Preparing for the next election: Governance can wait
The Samajwadi Party government headed by
Akhilesh Yadav completed one year in office in March 2013. The manner in which
the Samajwadi Party swept to power was a decisive rejection of the ways of the
Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) regime and former chief minister Mayawati. But all
actions of the governments in past one year – strange as it may appear –
indicate that instead of improving governance in the State, have been directed
at preparing for the next Lok Sabha election rather than setting things right
in the state. There were high expectations from this government, but right from
the composition of the ministry – and the subsequent reshuffle – to the
surprising neglect of the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation, the
government has acquitted itself poorly on most fronts.
To begin with, the government has
transferred more than 1000 officials of the state administration and police,
changing nearly every head of department, commissioner, district magistrate,
inspector-general and district police chief. In some cases, the officials have
been transferred twice or even thrice in the last one year. The average tenure
of an official in Uttar Pradesh had turned out to be three months! Even
officials in the chief minister’s secretariat have been reshuffled and except
for a loyal few, many have been changed. At the same time, there are many
officers who are holding more than important posts.
The first budget was presented by the
Chief Minister in July last year, and it was revealed a few days before the
second (regular) budget was to be presented in February, that up to 52 per cent
of the funds allocated in the first budget had not been spent at all.
Yet, the Chief minister presented a Rs
2.21 lakh crore budget, the largest in the history of the state – any state in
India – in Vidhan Sabha on February 19. The budget showed a deficit of Rs
23,913 crore for 2013-14 while most of the features appeared to be guided by
the coming Lok Sabha elections.
The next day – February 20 – saw an
unprecedented show of violence and arson in Noida that shook the confidence of
industry and prospective investors in Uttar Pradesh. The occasion was the
two-day nationwide strike called by trade unions. Ironically, it was less than
a month earlier – January 28 to be precise – that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
had claimed that now was the right time to invest in the state with a new
regime and its new policies. The occasion was the Partnership Summit organized
by CII in collaboration with Commerce and Industry Minstry and Uttar Pradesh
government at Agra on January 27-29.
The state capital and most cities have
been rocked by a spate of robberies and looting incidents. In Lucknow itself, incidents
like looting of bullion traders and businessmen, a finance company office, loot
and murders on streets and residential colonies have created fear among
residents. No one seems to be scared of the police any more.
Certainly, the first anniversary of
Akhilesh Yadav government brought little to cheer for, and the celebrations
have been low key.
The successful completion of the Kumbh
Mela at Allahabad was hailed everywhere, but the visit of the Chief Minister
and others to Harvard University to make a presentation on Kumbh was marred by
the Boston airport affair where Azam Khan was detained – and the presentation
did not happen. On his return the Chief Minister appeared more keen to tell the
community leaders that he and his government were more concerned about their
feelings than anything else. On the contrary the Chief Minister has been keen
to attract US iinvestment to the state. It remains to be seen what happens now
on that front.
The party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav
has been consistently criticising and advising his son to improve the
government’s performance, apparently playing the role of the opposition to his
government. Will the patriarch now take further damage control steps?
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