I have always wondered why this rate of growth and economic reforms process is dated to Manmohan Singh. Because actually it should be dated to LK Jha's book Economic Strategy for the 80s." Is it Arun Shourie demeaning Dr Manmohan Singh? "Economic policy is hijacked by a small elite. The Cabinet is quite comfortable with this hijacking." Is this Prakash Karat trashing Dr Singh's cabinet? "As an absolute ritual, every Finance Minister (my colleague Chidambaram is no exception) will devote the first four or five pages of his budget speech to the bulk of India and there will then be several pages, including whole of Part B, which deals perhaps with one or two per cent of our population. Almost the entire discussion that takes place at CII or CII-like forums, will be about Part B rather than Part A." Is this A. Raja, the CPI Minister in the Cabinet, whacking his colleague Chidambaram? No.It is Mani Shankar Aiyar, a diehard member of the ruling Congress Party headed by Sonia Gandhi and a Minister in the Cabinet, addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi! About himself, Aiyar laments, "There is nobody so marginal in a government as the Minister of Panchayati Raj. I count for nothing. Nothing! When I was the Minister of Petroleum, I used to walk surrounded by media."Does this fact that he has been marginalised to village issues from petroleum that was of global concern give clue to his lament? Partially yes, because he made no such noise when he headed the more powerful Petroleum Ministry. But there is more to his outburst than this.Aiyar traces the electoral defeats of the ruling party to anti-incumbency generated by the elite economic policies. Pointing to the CII members he says, "You have organised yourself to say what you want to say but the others (meaning the 700 millions rural people) are only able to organise themselves and that too without speaking to each other in the fifth year when the elections take place. That is why this expression anti-incumbency."He lists instances like how an allocation of some Rs 600 crores for Nyaya Panchayat in villages was vetoed by the Cabinet and on the next day Rs 7000 crores was approved for Commonwealth Games becuase it was a matter of national pride! He indignantly points to Nandigram, Singur and all SEZs and laughs at the talks of lakhs and lakhs of jobs!This is the first time that a minister belonging to the Congress Party, not to any fidgetty alliance partner, has spoken like the CPM and BJP critics. It is not a speech off-the-cuff, but well thought out and rehearsed. A diplomat for long, Aiyar knows that what he spoke will not benefit his own party, nor even the CPM despite his description of himself as `always a leftist' and `now a Marxist'.It will benefit only Advani and the party he leads, the BJP, which seems to be back in the reckoning. Obviously Aiyar is not a friend of Advani or the BJP either. Why then did he speak the way he did? To answer this question one must have the third eye to see the subterranean tussle that is on between two centres of power within the ruling establishment - the 10 Janpath read - Sonia Gandhi and 7 Race Course Road - read the PM. Aiyar's noise is clearly in line with the silent couriers that periodically go from 10 Jan Path where the real power rests to 7 Race Course Road (RCR) where the formal authority vests.Whether it is the SEZ issue or the farmers' issues or the FDI in retail, it is Janpath which protested to RCR through courier service. But the courier invariably delivered copies of the letters to the media first. What is the logic of the letters when the RCR is two minutes drive from Janpath for a VVIP for whom the roads are freed of traffic to drive fast. Again RCR and Janpath are linked by internal telephone lines of the government. Other telecommunication links are also available for the two addressees to talk and settle issues. Yet why does 10 Janpath believe in the 19th century model of communication, the postal letter, to send advisories to 7 RCR?It is clear from why courier is first delivered to Bahadur Zafar Marg in Delhi where the newspaper offices are situated before they reach the addressee at 7 Race Course Road. Thus, by the time the Prime Minister sees the fatwa from 10 Janpath, the whole nation is aware of its issue. The idea is to tell the nation that the sins of 7 RCR will not attach to 10 Janpath, so that, when the next elections approach, the present incumbent of 7 RCR can be discarded "for his sins." The Aiyar outburst against the policies of Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram at the CII meet is clearly what 10 Janpath would love to hear. His CII speech is a re-statement of the 10 Janpath's views expressed through courier service from time to time. Who then Aiyar is speaking for? Obviously not Advani. It's anybody's guess.

Courtesy: www.newindpress.com, May 15, 2007