Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an economist by training and a politician by sheer chance, is discovering how difficult it is to run the United Progress Alliance Government.

IT is not always easy to manage a coalition what with the often contrary pulls and pressures of various constituent groups. But when it is headed by someone who is not a professional politician well-versed in the art of deal-making, the going can get even tougher.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an economist by training and a politician by sheer chance, is discovering how difficult it is to run the United Progress Alliance Government. Not a day passes without a fresh crisis distracting his attention away from the far more urgent matters of governance.

Just when the Government had heaved a sigh of relief after defeating the Opposition motion in the two Houses of Parliament on the entry of foreign multi-brand mega stores, fresh crises came to haunt it. As a result, it could not push through urgent legislative business since the two Houses were repeatedly adjourned over contentious issues.

The Government had relied on the Samajwadi Party (SP) of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Mayawati to blunt the Opposition challenge on the question of allowing 51% majority Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail sector. But a day later, the two parties were locking horns over the in-service reservations in promotions in government jobs for the traditional lower castes.

The BSP had voted with the Government to defeat the Opposition motion on retail FDI in the Rajya Sabha while it abstained in the Lok Sabha. The Samajwadi Party abstained from voting in both Houses, thus helping the Government reject the motion that sought to disapprove the proposed entry of foreign mega-stores in the country.

Apparently, BSP support on the retail FDI issue was contingent upon the Government pushing through the constitutional amendment to enable reservations in promotions for the scheduled castes and tribes (SCs/STs) in public service jobs. A few months ago, a UP Government order to that effect when the BSP leader, Mayawati, was chief minister was struck down by the Supreme Court. Hence the need for a constitutional amendment.

However, the Samajwadi Party was against such reservations, arguing that the benefit of reservations for SCs/STs in promotions in government jobs should be simultaneously extended to the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and Muslims. The demand was unacceptable to both Mayawati and the Government.

Clearly, if Mayawati was nursing her core constituency of scheduled castes and tribes, Yadav was keen to impress his main support-base of OBCs and Muslims. The ruling Congress Party was caught between the two UP-centric parties, unable to resolve their differences.

Though a government minister tried to introduce the requisite constitutional amendment bill in the Rajya Sabha to enable the in-service reservations for the SCs/STs, members belonging to the Samajwadi Party trooped into the well of the House and disrupted proceedings. This led to repeated adjournments of the House on the first three days of the week. Efforts by Hamid Ansari, vice-president and chairman of the Rajya Sabha, to resolve the issue at a meeting of various party leaders did not succeed.

The demand for reservations in promotions, on the face of it, seems unreasonable, given that SCs/STs first enter employment due to reservations only, and not on merit. However, the votaries of reservations in promotions argue that SCs/STs are discriminated against and, therefore, a number of posts at middle and higher rungs must be reserved for them.

While it is true that senior Secretary-level posts are invariably held by public servants belonging to the upper castes, there is also the question of ability and core competence. Critics argue that quality of service and performance ought not to be jeopardised by appointing undeserving persons to higher posts. However, supporters of reservations allege an ingrained bias against promoting SCs/STs and feel that quotas in higher posts is the only way out. Also, demands of equity and justice too justify such reservations.

Of course, the provision of reservations in promotions would upset a vast majority of government servants, given that despite entry-level quotas for SCs/STs, middle and upper rungs of the public services are still overwhelmingly dominated by upper castes. In fact, employees of the UP Government observed a state-wide bandh earlier in the week to protest the proposed reservations for SCs/STs. As Yadav’s Samajwadi Party is in power in UP, it looked on benignly when the State government employees went on strike for a day.

But in-service reservations was not the only issue on which the Government found itself in a quandary. Reports on the mandatory disclosures by the US companies referred to the filing by the Walmart store were making the headlines. Apparently, it had spent US$25mil (RM76mil) over four years on lobbying to gain access to foreign markets. (The size of the Indian market is over US$450bil, definitely a huge attraction for big-chains such as Walmart.)

Immediately, the Opposition seized upon the disclosure to allege wrong-doing by the Government. It sought a probe either by a joint parliamentary committee or by a competent judicial authority. The failure of the Government to respond led to disruptions and adjournments of the Lok Sabha. Forced on the back foot, at the time of writing the Government seemed inclined to concede to the demand for a probe.

With only a couple of days left for the end of Parliament’s winter session, disruptions over the SCs/STs reservations and alleged bribes in the case of retail FDI threatened the passage of a slew of Bills. The Government was keen to push ahead with the economic reforms agenda. Amendments in the banking, insurance and pension sector laws needed parliamentary approval. Yet, differences cropped up over the proposed Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill with the Opposition accusing the Government of bad faith for making changes in the draft Bill after it was approved by the Standing Committee of Parliament on Finance.

In sum, running a coalition often requires the squaring of circles, a task which the apolitical Prime Minister is not always adept at performing.

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