Chief ministers come and go

A little over a quarter of a century later it was Mumbai’s turn to contribute to the political lexicon. After the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance trounced the Congress in the Assembly elections, Bal Thackeray was asked who the next chief minister would be. ‘‘It doesn’t matter,’’ he reportedly answered, ‘‘I have the remote control in my hand’’.

Elections to the Maharashtra Assembly are still some weeks away but I suspect that, irrespective of the results, the state shall be ruled by the ‘‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’’ and ‘‘remote control’’ factors. Is anyone to blame for this? Well, I suspect it is a combination of disenchantment and political chicanery.

There is, let us face it, a general feeling of ‘‘sab chor hai’’ when it comes to choosing one or the other of the major political fronts (the National Democratic Alliance or the United Progressive Alliance). Sufficient voters could then end up casting a ballot for a candidate who belongs to neither front, either because of parochial considerations, or from regional pride, or just because they are simply tired of the same old faces. If neither the Shiv Sena-BJP nor the Congress-NCP can woo enough voters to get a simple majority it leaves the door open to a broad array of independent MLAs or smaller parties. In other words, the Gaya Lals of 2004.

The next chief minister of Maharashtra will have his work cut out keeping all those hungry mouths fed. It will leave him — and I doubt if there is a ‘‘her’’ in the picture — with little time for actually governing the country’s second largest state. Which, to be honest, is not really the task he was elected to do.

Because the fact is that no matter who gets to live in ‘‘Varsha’’ (the official residence of the chief minister in Mumbai) actual power will rest elsewhere. To put it bluntly, India’s financial capital will witness the reign of a semi-powered chief executive officer who is always subject to the supervision of a chairman of the board. That may work in the business world — though I can’t remember too many successful instances in India — but it is a recipe for indecision in politics. Isn’t that precisely what is happening in Delhi?

Sonia Gandhi had to step in when the DMK threw a hissy fit over the portfolios that it was allotted. Sonia Gandhi has to meet the leaders of the Left Front when the Marxists threaten to bite as well as bark. It is to Sonia Gandhi — and perhaps to Rahul Gandhi and Mrs Vadra after her — that every Congress MP owes allegiance, certainly not to the poor gentleman currently nestling in Race Course Road. (Take a look at the relative size of Sonia Gandhi’s and Manmohan Singh’s faces on the giant hoardings put up by Congressmen and you, literally, get the picture.)

Manmohan may be a gentleman and an economist of note but he lacks the essential ingredient of leadership in a democracy — the sanction of the people. (Or, as the Chinese elegantly put it, the ‘‘mandate of Heaven’’.) His colleagues may respect him but they also know that they do not owe their power and position to him even in the smallest degree, and feel free to follow their own interests.

The prime minister may tell his diplomats to ‘‘think outside the box’’ while negotiating with Pakistan over Jammu & Kashmir — but can he sell the results to India at large? The economist in Manmohan Singh may rebel against the futility of throwing more money into the public sector or of maintaining high rates of interest for provident funds — but does he possess the authority to impose himself? Like it or not, only Sonia Gandhi has the power to try. (Which is not the same as saying that she shall succeed!)

Maharashtra has no shortage of problems. The state government is drowning in a sea of red ink. Vidarbha has been neglected to the extent that it wants statehood. Crime has not eased up in Mumbai. AIDS is present in almost every district of the state. Only a chief minister commanding the complete confidence of the people can possibly tackle these problems. But the next chief minister will be dancing to the piping of either Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar on the one hand, or to that of Bal Thackeray and the leaders of the BJP on the other.

I am sorry for Maharashtra; India’s financial capital and industrial heartland deserves better than this. But as remote-controlled chief ministers become the fashion, I cannot help wondering if voters too will become increasingly remote from the entire ‘‘democratic’’ process.