LPG cylinders to 9 only per year — for subsidies. Usually an average family needs 12/13 cylinders in a year. Even within the limit of 9, the petroleum ministry started insisting on ‘Adhaar’ cards which most people have not yet procured. There is no way in which the people can get the ‘Adhaar’ cards quickly because the process takes at least one year. On this issue, an important ally, the Trinamul Congress left the UPA, but still the UPA could not realise its mistakes and correct its mistakes. The Congress is fading away in Bengal and every month hundreds of Congress workers are leaving the Congress to inflate the ranks of Trinamul Congress.
In spite of the back breaking inflation and sinking purchasing power of the rupee the govt. did not give any concession in income tax rules in the last 3 years and the tax slabs have remained almost the same. A middle class salaried person has to pay 10% of his monthly income exceeding Rs. 22,000 and 20% of his monthly income exceeding Rs. 42,000. Now a days many jawans and drivers get more than Rs. 22,000/- and even junior captains in the army or under secretaries get more than Rs. 42,000/-. Why should the middle class people vote for UPA? People wanted a Jan Lok pal bill, but senior UPA ministers, like Kapil Sibal, Chidambaram obstructed the passage of this bill which eventually led to the birth of the Aam Aadmi party, which ,in turn led to the decimation of the Congress in Delhi. The Congress should seriously introspect on these issues and should not throw away vital suggestions given by allies like NCP. Perhaps changes at the top levels are also required.
(The author is former Financial Commissioner J&K. Feed back to the author at 09748635185 or at amitkus@hotmail.com)
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