By Sukriti Roy:
The next general elections are just round the corner. If the state elections in the 5 States of Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are anything to go by, it definitely does not paint a cosy picture for the United Progressive Alliance . Dr. Manmohan Singh is the only Prime Minister after Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru to be in office for ten years. This is hardly an achievement for him because of the way in which UPA- 2 has performed.
The entire country is fed up of the way in which UPA has dragged the country down into the drains in its second term of governance. Bad policy-making decisions coupled with various instances of massive corruption are the main reasons why the UPA should not be voted back to power in the next General Elections of 2014. The fact that its allies are either abandoning the Congress or are busy in forming a Third front of their own shall prove to be a final nail in the coffin for the UPA.
Though UPA’s first term was characterised by impressive economic growth, its second term is heavily indented by numerous incidents of corruption, inefficient execution and misgovernance. The 2G scam, CWG scam, Railgate, Coalgate and the umpteen list of such instances!
The Supreme Court has chided the Government for meddling with the Central Bureau of Investigation in the coal block allocation case. Also, the Central Government and the Comptroller-Auditor General of India have been involved in various conflicts in the past years.
Various bills like the Food Security Bill, the Lokpal Bill have been passed only recently, keeping the upcoming General Elections in mind. The Food Security Bill can be deemed as having a good political timing but a bad economic timing. It is only going to increase the already high Fiscal Deficit of the Government. Anna Hazare has been used as a mere puppet and intelligently manipulated in order to appease the masses by passing the Lokpal Bill which is not even close to bearing a resemblance to the much better Janlokpal Bill.
While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has already declared its Prime Ministerial candidate in Narendra Modi, the UPA is still not sure about naming the Congress scion, Rahul Gandhi, as its Prime Ministerial candidate. Rahul Gandhi has not been able to lead successful election campaigns in the states . Also, he has suffered from various foot-in-the-mouth experiences since according to him, poverty is just a state of mind. Though he has promised to bring about changes in the congress “in ways that we cannot even imagine”, it is hardly going to make him a magnanimous.
The growing frustration and disbelief in the UPA can only be adequately reflected by voting against them in large numbers. It is high time the voters exercise their power and brandish the UPA’s report card for its pathetic performance in its second term of governance. The social, economic and political fabric of the country has been heavily marred and needs emphatic resurrection.