India reforms under threat from powerful regions
BBC News - India reforms under threat from powerful regions
A number of key economic and social reforms are being opposed by powerful regional politicians who are growing in stature and influence.
Their stand often comes at the cost of the Congress-led federal government, which lacks a majority in parliament and depends on local heavyweights for support.
Mamata Banerjee - one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people this year - is one such regional player.
It has been almost a year since she won West Bengal's landmark elections, defeating the incumbent communists after 30 years.
But here in Basirhat, a rural district close to the Bangladesh border, you would be forgiven for thinking the next polls are around the corner.
Common touch
Loudspeakers play folk music and large posters of Ms Banerjee are everywhere, as a large expectant crowd cheers the state's chief minister.
Dressed in her trademark white cotton sari, and sporting flip-flops on her feet, the diminutive leader doles out loans and credit cards to poor farmers to fulfil a long-standing campaign promise.
After the rally, I join Ms Banerjee in her car as we drive to her next engagement.
Along the way we are constantly stopped by villagers who want to speak to her - she asks them about their problems.
"Has the road been fixed? What about the school? Has it got funds?" she asks rhetorically at each pit stop, as the car is surrounded.
"Yes didi (older sister), yes didi," is the constant refrain.
It's this ability to connect that is at the root of her appeal - it's also what shapes her politics.
"I feel whatever I am doing I am duty bound to the people. We have to work for the people," she tells me.
"Some politicians, they don't fulfil their commitments. But I am 100% committed."
'Hurting the poor'
You just need to step out of the car and into the surrounding countryside to understand her motive.
Bengal's villagers are among India's poorest. Years of communist rule has meant that the average farm size is small, sometimes too small.
"I have a few acres of land. My total income every year is 6,000 rupees ($114). So tell me, how do you expect me to make ends meet," says Ashraf Ali, a local farmer.
In her speeches, Ms Banerjee blames the communists and, increasingly, the federal government for policies which she says is driving up prices and hurting the poor.
It's a message that hits home.
"She means well but Delhi simply won't part with money," says Mr Ali. "They take from Bengal but they don't give back."
Mamata Banerjee's party, the Trinamool Congress, is the largest supporter of the Congress Party-led federal coalition.
But her politics is also driving her to oppose Congress's reform plans.
That opposition is now beginning to make an impact on key areas such as India's state-run railway system, which carries 30 million passengers each year.
Ambitions thwarted
It's a vital service but it also desperately needs funds to modernise, especially to improve safety standards.
"You're talking about close to $200bn. That's what we need. The question is, where are we going to get this kind of resource?" says Sam Pitroda, a government adviser who has just authored a report on improving India's Railways.
But last month Mamata Banerjee blocked a move to raise passenger fares, as recommended by Mr Pitroda's report, and even forced the government to replace the country's rail minister.
Increasingly, a number of the federal government's key economic reforms are being scuttled by regional politicians such as Ms Banerjee, without whose support it cannot survive.
Political analyst Paranjoy Guha Thakurta says it's a worrying sign.
"It is because the government at the centre is perceived to be weak, to be indecisive," he says.
"The prime minister himself is being seen as a person who is not able to assert himself."
The growing influence of grassroots regional politicians is certainly good news for Indian democracy and a boost for the country's federal structure.
But good politics can sometimes lead to bad economics. It could well hold India back from its ambition of becoming a major global power.
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