THE picture is getting bleaker day by day. First, the President ofIndia surprised everyone by asking the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) to take over the reigns of the country at a time when theparty's strategists themselves knew they could not have pulledoff the game. The President had probably been trying to stickto his statement before the elections, that he was committed toinvite the single largest party. But in this instance, the singlelargest party did not the reflect the majority opinion.
That the BIP at all agreed to stage the II -day drama waseven more ludicrous. Way back in 1988-89, the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS), fountainhead of the BJP and itsallied formations, had decided that it would assume power in1995-96. Probably to appease the Rss hawks within the leadership and the rank and file, the Bjp decided to 'fight it out'. Butin retrospect, the party did not even stay back for the voting,and decided to give the opposition a walkover. The BIP's election plank had been su-raj, that is, good governance. But goodgovernance is about accountability, among other things. Inthis instance, the party had decided to take over power withoutthe mandate, and left the country in a limbo for II days.Where was their commitment to accountability?
But all this is less important than the fact that in the furious debate inside and outside Parliament, environment was not the issue. No one challengedthe BJP on the grounds of its developmentalagenda, or on its commitment to environmental issues. The party is in power in three statesand in all three, environmental issues haveassumed critical proportions in the last fewyears. Enron is perhaps the most notoriousamong them, but there are other issues too.These were, however, not debated, and neitherwas the BJP'S commitment to resolve otherburning issues. The centre of squabbling wasthe numbers game.
But that game, too, is over. And today, a loose coalition ofideologically heterogenous parties is in power. There are twosides to the picture. On the one hand, this is a situation whichlends itself to a political tug-o'-war, ensuring that the coalitionwill be short-lived. No major progress can be foreseen, and thefuture cannot be very bright. On the other hand, the fact thatsome regional parties are active members of the coalition hasbeen heralded by some social scientists as the first expression,notwithstanding all its fragility, of a truly federal governmentand a broadened sharing of power at the Centre.
These experts argue that in this situation, the regional parties will push their agenda, and perhaps there will be a betterapportioning of resources. Some of the neglected regionalissues may see solutions, they aver. Such hopes, no doubt, provide the only silver lining in the otherwise clouded scenario.But first, the parties in the coalition will have to settle down,resolving their ego hassles and mad scramble for lucrativeministries. By the time the smoke is cleared, the development agenda will be relegated to the back-burner.
But whatever hopes one could still retain would seem tovanish in the face of the fact that the new Prime Minister,H D Deve Gowda, is himself too firmly hooked to an aggressive liberalisation agenda. In an interview to our researchteam, while he was still the chief minister (cm) of Karnataka,he came out as a person least concerned with environment.Indeed, he has categorically stated that there is no link betweenliberalisation and environment!
Gowda's track record as cm does nothing to assuage ourfears. He has been obsessed with the development of his nativestate, and in that drive, he has washed aside all environmentalconsiderations. Most of the developmental projects inKarnataka, which include the Cogentrix power plant, the massive aerodrome in Bangalore, the setting up of dye plants nearthe Bangalore water tank (Tippangowdanhalli), or the foursuper-highways, have all been severely criticised by environmentalists. Besides, despite repeated warnings against aquaculture, Gowda is so keen to ensure investment in this sectorthat he has given it a stature equal to agriculture, with the same benefits that the latter is entitled to.
Envi@onmentalists have been beseechingpoliticians time again to protect the sensitive,biodive?sity- rich Western Ghats. But sadly, itwas under Deve Gowda's regime that one rarebureaucrat, committed to preservingthe Ghats - former special secretary tothe state's department of environment,A N Yellappa Reddy - was forced to give uphis job. Reddy had told Down To Earth that hehad to resign for warning against the threats to the WesternGhats from recent developmental projects.
One can only pray and hope that the person from Karnatakawill try and see the world from a better perspective, oncehe becomes the fountainhead of power in New Delhi,although this is a tough proposition. As it is, concepts suchas sustainable development seem to be just mouthfuls toour politicians. And then, in order to stay even for a while,Deve Gowda's best bet will be to push for foreign investment,to give the country a feeling of economic buoyancy. That isthe lurking danger behind the present regime. It is surprisingthat a person whose hands still smell of the village soil, hasso little to offer in terms of environmental thinking. Butthat being the case, the country might see any prospects of abalance between development and sustainability headed for aprecipice.