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Blank Plank
A series
of populist announcements puts Rajnath Singh in a spot. With Uttar Pradesh
financially crippled, he stands to lose whether he implements the promises
or not, writes INDIA TODAY's Special Correspondent Subhash Mishra.
Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh has a new name these days—goshna
mantri. It's what the people of the state prefer to call him given his
propensity for making goshnas or announcements. One estimate has it it
that in the past one year, he has made as many as 160 announcements, of
which 117 were addressed to traders alone. Normally, such statements aimed
at people's welfare would have helped earn some brownie points but that
does not seem to be the case with Rajnath. The announcements, he is discovering
to his dismay, are becoming more of a liability.
Desperate to save face, he says, "I have fulfilled all announcements,
be it reservation to the weaker sections, appointment of 20,000 teachers
or mass recruitment through Group-C examination." But he knows he
is fooling none because it is a no-win situation. Whether he implements
the schemes he has announced or not, the chief minister stands to lose.
While on the one hand, he is accused of being incapable of matching deed
with word, on the other he is being criticised for the financial burden
he would be imposing on the state should he implement the programmes.
It is believed that the sops announced to various sections like farmers,
teachers and government staff, besides traders, would result in a loss
of Rs 1,200 crore if they were given. This at a time when the state is
already crippling under an unprecendented financial crisis.
In an SOS flashed to various departments, Finance Minister Harish Chand
Srivastava has warned that the crisis would only worsen and has asked
them to curtail expenditure accruing form the populist measures. Worse,
while concessions to different communities were being doled out, the law
enforcing agencies for revenue realisation were reportedly gagged. "We
have been asked to seek permission for conducting a raid," says a
senior officer of the Trade Tax Department. "So we have stopped raids
and inspections." As a result, the state is likely to realise only
Rs 2,500 crore of tax against a target of Rs 12,500 crore by the end of
current financial year.
Such pessimistic projections have put the chief minister in a tight spot.
On the political front too, the going is far from smooth. When, for instance,
he made an announcement on October 17 that ministers and MLAs would not
draw their salaries, he only cut a sorry figure for himself. Not only
did the ministers and MLAs accuse him of not consulting them before taking
such a decision, they also went ahead and withdrew the money due to them.
An embarrassed chief minister now finds an emotive election issue eluding
him. Initially, he dwelt on the promise of performance and pledged himself
to improve the power and law and order situation and the lot of farmers.
But no sooner had he made the announcements than he bagan to flounder.
Subsequently, he touched the issue of corruption but dropped it half way
after suspending some officers of the Mandi Parishad and dismissing power
minister Naresh Agarwal. Then he used the trump card of the most backward
castes and announced reservation for them but that tomo doesn't seem to
be reaping much benefit. Just as the latest "Atankwad aur Atal"
campaign against terrorism isn't. As the elections draw closer, the only
consolation for the chief minister is the fact the Opposition in the state
is not very active. All this, however, isn't stopping the chief minister
from pursuing his populist agenda. Even on November 6, he went ahead and
announced that the retirement age for the 22 lakh state government employees
would be changed to 60 from the existing 58. It's a classic case of old
habits dying hard.
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