In its short term the UPA has given enough evidence to suggest its lack of understanding of the functioning of a parliamentary democracy. In her fifty plus years of independence India had matured well as a democracy, with real threat to democracy as a national institution being felt only during the emergency declared under the tyrannical rule of the Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Apart from that one occasion, there was no instance when the democratic institution in the country as such faced potential threat though democracy was neither understood nor practiced within the Congress party itself. Under the weird opportunist alliances of the UPA the nation has gone back to the days of the emergency. Today with each assembly election the nation awaits anxiously to see what crooked game the UPA will play to keep the NDA away from power at any cost.

There are obvious limitations of a written constitution. In the areas where the constitution is not explicit, conventions are expected to be followed. But what is of prime concern is that the spirit of the constitution should be maintained. The UPA has been subverting the constitution, democracy and law to suit its own interests putting the interests of the nation at bay. In its greed to usurp power, the UPA has made it obvious that it has no respect for the constitution; it has followed the constitution only in letter but killed it in spirit. 

Not only has the first year of the UPA been undemocratic and unconstitutional, it has also been anti-national. Measures were taken that were gravely against national security interests. The anti-terrorism bill, POTA, was abolished without providing any alternative security measures. Passport and visa rules were relaxed for the entry from POK offering smooth passage to potential terrorists. A person with alleged links with the ISI was sworn into the ministry. And above all, a person of foreign origin with a shady background was made the super PM and has access to all the information related to the government.

Wooing minorities, Congress’s chronic disorder is back in vogue. Minorities commission, reservation to minorities on the basis of religion in education and jobs, awarding national award to the undeserving wife of a deceased missionary, declaring national mourning on the death of the Pope are only few examples of the numerous measures the UPA took to please its minority vote bank. For the government of a country which was partitioned on the basis of religion, the rising population of a religious minority does not seem to be a matter of concern. In spite of repeated warnings from the intelligence departments, the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are being welcomed. Not only has the government unfairly favoured the religious minorities, it has been deliberately hurting the Hindu majority sentiment. The humiliating arrest of the Shankaracharya without substantial evidence was the easiest way to do this.

Education is probably one of the worst hit sectors. The so-called “detoxification” of education saw a reversal in the school books taking us back to incorrect and skewed perception of Indian history. The so-called leftist historians are again having a ball of a time. The RSS managed schools providing patriotic, nationalist education are being judged communal while madrasas breeding jehadi terrorism are being certified as secular.

What did the UPA do in the first year of its accidental glory? It has consistently targeted the NDA, trying to crush it in every possible way and undoing everything that the NDA had done before them. Rejecting the Fookan commission report, ordering fresh probe into Centaur deal and defense deals, changing the curriculum, even maligning the national heroes whom NDA had honoured, the UPA has just engaged in mud slinging without taking any constructive step.   

The year started with a historic slump in the stock market owing to the apprehension of an inexperienced woman with doubtful credentials adorning the PM seat. Owing to some constitutional technicalities and probably lack of self-confidence (and the desire to secure the coveted seat for her son) the nation of one hundred crores plus of population was saved from the shame of being ruled by a foreigner. The case of obvious helplessness was turned into a supreme sacrifice by the servile Congressmen who are busy buttering her highness by comparing her to Mahatma Gandhi, Gautam Buddha and Mother Teresa. Then came murderers, dacoits, rapists, ISI agents into the Parliament. When a tainted minister was arrested for charges of murder, it was avenged by arresting a CM of the opposition party for having hoisted the national flag on a disputed territory - probably the only case in the history of the world where a citizen of a free state was arrested for hoisting its own national flag within its own lawful territory which was supposed to be “disputed”. Mishandling of unpleasant events left the north-east burning. National hero and freedom fighter, who had been honoured by eminent Congress leaders like Babu Rajendra Prasad, Indira Gandhi, C. Rajagopalachari was maligned and insulted by the Congress. Efforts were made to usurp power by unconstitutional and undemocratic means in Goa and Jharkhand. Undesired and uncalled for controversy over legislature versus judiciary was initiated by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha himself. The list is never-ending.