Tuesday, March 30, 2004
An Indian liberal party?
In the early days of this blog, I had suggested that the time was ripe for a truly liberal party to emerge in India. I meant liberal in the original sense of the word, not the sense in which it is used in modern-day America. Fiscally conservative and socially liberal was what I had in mind (Clintonism is the closest America got to the idea, though I am not convinced at all about Clinton's social liberalism -- case in point, the defence of marriage act).
True, a liberal party in India will not really work at a national level for a bunch of reasons, but I do think there could be some purchase of the idea in urban areas -- enough anyway to influence some level of policy. And yes, this purchase in urban areas of the ideas of liberalism would come at the expense of the BJP (which has a seeming lock on the urban middle class as a business-friendly party) and would probably return urban politics to its moderate and liberal past. I even wrote to former finance minister P. Chidambaram once suggesting that someone like him become the fountainhead for such a party, Needless to say, I got no response (I had written to him at his generic Indian Express address).
Given this background, it was great to read Niranjan Rajadyaskha's economics column in Businessworld suggesting the very same idea. He goes one step further and suggests Rajagopalachari's erstwhile Swatantra Party (which had 44 seats in Parliament at one time) as the model one could emulate.
It should be one that respects individual liberties, supports a market economy and swears by constitutional methods. All three are essential if India is to eventually develop further as an economy and society. We do not have even one mainline party that believes in these core tenets of liberalism. They all prefer the old way of statist meddling, a way that has ravaged our country and condemned it to poverty.
India's liberals have been reviled over the decades; often because they were foolish enough to take principled stands on various issues. Though the first lot in the 19th century made early critiques of imperial economic policy, they were condemned as agents of the Empire, because of their support to the government on matters of social reform. In the 1930s, the liberals were swept away by the fervour of Gandhiji's movement.
And the Swatantra Party, led by Rajaji, was time and again attacked as a tool of rich capitalists and princes. This party had its own unpopular positions - it opposed the invasion of Goa in 1962 and the abolition of the privy purses in 1969. More importantly, it opposed nationalisation and attempts to collectivise agriculture.
One problem, obviously, is the lack of leadership. The Swatantra Party was led by Rajaji, who was Gandhiji's political heir as much as Nehru and Patel were. There is no one liberal politician today who has the same stature. There are some liberals who work away at the fringes of the established political parties. But do they really have a chance in parties that get excited about mafia dons and matinee idols?
True, a liberal party in India will not really work at a national level for a bunch of reasons, but I do think there could be some purchase of the idea in urban areas -- enough anyway to influence some level of policy. And yes, this purchase in urban areas of the ideas of liberalism would come at the expense of the BJP (which has a seeming lock on the urban middle class as a business-friendly party) and would probably return urban politics to its moderate and liberal past. I even wrote to former finance minister P. Chidambaram once suggesting that someone like him become the fountainhead for such a party, Needless to say, I got no response (I had written to him at his generic Indian Express address).
Given this background, it was great to read Niranjan Rajadyaskha's economics column in Businessworld suggesting the very same idea. He goes one step further and suggests Rajagopalachari's erstwhile Swatantra Party (which had 44 seats in Parliament at one time) as the model one could emulate.
It should be one that respects individual liberties, supports a market economy and swears by constitutional methods. All three are essential if India is to eventually develop further as an economy and society. We do not have even one mainline party that believes in these core tenets of liberalism. They all prefer the old way of statist meddling, a way that has ravaged our country and condemned it to poverty.
India's liberals have been reviled over the decades; often because they were foolish enough to take principled stands on various issues. Though the first lot in the 19th century made early critiques of imperial economic policy, they were condemned as agents of the Empire, because of their support to the government on matters of social reform. In the 1930s, the liberals were swept away by the fervour of Gandhiji's movement.
And the Swatantra Party, led by Rajaji, was time and again attacked as a tool of rich capitalists and princes. This party had its own unpopular positions - it opposed the invasion of Goa in 1962 and the abolition of the privy purses in 1969. More importantly, it opposed nationalisation and attempts to collectivise agriculture.
One problem, obviously, is the lack of leadership. The Swatantra Party was led by Rajaji, who was Gandhiji's political heir as much as Nehru and Patel were. There is no one liberal politician today who has the same stature. There are some liberals who work away at the fringes of the established political parties. But do they really have a chance in parties that get excited about mafia dons and matinee idols?
