The battle in 2014 will be between Rahul and Modi

I do not believe in the gloom and doom theory but look around youself to see how chaos has crept in and threatens to engulf the entire system. Decisions and discretions are being challenged, and this is the time for the Supreme Court and high courts to step in and restore calm. The political system has many good people but in the current situation, everything is done with an eye on elections. The system is being battered and everyone feels that if they come to power, they will restore normalcy but this is wishful thinking as events overtake decisions.

The fine balance between the legislature, executive and the judiciary has been breached at the lower level and we have a catastrophe on hand. Coalgate is a good example and as we consider the past 10 years, everyone will be painted black. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in my opinion, is not guilty if he signed the file. Apply this to the entire system; then any Union minister can be prosecuted for any mistake in his or her ministry. The CAG is an auditor and no more, and its reports have been coming for 50 years. Shall we allow the process of law to prevail? If the Prime Minister is arrested, we will have to arrest most of the chief ministers and almost everyone else for some mistake or the other. We are making a mockery of governance.

The Congress made a blunder while dealing with the 2G case. No one in the party was involved, and A Raja and his associates did wrong and should be punished. But I have still not understood what was wrong with the policy. We will learn now by selling spectrum. Will any of us be able to afford the price increase that will follow? We have let down a great success which has changed the way we live and has empowered the aam aadmi. I think the telecom industry leaders need to be given Padma Bhushans instead of FIRs registered against them. We are destroying our future by conflicts which will produce no winners in the political battles that lie ahead. I hope that no FIRs will be entertained on the issue of Coalgate till the procedure of the PAC has been completed.

I have no illusion about the future and the Supreme Court holds the key to our survival in the immediate future by its decisions on sensitive issues. Any action which leads to weakness in the political system will lead to a collapse and this is beyond redemption.

Baba Ramdev and his friends will invade Delhi on October 2 and we will have the mob. The RSS is making a huge mistake by supporting the yoga guru with the hope that it will wound the Congress. We have elected a government to govern and if there is even a hint of the law and order being disturbed, action will have to follow and it is not enough for Baba Ramdev to appeal for peace. We do not know the colour of his monetary assets. Is it black, white, blue, yellow or purple?

The Congress and BJP are getting ready for the battle. Sonia Gandhi is at her combative best and there is no trace of ill health while Rahul Gandhi attracts criticism and must be doing something right. The fact is that the battle in 2014 will be between Rahul in his 40s and Narendra Modi in his 60s. We are looking at coalition structures and in this game, both ability and acceptability are important. Rahul is yet to reveal his talent in governance but he has the right ideas and total acceptability, while Modi has a proven record as chief minister but his image is sullied at the national level after the Gujarat riots. More than half the regional parties will hesitate to align with him if he aspires for the top job. Political gymnastics can be very complex and is a bit like political mathematics where two plus two is never four, it can be zero or it can be 100.       

Do not put the cart before the horse is what I would suggest to the political parties. We still have a year and more to elections. Political honeymoons these days are very short and brutal, and anything can happen in 2014.

arunnehru89@yahoo.in

Nehru is a former Union minister