New Delhi, June 01: The Bharatiya Janata Party hopes to make a modest beginning in making its State governments accountable and ensuring they provide good governance by checking on what they are up to.
A two-day conference of Chief Ministers and key Ministers of BJP-ruled States is being organised in Mumbai on June 5 and 6. A candid self-assessment will be encouraged; presentations will be made on people-friendly initiatives taken by the governments; implementation or non-implementation of election manifestoes will be noted; and finally, a charter of good governance will be released.
The conference will not be open to the press as the discussions will be part of the party’s internal debates on various governance-related issues.
For the first time, the BJP has a governance cell in the party organisation headed by the former Goa Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar. This is the first initiative he had taken, he told reporters here on Monday. He pointed out that at the party’s Indore conclave recently BJP president Nitin Gadkari had emphasised that he wanted to give governance in BJP-ruled States due importance. It was on the basis of its performance that the party should be able to go to the electorate, when the time comes for another election, and seek votes.
Responses to questions, however, made it clear that the party was not yet prepared for a “report card” on its Chief Ministers. “A report card is a suggestion by you,” Mr. Parrikar told journalists, adding that certainly “accountability” of party governments was part of the agenda.
While “self-assessment by Chief Ministers and Ministers was a distinct possibility,” Mr. Parrikar was reluctant to describe it a performance audit or an inquiry into their functioning. A senior leader said “the national party president was sending out a loud message [to Chief Ministers] by undertaking this exercise.”
The keynote address will be delivered by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Parrikar did not think his State’s dismal record on communal harmony or the Supreme Court’s remarks on fake encounters in the State could take away the shine from his “development” record.
Another fact that was obvious was that through this exercise the party had decided to build the profile of Mr. Parrikar, whose name had figured among those likely to get the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh nod for the party president’s post. That was before Mr. Gadkari’s name was finalised.
One senior leader later said, four major issues will be discussed: out-of-the-box ideas implemented by State governments; improvement of delivery mechanisms so that the last man in the queue gets his share; an account of usage of Central funds for various schemes available to State governments; and implementation of manifesto promises.
Another area of concern that will be dwelt upon is the relationship between the party and its governments. Almost everywhere the BJP has a government, party men complain they were unable to access Ministers and get people’s grievances redressed.
—-Agencies