What kind of leadership is best suited to combating a pandemic? Two broad templates have emerged in India: the first, a controlling, fear-inspiring, government by danda, the second, a delegating decentralising model. The jury’s still out on which works better in chaotic Indian conditions, but for the moment evidence shows that the decentralise and delegate approach is proving more effective than supremo-led government by fear.
Take for example the chief ministers of Rajasthan and Karnataka: Congress’s Ashok Gehlot and BJP’s BS Yediyurappa. Gehlot is an accommodative politician of the old school, keeps a low profile and is not adversarial. Instead he’s consistently worked with the bureaucracy to find innovative measures of tracing and testing. Rajasthan’s early success in fighting the Covid Read More
