Two Congress stalwarts, Tarun Gogoi and P. Chidambaram, have recently released their (political) autobiographies. While autobiographies do not do much justice because, a person, however honest, does not see flaws in himself, those that dwell on a person's political journey are interesting to us journalists as they help jog our own memories of facts as they happened at a particular juncture in history.

Tarun Gogoi's book, Turnaround: Leading Assam from the Front is a narrative of how Gogoi was able to reverse Assam's deep financial crisis which he inherited from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government led by Prafulla Mahanta. The people of Assam judge Mahanta as the worst chief minister the state ever had. His regime was marked by a series of secret killings where family members of Assam's militant outfit Ulfa were allegedly killed. Assam's economy had stagnated. There was an air of despondency which pushed people to vote for change.

Writing the foreword for Gogoi's book, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says Gogoi had inherited the government from the AGP (1996-2001) which left behind an economy in deep crisis, crippled by multiple insurgencies and characterised by the collapse of law and order and gross financial mismanagement. Indeed, Gogoi inherited a crown of thorns. There was a deficit budget of Rs 7.8 billion and one third of Assam's 26.7 billion population lived below poverty line. Mahanta's government could not even pay salaries to its employees. Singh, a financial expert, said public sector enterprises, especially the power and transport sectors, were on the verge of collapse. Added to this very grim scenario was also the spectre of violence. Ulfa, NDFB and the BLT were active and created a climate of fear which drove away capital from Assam.

Inheriting blunders

Gogoi came to Assam with a lot of experience behind him. Having served as a central minister under P.V. Narasimha Rao, he understood the nuances of governance better than the student leader and activist-turned-rookie politician, Prafulla Mahanta. In the northeastern states, student leaders quickly transmogrify into politicians.

These student leaders gain notoriety by crucifying the ruling government, thereby creating the imagery that things would be hunky-dory if they are in the driving seat. But activism is much easier than politics and governance. In the former you can make the government look bad. When you enter politics, you spend all your time defending the government trying to make it look good. And having sown the seeds of expectations in the public, you are expected to make things turn around double quick. This is where student leaders-turned-politicians fail in their political careers. Also, critiquing a government from outside is easier than being in the hot seat yourself. This should have been a lesson for rabble rousers like Akhil Gogoi, but people do not usually learn anything from history. Gogoi rightly states that in 2001 when the Congress wrested power from the AGP, he was taking over a state that was "worn out by the ravages of political blunders".

The second chapter of Gogoi's book titled The Crown of Thorns shows the challenges of an incoming government which has to fulfil election promises. The Congress had promised immediate disbursement of salaries to government employees. I am sure this section had voted overwhelmingly for the Congress. The AGP suffered the worst anti-incumbency factor and has never recovered from its reverses. So much so that it has to now ride piggy-back on the BJP!

The AGP's election plank and the raison d'etre of its very existence was to detect and deport "illegal immigrants" (Bangladeshis). This never happened because the reality is that the process is tortuous. Naturally, this continues to be the prime agenda of the so-called "indigenous" Assamese even today. It was the core agenda of this election as well.

Turnaround

World Bank studies showed Assam's per capita income in 2001 to be lower than the national per capita income of some of the failed countries of Africa such as Rwanda and Burkina Faso and closer home to that of Nepal. Unemployment was double the national average. Gogoi writes that the situation was so dismal that hospitals ran without medicines and government vehicles could not run for want of fuel. To turn around a government that had sunk into a morass must have needed sharp, strategic planning and an overhaul plan. So how did Gogoi manage this near impossible feat?

Gogoi followed a new trajectory that juxtaposed development with the pursuit of peace and jettisoned the "peace first and development will follow" agenda of his predecessor. He attempted a series of debt- servicing strategies. As finance minister he was assisted by finance commissioner H.S. Das. Gogoi also managed to convince then NDA government and A.B. Vajpayee in particular to bail Assam out of the crises. Vajpayee was considerate, but not the Planning Commission which observed that any concessions made towards Assam would open up a Pandora's box and other states would start claiming similar benefits.

Finally, the Planning Commission relented and made an exception to Assam by way of deferred payments (the Centre would pay Assam for an immediate turnaround and the s#tate would repay the amounts in a staggered manner). At the time the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank also stepped in with the 90:10 formula (90 per cent loan to 10 per cent state share). The NDA government also provided adequate funds to build the secretariat at Dispur.

Peep into past

Gogoi's book is without recrimination. He, however, does not mention his once blue-eyed boy and right hand man - Himanta Biswa Sarma who is today in the BJP and his bete-noire. Sarma deserves credit for some of the reforms he initiated in the education and health sectors. Only Pradyut Bordoloi, a Gogoi loyalist and the state's industries and commerce minister in 2010, is mentioned in passing.

As minister for food and civil supplies in the Narasimha Rao government, Gogoi says Rao had no control over the Congress party. Gogoi candidly admits that Rao's decision to open the Babri Masjid in 1996 was wrong. He even wrote a personal letter to the PM saying that he should have taken the leaders of the Muslim communities into confidence. Gogoi was very critical of Rao's actions then as it alienated the minority communities from the Congress. Rao never responded to Gogoi's letter.

I find Gogoi's memoirs interesting because they provide an insight into a part of Assam's chequered history. Gogoi himself is much misunderstood. What one holds against him is the "over-the-top" security brouhaha that brings life to a stop in Guwahati each time he travels from one place to another. That a man who claims to have risen from a humble background should be comfortable enjoying a claustrophobic security cover also means that Gogoi was used to the comforts of office. Also, in recent times, he has become dismissive of anyone who disagrees with him and brushes off their comments with a baad diya (forget it, who cares?).

The arrogance of power afflicts even the noblest of persons and megalomania extracts its own price!

(The writer can be contacted at patricia.mukhim@gmail.com)