The Rediff Special

Will the United Front government last?

The United Front government has yet to overcome its coalitional contradictions.

The pulls and tugs over the payment of bonus issue has highlighted Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's problems in keeping his administration intact.

Aditi Phadnis reports on the crisis in government for Sunday magazine.

As H D Deve Gowda sleeps, his government looks shakier than ever

It was a refreshing change. Not only did Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda arrive to address army commanders on November 3 right on time but he looked almost alert as he took his place at the lectern.

The top brass of India's services had been apprehensive on both counts.

At Air Force Day some weeks ago, Gowda (who was chief guest) had arrived one hour late, holding up everything. The vice-president, who was also invited, had to be made to wait at home till the PM arrived, for protocol reasons. As the kababs cooled, tempers rose. But Gowda neither apologised nor explained.

The chiefs also remembered vividly the June embarrassment. At a special presentation made to familiarise the United Front with defence matters soon after the new government took over, H D Deve Gowda kept his eyes shut during a large part of the briefing. He could have been thinking. But it looked remarkably as if he were asleep.

However, his conduct on November 3 was impeccable. He arrived on time. He looked around the hall with steely eyes. Then he glanced at the prepared speech. He flung it aside and said it didn't reflect in adequate measure, his commitment to the Indian defence services.

He then spoke extempore about the challenges to India's security and how they should be met. Thumping the lectern and the table several times he thundered: 'Where the country's defence is concerned, resources can never be a consideration.'

Awestruck officers clapped enthusiastically. So gratified was the army chief by the prime minister's generosity that he thanked Deve Gowda for his 'sympathy and support.' Witnesses from the bureaucracy commented cynically: 'He did drama and played tabla.'

But the army chief could not have anticipated events. A few days after the conference, Deve Gowda announced from Bangalore that a new regiment would be added to the army - the Karnataka regiment.

Army officers were shocked. When this suggestion had come from Deve Gowda earlier, they had told the ministry of defence that such a regiment was just not in the national interest.

Officers were asked to cut short their leave and return to give shape to the executive order from the PM to the RM (Raksha Mantri). Not only had the army got no inkling that such an announcement was coming, but also it was clear that its opinion counted for nothing. It was the classic off-the-cuff announcement, etched into eternity because the prime minister had made it.

The army cannot afford a new regiment -- there is a freeze on its strength. The economy can't afford it. Worried officers in the ministry of defence ask how the Government of India will meet demands from say, West Bengal or Gujarat, for new regiments.

But all that doesn't seem to bother the government. It seems to live on ad hoc decisions. And certainly, finances are not its primary consideration.

Take the issue of paying bonus to government employees.

Courtesy: Sunday magazine