Modi-Sonia meet, a good beginning

That the system is bigger than an individual was proved on Friday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after 18 months, invited his key rival Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi along with former prime minister Manmohan Singh to break the impasse on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, pending passage in Parliament. While the move to meet the
opposition party is indeed welcome, it need not have been this way. Modi could have been far more conciliatory from the beginning of his term. This could have helped ease needless inter-party tensions and probably worked towards passing several other pending bills.

For, whatever the differences between the two parties, the fact is that the cooperation of the Congress is essential as the BJP does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. Considerable hope was placed on the results of the Bihar Assembly elections but the BJP could not succeed in increasing its numbers following its poor showing. In that sense, the meeting on GST may have happened out of political compulsions. But, whatever the reason, that an interaction between the bitter rivals did happen portends well for the country as people want progress and development. Beyond a point, no one is interested in petty fights among political parties or their leaders as that invariably leads to stagnation and the prevalence of status quo. Ideally, the meeting should not be a one-shot affair and both the parties must continue to cooperate with each other on other crucial issues. As Modi pointed out in Parliament last week, consensual politics is the way forward. One hopes it is not an opportunistic call with the limited purpose of ensuring the passage of the GST bill. Rather, people would like to believe it is the start of a new phase in relations between the two parties. 

Since Independence, there have been times when political parties and their leaders have been unable to look beyond the short-term resulting in adverse consequences. But, largely there has been an unwritten rule that when it comes to issues of national interest
parties should close ranks, setting aside mutual differences. For example, the peaceful manner in which change of government occurs after elections, irrespective of mutual anger and bitterness, is something that has fascinated many other countries. The same spirit has also come to the fore on other pressing occasions. The GST bill is going to have fundamental long-term consequences for the economy. This is seen as one issue that requires the backing of all parties. Hopefully, the Modi-Sonia meeting will lead to a more collaborative politics.