Promising signs in India

India's political scene looks far less troubled than before. This was reflected in the first session of parliament after the general election. There was no shouting, no boycott and no walkout. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also assured a bipartisan approach with his first speech in the Lok Sabha.

What has really brought about change is the demoralisation of the opposition and the confidence of the ruling Congress. The latter depended on some 12 parties to run the government after the election five years ago. This time, it needed only 66 additional seats to form a government. These were provided by its pre-poll allies, ambitious Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, fiery Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and M. Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu.

On the other hand, the regional leaders have been cut to size by the voters. The Communists who made the Congress government possible last time are too downhearted to criticise it, even when their main agenda - opposition to the sale of public undertakings - has been treated with contempt. The prime minister has announced their privatisation. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) feels too humiliated to challenge Singh, who was described by its leader, L.K. Advani, as a nikamma (useless) prime minister during the election campaign. The Congress, it seems, can dictate terms if it so decides. For example, the party could pass a bill on reservations for women in parliament. But it is not pushing for it, because the party wants to achieve consensus. This is likely to result in a 20 per cent reservation, instead of the 33 per cent the Congress had promised in its poll campaigns.

Competent, soft-spoken Meira Kumar was unanimously elected as Lok Sabha Speaker. She is close to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The office demanded a person of stature. Jawaharlal Nehru once said that the Speaker represents the House, which in turn represents India. When Sonia made up her mind to have a Dalit woman as the Speaker, the rest followed. But in the process, Sonia has devalued the position of Speaker, as she did the office of president.

It was always going to be difficult to find a successor to Somnath Chatterjee, who annoyed even the Communists, once his comrades, by adopting an impartial posture and making independent rulings. But Kumar's feet are far too small to fit into his big shoes. But then political institutions have always bothered the Nehru dynasty. Indira Gandhi demolished practically all the institutions that her father, Nehru, had built. Sonia has completed her mother-in-law's unfinished work.

I do not know why so much fuss was made over the constitution of new council of ministers. It was a given that both the prime minister and the Congress president had to balance the demands of regions, religions, castes and the like. If, even after 62 years of independence, the party that won 206 seats could not choose people on the basis of merit and integrity, it should realise its helplessness against the demon of caste it has created. True, the caste has stalled communalism. But both represent the forces that taint the idea of secular India.

I also cannot understand why it took so long - 11 days - to constitute the council of ministers. It may serve as a corrective to both the prime minister and the Congress president to know that Nehru submitted the list of his ministers on August 14, one day before they were sworn in. There were no additions and no deletions to the list. Nehru wrote in his own hand the names of his ministers and their portfolios.

Despite claims that background checks were carried out, some of the members of the council of ministers have questionable credentials. Many are round pegs in square holes. The average age of the ministers is 63. Only five are below 40, and none of them has been made a member of the Cabinet.

I can understand the dropping of the two most loyal ministers, Arjun Singh and H.R. Bhardwaj. They had outlived their utility. But why drop a sensitive minister like Saifuddin Soz?

Looking ahead, the government must make regional peace a priority. This would help it to avoid the expense of positioning a large number of troops on the borders.

Kuldip Nayar is a former Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom and a former Rajya Sabha member.