While the “India Story” sweeps the world and we dream about overtaking China, it could become a fable because of accelerating collapse of governance. An essential element in our polity was obedience to the judgments of the judiciary. The central, state and local governments obeyed its orders even when they did not agree with them. Good governance also demands consensus on major decisions, through transparency and consultation. These elements are now being frequently violated.  

The DMK government in Tamil Nadu paid homage in a florid poem by its Chief Minister to the principal plotter of the successful assassination of a sitting Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.  The Centre has not objected. The same government declared a state sponsored bundh despite a Supreme Court order that such inconveniences to the public were forbidden. Left parties in revolt say that the SC’s ban on gheraos and bundhs violates their freedoms of speech and association.

For many months now, the West Bengal government has allowed killings and looting in Nandigram. Though the original decision to create a chemicals hub there has been abandoned, violence has escalated. Government does not appear capable or even concerned about controlling the violence.

The CPM, the main party in the ruling coalition, is the principal protagonist against the Trinamul Congress, local associations of farmers and now, they say, Maoists. Added to this is police brutality. The CPM has said local cadres must regain control over “their” territory. The Home Secretary called Nandigram a “war zone”.  The Governor unambiguously condemned events there. He must have sent similar reports (as he is required to do), to the Centre. The Centre has done nothing.

Widespread West Bengal riots protesting non-availability of foodgrains in ration shops is another sign of breakdown in state administration, after 30 years of Left rule, now a party controlled administration.
With any other state government, the Centre would have intervened a long time back. No longer can they easily dismiss a state government for breakdown of law and order. The SC has made that difficult, unlike in the past especially when Indira Gandhi, as Prime Minister, dismissed state governments at will.  However, the central government has neither condemned happenings in Tamil Nadu or West Bengal, nor attempted to reduce tensions.

The DMK and the Left Front provide the essential support to the UPA in Parliament. They are more powerful extra-constitutional authorities over the central government than any we have seen before in India. These unprincipled and power hungry political parties are leading coalition governments to the collapse of governance. 
The shenanigans leading to the swearing in of a new BJP-JD(S) government in Karnataka are a sorry reflection on our democracy. The JD(S) President is contemptuous of commitments and democratic norms in seeking maximum advantage for his party. No constitutional authority is willing to discipline him. The Congress, as the chief constituent of the UPA, is preparing for the Gujarat elections where it confronts a powerful BJP.

It did not want to give the BJP a handle by not allowing a coalition that had broken down, to form the government in Karnataka. Election politics have made the Centre abandon its responsibility for correct governance.  

The Centre has taken no action on the revelations from the recent Tehelka tapes.  Many individuals are shown confessing to conspiracy, mass murder and the involvement of high government officials including the Chief Minister. Investigation by government agencies is essential. But the Centre, afraid of strengthening Narendra Modi in the coming Gujarat elections, has done nothing.  

The central government, really led from the back seat by Sonia Gandhi, is also unwilling to prepare carefully, consulting all concerned to develop national consensus, before announcing major decisions. After this process, it must fight hard to enforce its decisions. This is essential for effective governance. The centre has repeatedly faltered in recent months. Examples are the nuclear agreement with the US, the Ram Setu canal, the creation of SEZs, and the entry of the large organised sector into retail trade.

The Centre did not consult the BJP that initiated the policy of closeness to the US nor involve it in different stages of the nuclear negotiations. The Ram Setu canal (despite earlier clearance by a BJP-NDA government) inevitably would outrage Hindu sentiments and could have been more dexterously handled.  The SEZ policy on the large scale earlier announced included many land development projects. Huge windfall profits to a few industrialists at the cost of farmers and the public were likely.

The policy was hurried through and there was little political consultation. Government retreated in the face of widespread opposition. Entry of large companies into retail trade just happened, without much government involvement. The result-states like Uttar Pradesh and Orissa have prevented this entry. Every time that government retreats from such hurried major decisions, it diminishes its authority to govern.    

We are setting unfortunate precedents of disobeying judicial orders, retreating from decisions taken without consultation, and not confronting state governments that allow breakdowns of law and order.