The United Progressive Alliance will celebrate the first anniversary of its second consecutive term in office on Saturday after a sweet and sour year marked by misses and hits in governance and its deft management of uncertainties of coalition politics.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveils the "report to the people" on the achievements of his government, the spate of Maoist strikes tested the government, especially after the two big Naxal attacks in the space of six weeks in Chhatisgarh that killed 110 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and civilians. The Price rise was also a burning issue with the UPA-II facing lost of flak.
While the Congress-led alliance and its supporters took credit for the passage of Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha and making Right to Education a fundamental right, its foes saw the UPA-II tenure a "disastrous" one.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who is also the UPA chairperson, was credited for pushing the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha but questions remained when it would be passed in the Lok Sabha amid fierce opposition from the Yadav trio as also from Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati.
Despite skating on thin ice as regards numbers, the coalition shook off the opposition challenge in Parliament successfully defeating the cut motion.
Another highlight of the second term with the economist-turned-politician at the helm of afffairs was that India remained on the high growth path amid the global slowdown. The Opposition painted a bleak picture of the ruling coalition's performance. Expectedly critical, it said UPA's one-year record appears to be a case of belied hopes.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has accused UPA of misusing institutions like the Central Bureau of Investigation to manage vulnerable allies, faltering on strategic and foreign policy issues, failing to deliver on internal security front and in controlling prices. BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said UPA II's first year was "disastrous". "Normally, the first year of any government or honeymoon period is a very comfortable period. For Congress-led UPA, it started with a slender majority and opportunistic support of BSP, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal but they thought they had captured the moon and made arrogance their political culture," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said.The opposition also cited the issue of separate Telangana to accuse the coalition of indecisiveness and flip-flops.
For the Congress, leading the coalition, the first year was a smooth affair. "It has been a year of achievements and fulfilment, a year of satisfaction but also the year of realising that there are many miles to go. It is an ongoing journey," says party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi. Singhvi referred to the Unique Identification project, expansion of rural job guarantee scheme NREGA, the National Food Security Act, health security for all citizens, bank credit to small farmers at low rate of interest, women's reservation Bill as some of the achievements.
He says while some of them have been fulfilled, the remaining would be realised soon, adding "These are the issues which we believe are game changers for society. We always considered them vital issues." The exit of Shashi Tharoor from the government following the controversy over IPL Kochi franchise roiled the image of the government whose Communication Minister A Raja of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is facing allegations of corruption over the 2G telecom spectrum allocation.
The BJP says the government deserves a score of three out of 10 on its performance. "The government has failed the test. It will not get more than three out of ten marks... its main failure" is on the price front," says Javadekar.
Even Congress allies are maintaining that the party needs to do more on the issues of dealing with coalition partners and tackling problems of price rise and Maoists."Better coordination among the partners will definitely strengthen the UPA," insists Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
Nationalist Congress Party general secretary D P Tripathi, whose party is also part of the coalition, says, "UPA is good. It has to become better". "After gaining 206 seats in the Lok Sabha, the Congress has become far less democratic," says a leader of one of the allies.
"What happened to the promise on '100 days performance' of the government," asked an MP of a key ally.The DMK, the third largest party in the coalition after Congress and Trinamool with 18 seats, however, says it has no complaints. "The DMK is on very good terms with the UPA and we are part of the government. We have very good relations with the Congress. We have no complaints," says party spokesperson T K S Elangovan.
