A Plea for Ratiol Moves

There is no denying that alliances and coalitions call for far greater reliance on ratiol approaches to decisions rather than initiatives that are guided more by having to keep individual political leaders in good humour. A government run by a single political party can afford to be a little more whimsical or arbitrary even in respect of political decisions. An alliance or coalition can rarely afford such luxuries. That is why there is beginning to be some concern about how the BJP coalition with the AGP is likely to work out in the coming months. Already there are two contentious issues that have the potential of creating a divide between the BJP and the AGP. One is the decision to locate the AIIMS-type hospital at Changsari rather than at Raha, the origil proposed site. If there had been an earlier promise or a decision to locate the AIIMS at Raha, that decision should be strictly adhered to in the interest of honouring legitimate democratic aspirations. It is not fair, at this point, to offer Raha a consolation altertive in the form of an Ayurvedic hospital instead. The other anti-people stance is the acceptance of the Centre’s decision to auction the 12 smaller oilfields of Assam that have an anticipated yield of 21,000 metric tonnes of crude oil valued at Rs 17,000 crore. The Centre’s argument that it has approved the auction of 69 small and margil oilfields all over the country will not cut much ice in Assam, Aruchal Pradesh or galand. The other States with small and margil oilfields are Tamil du and Rajasthan that have people capable of bidding at such auctions. Assam would like small oilfields to go to existing companies. This reasoble popular wish should be respected by the Centre in a democratic set-up.