Indifferent rulers, hapless subjects

The euphoria of Trumps' visit is over. According to BBC, it proved to be a show of optics and the "bromance". This much-hyped visit was crucial for both US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump, who has to face elections soon, wanted to tell his people that he was highly popular outside the US and was "king of tariffs".

Against the backdrop of the ongoing agitation against Citizenship Amendment Act, the Indian government wanted some good headlines and it appears both have achieved what they wanted. Normally, such visits end up in some big trade deals.

But this visit of Trump apparently was not meant for such deals. The only major deal was India buying attack helicopters and other US military equipment worth $ 3 billion and another deal with Exxon Mobil to import liquified Natural Gas from the US. A bigger trade deal was never expected as both countries are engaged in a bitter tariff war.

Well if we look back, the situation in the country is not very encouraging. Nine months have passed by since the general elections were over, but still the country does not seem to have got into the mode of governance.

While the situation at the Centre is a tad better, in other States including the two southern States Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, there is nothing like governance. Once upon a time, all political parties used to plead with people to give absolute majority so that they could deliver the promises without any hinderance.

Even now the parties want absolute majority but once they get it, the focus of the ruling parties shift towards how to decimate the Opposition, bribe people by freebies and direct cash transfer. Their vision refuses to go beyond this.

The way Andhra Pradesh is busy with issues like having three capitals, play tit for tat games, rake up unnecessary issues like review of Power Purchase Agreements etc have helped the neighbouring Telangana to be benefitted as IT sector and reality sector have moved towards Telangana.

What is equally disturbing in this game of politricks is it has resulted in the administrative wings getting diverted from their original work and are more into following the instructions of the executive.

For example, the police. It is one of the most ubiquitous organisations of the society. The policemen are supposed to be the most visible representatives of the government. In an hour of need, danger, crisis and difficulty, when a citizen does not know what to do and whom to approach, the police station and a policeman should be the most appropriate and approachable unit and person for him.

It is a different matter that this kind of people-friendly policing is more on paper. The general feeling among the people is that the police are anything but people-friendly.

The police are expected to be the most accessible, interactive and dynamic organisation of any society. Their roles, functions and duties are multifarious on the one hand; and complicated, knotty and complex on the other. Broadly speaking, the twin roles, which the police are expected to play in a society are maintenance of law and maintenance of order.

They are expected to uphold and enforce the law impartially, and to protect life, liberty, property, human rights, and dignity of the members of the public; promote and preserve public order; protect internal security, ensure communal harmony etc.

But the big question is are they being allowed to perform their duties by the executive. Comparatively, one should admit that there has been visible change in Telangana though a lot more needs to be done. Political interference in many cases continues though one may not agree openly.

But in the neighbouring Telugu State, for an outsider it appears that police are busy in imposing restrictions on fundamental rights of the common man and have been tasked with ensuring that the voice of dissent is not raised by anyone and in the process the basic duties of the police seem to have taken a backseat.

If we look at the economy, at the national level, there is a visible slowdown. This has adverse impact on the States as well. On the other hand, the States' own revenues have taken a beating for various reasons which include more focus on populist schemes without taking measures to improve the growth rate in revenue.

All this is happening because the ruling parties particularly in the States are not following 'State first' policy. This is more evident in Andhra Pradesh and to some extent in Telangana. The Opposition parties too need to take the blame for this situation in the country.

While the Congress has allowed itself to become a big zero, the BJP, which is in Opposition in many States, has failed to emerge as a force to be reckoned with in those States. Take for example Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The saffron party has not been able to give any kind of jitters to the ruling party on any issue. In both the Telugu States, it is practically at zero level. Quoting the dialogue in the film 'Purab Paschim', they may say "Jab zero diya Bharat ne, duniya ko tabh gintee aayi, (When India invented zero, the world learnt to count) Taaron ki bhaasha Bharat ne, duniya ko pehle sikhayi (India taught the world the language of astronomy) Deta na dashamal Bharat toh, yun chaand pe jaana mushkil tha (Had India not given the decimal, going to the moon wouldn't have been easy) Dharti aur chaand ki duri ka, andaza lagana mushkil tha (Distance between Earth and Moon would not have been easy to guess)".

But then, it does not serve any purpose. The BJP lacks strong leadership in both the States. It has also become a party which is concentrating more on statements and less into the field.

The AP BJP State president has been criticising the ruling party and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. But it still has not been able to come with a clear stand and action plan in regard to the issue of shifting of the executive capital to Visakhapatnam.

It has not taken up any agitation except for couple of visits to the Amravati capital region, though he claims that they will not allow shifting of the capital. By making Pawan Kalyan of Jana Sena as its ally, they seem to have even silenced him from speaking anything.

When it comes to State issues, the Centre too does not seem to be in a position to take any firm stand and appears to duck under the guise of federalism. Though the Constitution has provided enough checks and balances in the powers of the Centre and the State, the Centre does not seem to be using its discretionary powers to see that the States are more into good governance rather than keeping themselves busy with political games of one-upmanship.

Unless the States perform, the Centre cannot become economically strong. The Centre seems to be ignoring this basic concept. The slogan of 'Sub ka Saath Sub Ka Vikas' cannot become reality unless the Centre wakes up ensures that governance gets top priority.