<p>Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh recently came out with his book To the brink and back: India’s 1991 story that gives an insider’s account of the reforms process when he functioned as an aide to then PM P. V. Narasimha Rao. In an interview with BW Businessworld’s Suman K. Jha, Ramesh says the BJP is now trying to appropriate Rao’s legacy. He, however, feels the GST Bill would be passed in the winter session.<br><br><strong>Excerpts:<br><br>Q: Your book says that there was a per-fect jugalbandi between Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh for the 1991 reforms. Why did the Congress then disown Rao?</strong><br>A: The Congress has been ambivalent about Rao for two reasons. One, the economic reforms of 1991 led to an electoral disaster, first in 1994 in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and then in the 1996 general elections. Two, his handling of Ayodhya.<br><br><strong>Q: Isn’t it ironical that the BJP has decided to build a memorial for Rao?</strong><br>A: Having no icons, the BJP is appropriating icons: Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhimrao Ambedkar… and now Rao.<br><br><strong>Q: You have described the way Rao and Singh reached out to the Opposition and opposition within the Congress on the reforms. What can the present NDA leadership learn from them?</strong><br>A: Political dialogue is completely absent with this government. The initiative for this has to come from those in power. The initiative in 1991 came from Rao and Singh. Neither Modi nor Jaitley has the patience and attention span that Rao and Singh demonstrated in June, July and August of 1991.<br><br><strong>Q: The Congress will sooner or later be led by Rahul Gandhi. Would Rao have approved of the left-turn that the Congress is taking?</strong><br>A: It’s a bogus argument because Congress is, has been, and will continue to be a left of centre party. The economic reforms may have given it a right-wing image, but neither Rao nor Singh can be called a market fundamentalist; both of them were aware of the social realities of India.<br><br><strong>Q: You came out with the land Act of 2013. The NDA tried to change it, by arguing that even Congress chief ministers felt it was not workable at all. Assam’s Tarun Gogoi, for instance…</strong><br>A: That’s the fig leaf that the NDA took. Late Gopinath Munde, who was the rural development minister, didn’t want it. It was only when Nitin Gadkari became the minister that the demand came. We know the interests that Gadkari represents. Of course, Congress CMs had reservations about it. Prithviraj Chavan, for instance. Congress CMs are CMs because of the party, right?<br><br><strong>Q: The Modi government has been trying to reach out to you on GST…</strong><br>A: That’s a myth. There’s been no structured dialogue between the Congress and the government leadership. The GST dialogue of Arun Jaitley is: “Take it or leave it”. We have suggested 4-5 amendments. Has Jaitley reached out to P. Chidambaram? Chidambaram is giving his ideas in a column, and Jaitley is giving his ideas in a press conference and Facebook posts.<br><br><strong>Q: Now, the BJP is saying they will</strong><br>advance the winter session…<br>A: We introduced the GST Bill in March 2011. We have waited for four years; we might as well wait for five years.<br><br><strong>Q: Do you think GST will become a reality in the coming winter session?</strong><br>A: That should not be a problem. Congress is the original author of GST. We know the GST is going to benefit the country. But GST has been badly handled by this government. For three years, Modi opposed GST, and now they have become its biggest champions.<br><br><strong>Q: What are you busy with these days?</strong><br>A: I have in mind three books. One on the development challenges of the Maoist affected states. Another on rights-based legislations like RTI. And a third one on the reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh. <br><br>(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 05-10-2015)</p>
