While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy is the happiest person in both the Telugu States with people in AP giving a massive thumbs-up to his rule in the recently concluded civic polls, his political rivals are in a sombre mood, wondering how to climb a mountain that appears Himalayan.
Jagan, after his unmatched scale of victory, has overnight become someone who cannot be questioned, at least by his political opponents.
Going by some instances, his supporters would now feel even more emboldened and lash out at even the slightest of criticism, saying that when they have the blessings of people, Jagan can do whatever he pleases in the remainder of his term.
This precisely is the biggest danger Jagan faces in his short yet eventful and successful political journey.
The YSRCP chief would have to be more cautious than ever as there is every chance of his committing a mistake, or an error of judgment.
He has to be all the more alert so that he does not get complacent, or get disconnected with the masses. While this may appear to be improbable at this point of time, the fact is that this danger is very real, and ever present.
With such a massive victory, people that form Jagan’s close circle, as also people that give sage advice, may be hesitant in opening up in the presence of the boss and calling a spade a spade in case of an error of judgment.
Any ruler, even if he is in power with the slimmest of majority, can have the tendency to assume that his decisions are right and go ahead with implementing them, the consequences be damned.
This is precisely why we have a system of checks and balances in place in the form of the Legislature. But such an overwhelming victory, as the one handed to the YSRCP in the civic polls, may stop people that form the inner circle of the Chief Minister from bringing facts to his notice, fearing such ‘revelations’ would invite the wrath of the boss.
In such a scenario, it is up to the Chief Minister to remain level-headed, act fairly while consulting with his colleagues, and obtain proper feedback from them and take negativity into account.
Some key issues may not come to the attention of the boss, even though they require proper action. For example, if the crucial issue of illegal sand mining came up for discussion at a high level, it couldn’t get the proper attention of the person in the hot seat because of its delicate nature as it mainly involves activists of the ruling party everywhere.
Such situations arise where the opposition is not strong.
Since there is no strong opposition in the Assembly, the government would naturally bulldoze key issues preventing proper discussion on the said subjects, thus depriving itself of constructive criticism.
This is precisely why governments of yesteryear desired a strong opposition, so that they could take corrective measures.
The first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, used to get his own party to field weak candidates against intellectuals contesting as rivals thus ensuring their victory. One wonders whether present-day leaders know, or would even understand, such democratic traditions and practices.
Once used to lack of a strong opposition, the government may also lose focus, and announce more and more sops for the electorate to compensate for lack of governance.
As money dictates terms in almost everything, freebies tend to serve the purpose of the ruling party. Increased dose of welfare schemes may bring votes, but cannot be termed as effective governance.
Proper administration is entirely different from ruling with the help of populist schemes. Any effective policy should improve the living standards of the poor and this alone is real development.
Feeding a person two square meals daily can be best described as patronage, and not betterment of his life. As a Chinese proverb says, it’s better to teach a man how to catch fish, rather than give him fish. Freebies make people lazy and will be disastrous in the longer run.
The earlier regime of Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation for this trend of garnering votes, and Jagan’s administration is giving the ‘finishing touches’ to it.
Most of the beneficiaries of the government schemes don’t know much about the state’s interests, GDP, how per capita income affects the growth of the nation. They have no idea why the state government is borrowing Rs 9,000-plus crore every month and how such a huge debt burden will affect them.
The government itself won’t come forward to enlighten people about this and since there is no strong opposition, no one will question the ruler, since he and his policies have been overwhelmingly endorsed by people. #KhabarLive #hydnews
