Rajya Sabha MP and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram sharply criticised the BJP’s “double-engine government” narrative, describing it as fundamentally opposed to federalism and to the democratic will of the states.
Speaking at THE WEEK Tamil Nadu Leadership Summit in Chennai, Chidambaram argued that India’s constitutional structure recognises two distinct governments—the Union and the states—each with independent authority derived from voters.
“The Centre and the State are two governments. They must work together like two engines pulling a train, irrespective of who drives either engine,” he said. “But those ruling in Delhi seem to believe that even if there are two engines, there must be only one engineer. I reject that.”
He said every state has the right to elect its own leadership and that cooperation between governments cannot depend on whether the same party is in power at both levels. The idea that governance improves only when one party controls both the Union and a state, he said, undermines federal principles.
According to Chidambaram, the “double-engine” formulation effectively demands political alignment rather than administrative coordination. “Each state must be entitled to choose its own government and leaders, and the Union must work with them, irrespective of party,” he said.
Execution, not ideas, is India’s real weakness
Moving beyond political arguments, Chidambaram said India’s biggest governance failure lies not in policy design but in implementation.
“Our planners are good, our designers are good, our conceptual leaders are good—but we are failing in execution,” he said.
No chief minister can personally inspect every project, he acknowledged, but accountability must exist throughout the administrative chain. Thousands of officials oversee public works, yet the standard of execution remains poor.
“Governance is policy and ideas. But what changes people’s lives is execution,” he said.
Better implementation, he added, would also improve public finances. Efficient execution stretches public money further and allows even weaker states to deliver better outcomes.
He also urged citizens to demand accountability. People often accept poor construction quality, delays, and structural failures as inevitable, he said. “Citizens must become intolerant of bad execution and say loudly that this is unacceptable.”