Implementing agenda

It is necessary to make a distinction between political philosophies and their implementation. This is because when political parties rule their best ideas are not always implemented. There are several reasons behind this. First of all, political parties are not cohesive ideological groups all of whose members share the same thoughts. In parties like Congress and BJP which represent diverse regional and social groups of the country there is bound to be an internal conflict in ideas. What matters ultimately is what the view of the topmost leader is or what in their collective wisdom serves the political interests of the party best at a given juncture. Secondly, in India there are three important pillars of state: government, bureaucracy and judiciary. There are ample examples of how bureaucracy may thwart what political parties want to implement. Bureaucrats are experts. They are often in league with the international and bilateral organizations which influence government decisions and they can draft the decisions in such a manner that the political parties are not fully able to implement what they actually want to implement. The ultimate outcome of an intended policy could be different from what was initially thought about politically. Then there is judiciary which can always question the constitutional validity of government decisions or bureaucratic approaches. Judicial response may delay the implementation of policies and schemes for a long time. When the policies are implemented their outcome reflects the outcome of a long process of battle of ideas, play of politics, people’s response to policies, a complicated process of constitutional and bureaucratic decisions and the interpretation by the local functionaries. Lastly, the outcome of the interventions depends a lot on governance. You may have lots of good policies but if administration is working in self-interest and using political and administrative power in its own interest (due to corruption) then even the best political ideologies will fail to deliver. Finally, there is often a conflict between traditional values and the organization values. As members of a political party the politicians too are not free from this conflict. As a politician or a bureaucrat one is expected to be objective, go according to written rules, serve the interest of the organization or people, and act in a dispassionate manner. However, as a member of a family, kinship, caste, community and region he is expected to serve the particularistic interests. Then he has the conflict. What he will do is an existential question.