`The graph of an all-India party like the Congress will have its ups and downs’

At a time when the Congress has come under increasing criticism for being unclear and confused on crucial issues such as economic reforms ...

At a time when the Congress has come under increasing criticism for being unclear and confused on crucial issues such as economic reforms and nuclear policy, the responsibilities of the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Madhavrao Scindia have increased manifold. As one of party chief Sonia Gandhi’s most trusted advisors, Scindia has, of late, been playing a key role in party affairs, managing inner contradictions and assisting in trying to bring the party out of doldrums. Scindia spoke to SANJIV SINHA on the party’s agenda, seeking to dispel notions of a crisis of confidence in the present leadership.

Why is there so much confusion in the party on its approach towards the onging process of economic reforms? It appears the party is now wary of accepting what it had set into motion.
I don’t think there is any confusion… The party’s economic policies are clearly enunciated in the manifesto. We do believe in the policies that were pioneered by the Congress in 1991 when Dr Manmohan Singh was Finance Minister. But we do not believe in open-ended liberalisation. We believe in liberalisation tempered to suit the country’s requirements. We would like to use fiscal and monetary instruments within this process of opening up to ensure that infrastructure is given priority, the urban-rural divide reduced and projects with employment potential promoted. And of course, there is the social sector which too needs to be accorded adequate weightage.

But a section of the party says that the reforms initiated by Manmohan Singh alienated it from the poor and were partly responsible for its poor performance at the hustings.
I don’t think it would be fair to say that. In 1991, the country was on the brink of a financial crisis and therefore certain measures had to be taken. Economic policy is not static and cannot be looked at in a vacuum, it has to change from time to time as per the country’s needs. The thrust of the party’s approach is very clear, that the primary beneficiary of the reform process must be the economically weaker sections. Others talk of a trickle-down effect but we are not prepared to wait for that. We want a direct effect on those below the poverty line. There are some policies, however, where slight course corrections or adjustments could take place so that this objective is realised.

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In this context, what is the fate of the committee which was to be set up to review the party’s approach to the ongoing economic reforms. There was speculation that the proposal had been scrapped after Manmohan Singh declined to be part of the panel.
The committee will be set up to assess the entire economic scenario and recommend where adjustments may be necessary in the party’s policy. It will comprise Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha MPs and a few other experts. I think the AICC is in the process of setting up the panel.

Coming to the nuclear issue, after the series of flip-flops, where does the party’s stand now?
There is no flip-flop. The specific contours of a minimum nuclear deterrent have to be defined first. When the Prime Minister talks of a minimum nuclear deterrent, he does not clearly chalk out what this particular creature is. There are so many variables that will have to be clarified and until Congress knows about these, it is very difficult to issue a blank cheque.

For instance, what is our level of nuclear development, what are the plans of our potential adversaries, the intelligence inputs available and the kind of delivery vehicles, sea, air or land and the costs involved. The Prime Minister needs to clarify these before we can make our stand on nuclear deterrence clear. Till today, he has not even told us whether he has put a (nuclear) command and control structure in place.

The Congress gives the impression that it is not taking its job as the principal opposition party seriously in Parliament and elsewhere, be it on subsidies or other national issues.
We are extremely serious on all these issues. In the first half of the last session, the party fought successfully to have the infamous RSS order in Gujarat revoked. When the session reopened we laid emphasis on the withdrawal of subsidies on essential items. We raised this issue from time to time but we are a responsible opposition party and adopt parliamentary measures to make our point. There is a grey area in the rules over allowing cut motions to be moved on ministries which have not been discussed… In his wisdom, the Lok Sabha Speaker chose to overrule our cut motions.

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What do make of the growing voices of criticism from various quarters on Sonia Gandhi’s style of functioning and leadership?
I think the graph of a political party, especially one as large as the Congress which is the only all-India party, has its ups and downs. To mantain a high point always is not easy and these are times when some people will obviously criticise the party high command. But I don’t think there is anything that should make us panic or become over-anxious. However, whenever the graph does go down, it is very important to introspect on what went wrong. But this should take place in the party fora and not through the media.

Will the coming organisational elections, if held in a free and fair manner, help in the party’s revival and bridge the gap between the high command and grassroots workers?
Organisational elections always help. There are those who continue because they have the confidence of the block, district, state and national-level party workers. New blood also gets infused.

You represent the party’s younger face. What do you make of Vasant Sathe’s proposal that party leaders above 70 years should retire from active politics and assume an advisory role.
I don’t want to say anything… They are very senior people and many of them pack in a lot experience. This is really something for each individual to make up his own mind.