Enron deal and the poet-politician: Continuing legacy of Vajpayee's wavering Swadeshi stance

By Prof. Hemantkumar Shah* 

After the Lok Sabha elections in 1996, the BJP-led coalition government was formed for the first time under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. At that time, Shankar Dayal Sharma was the President. He invited Vajpayee to form the government because the BJP had emerged as the single-largest party in the Lok Sabha elections. Sharma had asked Vajpayee to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha.

However, Vajpayee was unable to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha. As a result, he had to resign after serving as prime minister for only 13 days.

During its short, 13-day tenure, the government held its first and last cabinet meeting on June 1, where it conducted only two tasks:

 * Passing a resolution for the government's resignation.

 * Granting approval to the American company Enron for a power plant in Dabhol, Maharashtra.

For Vajpayee, in that single cabinet meeting, nothing seemed more important for the country than approving a power plant for the Enron company! This was Vajpayee's unwavering devotion to 'Swadeshi' (a term for self-reliance and local production).

At that time, the RSS's Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) had already been established, and the SJM had blown the bugle of the Swadeshi movement against the Narasimha Rao government. Despite this, there is no public record of the RSS or the SJM making any statement against Vajpayee's decision. Vajpayee was a prominent RSS worker. He became prime minister again in 1998 and served until 2004. For six years, this "devotee of foreign companies," Vajpayee, had the full support of the RSS.

If we say that Manmohan Singh "laid out a red carpet" for foreign companies, then it can also be said that Vajpayee "ran to welcome foreign companies" on that red carpet! This is a matter of historical record and can be proven with data.

Here is another event: A meeting for the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in the city of Marrakesh, Morocco, on April 14-15, 1994. Pranab Mukherjee, as the Commerce Minister for the Narasimha Rao government, went there to sign.

Exactly one week before that, on April 8, 1994, in a press conference in Delhi, Vajpayee had said, "If the BJP comes to power, India will withdraw from the WTO."

Later, Vajpayee served as prime minister for six years from 1998 to 2004, but he seemed to have forgotten this statement. He was a poet, so it was natural for him to forget! I also don't recall the RSS or the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch ever reminding the poet prime minister of his promise.

Both of these events show how dear foreign companies are to the BJP. The Swadeshi Jagaran Manch still exists, and Narendra Modi simultaneously sings the song of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (Self-reliant India) and invites foreign companies!

Intelligent people should accept these two facts. It's natural for blind followers to not see any facts.

---

*Senior economist based in Ahmedabad