The Rediff Special

Politics and business have had an enduring symbiotic relationship, as far as money is concerned!

Politics becomes commerce

The same is true about my profession. By not following the norms of probity in public life - and, instead, by turning politics itself into a lucrative personal business - many of our fellow politicians have caused society to question the credibility of the political class as a whole - in fact, of the democratic system itself. Today, some are even paying the price for their corruption and abuse of power.

This leads me to mention the second crucial requirement if we are serious about maximising synergy between government and business. And that is the need to introduce and religiously practise maximum transparency and accountability both in business and politics.

As a practising politician, I must state here that, generally when the media and the public fora discuss the issues of transparency and accountability, they do so only with reference to politics and government. We in the BJP welcome this, wedded as we are to the goal of su-raj or good governance. One of the four basic principles of su-raj, as we understand it, is shuchita or probity, the others being samarasta (social harmony), suraksha (national security and security for the common citizen) and swadeshi (economic nationalism).

Transparency, accountability in business

But are probity, transparency and accountability required only in the functioning of political parties and government? Is business exempt from these? I am happy to note that, in recent months, there has been some discussion in business circles also about what is termed as 'good corporate governance', and about ethical standards.

In this context, we politicians have, with good reason, been at the receiving end in recent days. Some people in the political circles are angry with the judiciary because of these happenings. Their anger is not quite justified. Some excesses have, no doubt, occurred because of judicial activism. But, on the whole, this activism has its roots in executive inertia, in the abdication by the executive of its own responsibilities, and the steep slump of probity in public life. I am unable to see any greater justification in the hue and cry being raised in business circles when they have to taste the same medicine. There may not have been much of a synergistic relationship between government and business as far as the country's growth is concerned. But politics and business have had an enduring symbiotic relationship, in so far as money is concerned!

This brings me to another aspect of the corporate situation. If a business is mine entirely, I am free to do with it whatever I wish within the ambit of the law. Truly speaking, most of the big business in this country is owned essentially by public financial institutions and the investing public. Most of those who project themselves as owners are really managers who have acquired full control by the quiet and compliant behaviour of the FI's and the wilful exclusion of the investing public. There is ample evidence available of how public companies are exploited, looted and sometimes destroyed by the so-called owners.

The revelations of the past few weeks seem to suggest that even the managers of the so-called professionally managed companies are susceptible to the same pressures and temptations. I hope that recent events will have a catalytic effect resulting in the establishment of higher ethical standards in our businesses which, in turn, will have a salutary effect on our politics.

BJP has always favoured liberalisation

There is very often ignorant, and sometimes motivated, but well-orchestrated, criticism in some circles that the BJP's thinking on economic matters is "obscurantist and growth-hindering" and that our policies, if we come to power, would be akin to creating the Indian version of the Iron or Bamboo Curtain. It is also suggested that the growth of the BJP is an invitation to economic and political instability in India. I wish to state categorically that there is not a grain of truth in these fanciful perceptions.

Nearly three years ago, when some of my colleagues and I were invited by the Confederation of Indian Industries for an interaction with businessmen, I had said: "The BJP believes that economic growth cannot take place in a vacuum. Economic growth is linked to political stability with political achievement and, if there is political turmoil and political corrosion, then economic growth would suffer."

Occasionally, foreign business, media and political circles express concern whether the BJP would reverse the economic reform policies initiated in 1991.

Let me react by saying that the BJP is totally dissatisfied with what has actually been achieved since 1991. But let me also emphasise that the broad direction that has been adopted in 1991 is a direction for which the BJP has been pleading for decades. So there is no question of the BJP trying to change the direction. The direction will remain the same. Our government will, in fact, intensify the pace of internal liberalisation. Simultaneously, it will welcome foreign investments in infrastructure and hi-tech sectors. All bureaucratic barriers to rapid implementation of developmental projects will be pulled down. Procedures will be simplified. I shall go further to say that we shall even end all discretionary powers of politicians and bureaucrats so that there is complete transparency and accountability in the business-government relationship.

Command economy pattern, an aberration

Since the days of the Jana Sangh, my party has been opposed to the command economy pattern imposed on the country by the Congress. We had opposed it even when this pattern was very much an international fashion in the 1950s, '60s and the '70s. We had opposed it even when it was a sacrosanct and inviolable principle that the public sector must have the commanding heights of the economy.

Command economy pattern, to put it charitably, was a historical aberration. It was an artificial implant in an ancient country like India which has, both in philosophy and practice, always stood for a decentralised economy wedded to broader social objectives and operating within a law-based political framework. It is this unique concept of business which enabled India, before she became a victim of foreign aggression and rule for several centuries, to scale the famed heights of prosperity and glory in ancient times.

Economy getting starved

An objective look at the five year balance sheet of liberalisation would show that advertisement far exceeds actual accomplishment on the ground.

In 1996-97 a study by the CMIE shows that, in real terms, investment in the economy has tended to stagnate in the wake of economic liberalisation. The bank advances to the economy have regressed in the current year and show an increase of only Rs 28,194 crores between November 1995 and November 1996 as against Rs 45,150 crores in 1994-95. This points to a clear decline in the economy.

Without infusion of money, the economy is getting starved. No sector - whether it is manufacturing, stock market, real estate or trading - has cheerful reports. There is an all round lull. The nation seems to be in a helpless state, bereft of confidence. The economic mismanagement of India in the last one decade is manifest in unprecedented scams. The present political uncertainty in New Delhi has only aggravated the situation and has seriously eroded national morale.