Why waste time, ministers?

Antony and Mukherjee spent hours away from posts, resolving Cong bickerings


Mumbai has just been mangled by the most audacious terror attack ever in this sub-continent. An alert has been sounded for more attacks on other Indian metropolises, including New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, on December 6 - the Babri Masjid demolition day. There is tension along the Pakistan border.

What does defence minister AK Antony do at this critical juncture? He leaves his post in the Capital and holes himself up in a room in Vidhan Bhavan, Mumbai, deliberating for hours on end with Congress MLAs and MLCs to pick the successor to Vilasrao Deshmukh, who formally stepped down as Maharashtra chief minister on Thursday.

For company, Antony has none other than Pranab Mukherjee - the minister for external affairs who happens to be the most seasoned man in the Union cabinet.

The 10-hour long circus on Thursday left Mumbaikars fuming. The various citizens’ forums and NGOs, too, were aghast.

Anandji Joshi, president of the Forum for Fairness in Administration, told DNA: “The whole world is watching Mumbai. The FBI and other foreign agencies are here to conduct their own investigations as several foreigners have been killed in the attacks. And our Union ministers are wasting time, holding a futile meeting to appoint the chief minister.”

He asked how the defence minister could leave his post at a time of intensive troop build-ups on either side of the Indo-Pak border. “Plus there is an alert of possible air strikes at vital installations across India,” he added in dismay.

Joshi felt that the job of picking the chief minister should have been best left to the elected members of the assembly constituencies. There was no need to involve Antony and Mukherjee, at a time when they should have been manning their posts.

Agni coordinator Shama Kulkarni said, “What has happened is an absolute disgrace. At a time when foreign agencies were busy with their terror investigations, Narayan Rane’s supporters were demonstrating outside Mantralaya after he was not picked CM.” She added that it was essential that we vote, but having done so, we should also be “able to hold on to the power strings”.

Lok Satta Aandolan spokesperson Surendra Srivastava said, “For the past 12 years, we have been highlighting the need for democratising political parties through direct elections to crucial posts, like chief minister and mayor, so that genuine leaders are there at the helm.”

But, he lamented, it had never been so. “Only a few families control politics in India. They ignore genuine and able grassroot workers and appoint family members and relatives to crucial posts. The political parties are only concerned about winning the next elections. To them, the one who is capable of buying voters with alcohol and money is the best person to become the chief minister. Commitment and integrity count for
nothing.”