What Next ?

Summary

In this speech delivered to the Progressive Group on 9 August 1979, M. R. Masani refuses to predict the immediate parliamentary arithmetic surrounding Charan Singh’s confidence vote. Instead, he asks audiences to look beyond the next few weeks and consider what India should become over the next several years. The first half of the speech presents the Janata period as a failure of leadership, marked by defections, factional rivalry, opportunism, and public disenchantment. Masani argues that the contest between Charan Singh, Jagjivan Ram, Morarji Desai, and Indira Gandhi offers no meaningful alternative because the principal actors have repeatedly reversed their positions and pursued office.

Key points

• Masani rejects short-term speculation about whether Charan Singh will win the confidence vote or Parliament will be dissolved.
• He describes the Janata Government as a continuing failure and criticises its leaders for factionalism and opportunistic defections.
• He argues that accepting Indira Gandhi’s support is politically inconsistent but that both sides of the parliamentary contest have sought such support when useful.
• He warns that a rapid election would return many of the same politicians because voters lack credible alternatives.
• The speech distinguishes democracy from mere electoral turnover and calls for democracy combined with discipline, integrity, and effective government.
• Masani attributes corruption partly to India’s statist, controlled economy and the concentration of economic power in political and bureaucratic hands.
• He advocates limited but strong government, a retreat from the Permit Licence Raj, and a larger role for citizens and financially independent people in politics.
• He ends by urging people in their thirties, forties, and fifties to act immediately rather than wait for the next parliamentary crisis.