The Railway Budget fracas shows that governance has been reduced to farce. The Railway Budget, after being presented to the Parliament, was so drastically altered that there was no question of the Cabinet accepting it as a joint responsibility. And yet, we mouth phrases like ‘a Budget is the joint responsibility of the Cabinet', and so on.

Did the people of India deserve this? Is the Prime Minister absolved of blame just by evoking coalition dharma? This — let us face it — is a weak-kneed government.

MAMATA'S MISDIRECTIVES

The electorate in West Bengal chose Ms Mamata Banerjee to head the administration of the State. It is doubtful if these innocent people gave her the right to run the government in Delhi. TMC's hope for a national mandate was negated by the people during the State elections last month. Unmindful of not being reckoned as a national party, Mamta fired a Central Government Minister, Mr Dinesh Trivedi, and bullied her way to have a previously-rejected MP sworn in as the Union Railway Minister. The outgoing Minister had initially claimed that the Railway Budget had not been prepared in Kolkata's Writers' Building. However, after being removed from the job, the former Minister stated that he had conveyed the basic issue of fare hike in the Budget to his leader. He further clarified that he would have gladly reversed the increase in railway fares if Ms Banerjee had directed him to do so. Instead of being issued such an instruction, he was fired. Why did she act in such a manner?

Perhaps, Ms Banerjee didn't feel confident that the outgoing minister would do her bidding. Or, she was not comfortable about issuing him a directive that was strictly unconstitutional: a Chief Minister directing a Union Minister to alter the Budget. Her most plausible reason for removing Mr Trivedi perhaps lay elsewhere — that she was upset that her nominee, Mr Mukul Roy, was not accepted at the first instance. She overturned the Railway Budget to have her way. The incoming Railway Minister has reversed the fare hike and other proposals. The aim appears to have been to totally erase the footprints of the dismissed colleague with a vengeance. Simultaneously, the party has agreed to tolerate all the candid utterances of the dismissed minister and has retained him in the party.

COALITION POLITICS

Do the people of India deserve this type of governance? The Prime Minister said that in coalition decisions reforms do get hijacked. Is he stating that he is only responsible for part of the governmental actions, and he shouldn't be blamed for actions taken due to the insistence of the DMK, TMC, and others? Is he the same person who jettisoned the Communists in the interests of Indo-US nuclear energy deal? Why is the PM scared of the consequences of the TMC or DMK deserting the treasury benches? Ms Banerjee has also been granted an additional debt limit due to this fear. The SP, BSP, and even AIADMK are willing to come to the rescue of the government., The government is more stable than it was at the time of the US deal.

At the worst, the DMK or TMC may withdraw support. But they would have to be prepared for early elections. DMK would not relish that prospect. TMC would have generated enough anti-incumbency by the time elections are held due to the fall of the government. BJP may have achieved the expected results in Goa, but Karnataka is likely to be a washout. BSP would be unwilling as well. SP is the only party sounding the bugle for early elections. It is surprising why the Congress is blinking first in this political environment. In any case, breaking ties with Ms Banerjee and going in for reforms at a blistering pace is more likely to win the electorate's approval than harping on coalition dharma.

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