If not for BJP, Congress would've turned India into Kingdom: Arun Jaitley
New Delhi, Oct 27: Attacking the Congress over "degeneration of ideology", senior BJP leader and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the grand old party would have converted India into a kingdom if the second decade post-independence wouldnt have witnessed the rise of alternate political ideologies.
Post-independence the dominant party of Indian politics for at least four decades was Indian National Congress. After the second decade in power, the party developed dynastic tendencies. But the party was still very large and dominant and that's the period when we saw the domination spread all over the country, state after state. Conventional non-congress parties, the communist shrunk to one particular region, the Lohia socialist were belligerent in their opposition but poor at organisation and therefore they frittered away. India needed an alternative ideological and political poll," Jaitley was quoted saying by ANI.
"The principal party from the weakness it showed in the second decade would have succeeded in converting India more into a kingdom rather than even a dynastic democracy because that's how the movement in that party went on," he added.
"Would Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi ever have gone to a congregation where "Bharat ke tukde tukde" slogans were raised? Certainly not. But now degeneration of ideology because of personal grievances and ambitions compelled Congress party leadership to do so," ANI quoted Jaitley as saying at India Ideas Conclave. which was organised by India Foundation.
Praising Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his respect towards first prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru despite belonging to different parties, Jaitley said, "Vajpayee's single best speech according to me was in Parliament in May 1964, when as a 38-year-old MP and leader of Jana Sangh, he stood up to pay his obituary tribute to Nehru. In my view, in independent India, a speech of that quality is unprecedented."
In an oblique reference to developments in the CBI, Jaitley wondered whether non-accountability of institutions could be a ground for investigative adventurism and masking corruption.
The country is higher than any institution or the government, he said while delivering the first Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial lecture here.
The Supreme Court had to intervene in the infighting between senior functionaries of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Opposition parties led by the Congress made the government's decision to send CBI director on forced leave a political issue saying it was done to prevent him from investigating the Rafale jet fighter purchase deal.
"The nation that is India, is higher than any institution or government Can non-accountability be a mask for corruption? Can it be a ground for investigative adventurism, or can it, as in case of other non-accountable institution, be a ground for inaction? What does the nation do? It is a major challenge," Jaitley said.
Observing that he was not providing any answer to the vexed questions, the minister said, "One answer is clear to me. The country is taller than any institution. And therefore, when we deal with non-accountable institutions, which is a challenge of the day. We will have to keep these challenges in mind. And those who think right will perhaps reflect on this."
He
also
regretted
that
the
attempts
were
being
made
to
weaken
the
authority
of
the
elected
and
creating
a
power
shift
in
favour
of
non-accountable
institutions.
"Ultimately
at
the
centre
or
the
states,
it
is
the
elected
who
are
accountable.
The
non-accountable
are
not
accountable,"
the
minister
stressed.
Referring
to
the
issue
of
separation
of
powers,
Jaitley
said
the
concept
is
a
part
of
the
basic
structure
ought
not
to
be
violated
by
any
Indian
government
or
any
party.
"In
fact
greater
encroachment
into
the
functions
of
other
organs,
both
through
entering
the
executive
domain,
at
times
laying
down
legislative
guidelines
under
Article
142
by
a
process
of
misinterpretation
as
in
the
judges
appointment
case,
usurping
the
power
which
belongs
to
Parliament,
we
can
actually
see
the
principle
of
separation
of
power
at
times
being
obliterated
or
diluted.
"It is a tendency which must be avoided and it require statesmanship of all institution to do so," the minister added.
Talking
about
federalism,
he
said
it
an
important
challenge
but
India
should
always
be
a
union
of
states
and
it
must
have
strong
states
and
a
strong
Centre.
"The
moment
India
becomes
a
confederation
of
states,
greater
challenges
to
India
will
emerge.
The
responsibility
of
the
Centre
in
keeping
this
country
together
and
looking
after
the
states
is
far
higher,"
he
said.
"... I just want to put a word of caution. Federalism in India is essential. India is and should always be a union of states," he added.
The minister said the balance of federalism lies in making India a union of states and no step which goes in the direction of making it a confederation of states must ever be taken.
"I occasionally hear voices and one of the reasons why this experiment does not take off, whenever regional parties have come together, for reasons other than federalism, we have still not reached that stage of maturity where there is any longevity of their governance. It is a failed idea or at least today it is a flawed idea," he said.
Governance
needs
a
strong
central
pole,
he
said,
adding
the
country
can
have
regional
players
around,
but
"you
cannot
have
a
confederation
of
regional
players".
Talking
about
the
quality
of
politics
and
public
discourse,
Jaitley
said
democracy
cannot
be
saved
by
those
who
are
committed
to
dynasties
and
who
are
governed
by
the
left-wing
philosophy
of
overthrowing
the
government,
and
who
believe
in
breaking
India
into
pieces.
"Political parties based on caste, where inheritance is only based on family principles ... How long can Indian democracy afford this? And this has a direct impact on the quality of politics.
"Because when you have a following, which either becomes a caste following or in case of families becomes a crowd around a family, for their own ambitions and interest the quality of politics suffers. And when it suffers the quality of public discourse suffers. How does India meet the challenge? But at the end of the day we have to keep the spirit of democracy alive," he added.