But UPA2 has done well in some subjects
The four years of UPA2 rule have been largely disappointing for the country and bad for the image of the ruling coalition. Neither the public relations exercise that the Government has launched through its recent advertising blitz nor the self-congratulatory report card can change this ground reality. Whether it is on the issue of fighting corruption or getting the economy back on track or managing allies or respecting democratic institutions, the Congress-led Manmohan Singh regime has come a cropper.
Various opinion polls in recent days have reflected the high levels of dissatisfaction among the people with the Government's performance, and their desire for a change. The Congress's media managers can crib about the technicalities of the surveys, such as inadequate sample size of respondents or a slanted demographic profile, but the larger message which these studies project — that the UPA Government has lost the trust of the people — cannot be brushed aside. By not acknowledging the truth, the Congress is only making its task of taking corrective measures in the last months of its term that much more difficult. The party believes that it can tide over the crisis as smoothly as it did in 2009, when it won a second term despite many odds. But there is no comparison between then and now.
Four years ago Prime Minister Singh's image saved the day for the Congress, which had been hit by the left Front's withdrawal of support, rising prices of essential goods and a spate of terror attacks in the run-up to the lok Sabha election. After putting his foot down in favour of the civil nuclear agreement with the US, which many within his party had objected to, Mr Singh had come across as a firm leader. Moreover, his personal reputation had not yet been tarnished by a slew of scams which his Government eventually came to preside over —though the first rumblings of the 2G Spectrum scam had begun to be heard. But now, after the recent developments in connection with the coal block allocation scam and the expose of further details of the spectrum scam — all of which squarely point to Mr Singh's complicity by silence, if nothing else — that lily-white image has been tainted. As a corollary, his effectiveness as a leader too has come under a cloud, with many Congress leaders privately conceding that the Prime Minister has become a liability at a time when the party is gearing up to fight a difficult election in a few months' time.
It would, however, be churlish to insist that there is nothing which the Government did right in the last four years. It did push through the Criminal law (Amendment) Bill with promptness, and the move was preceded by the promulgation of an ordinance that provided harsh punishment for sex-related crimes. Similarly, the Right of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011, was a welcome initiative towards enhancing accountability in the functioning of Government departments. The Government's food security Bill, like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, is a good initiative and cannot be faulted for its intent, though there are legitimate questions over its present structure. Just as there is justified criticism that the rural employment project is floundering and mired in corruption for want of effective monitoring.
But where UPA2 has messed up completely is in managing the country's foreign affairs. On the one hand, it has been unjustifiably soft on non-friendly neighbours such as China and Pakistan, allowing them to gain an upper hand. And on the other, New Delhi has ruined solid friendships with countries such as Sri lanka and the Maldives through a series of diplomatic blunders. The impact of these errors will be felt long after UPA2 is gone.