It has been since late 80's and early 90's that I have been taking interest in the democratic process of elections in India. Looking at the mammoth task that the country goes through, I can say, 'hats off to India', the world’s largest democracy. To begin with, the sensational element that the elections carried held my attention. With a natural inclination towards the study of history, I used to like to read about statesmen like Nehru, Radhakrishnan, Vajpayee etc. whose image transcended party lines and compare them with ridicule and disgust, the current ministers tainted with criminal charges involved in scandals and scams. A variety of MPs adorned the Parliament and we the drawing room experts found it rather interesting and entertaining to see the tamasha on TV every now and then, as hardly had any Government completed its term during the second half of the 90s. With the very little awareness that I had then, an election announced meant a season of flux- pamphlets, loud speakers, posters and above all, holidays, and entertinment. As I grew up, the next few years helped me get a grasp of what was happening. Ideology driven policies, the Opposition, the Left, the Right, the Center, state control, privatization, liberalization, globalization, education, social sector, rural development, infrastructure, reservations and many other words constituted the verbiage I used while passionately debating during my college days. My friends always found it hard to debate with me and it was a matter of pride for me. Years rolled on and in the past 8 years, two more elections were held and the election results definitely were a watershed and they told me how little I knew about how India thinks and how India responds. Sensation apart, I now feel all the more responsible to know what’s happening because I now realise that I ought to be a citizen who knows that a vote can decide the direction the nation is going to take. While, the elections this time around certainly taught me a lot, a keen observation of myself vis-à-vis the climate that engulfed the nation made me realize that I have a point of view that is quite different from the points of view held by the major political parties.
The so called centrist party, the Congress, calls itself secular, but to me, it appears to be doing something else. Its policies on reservations for example, seem to be more of minority appeasement for short term gains as against an effort towards creating an egalitarian society in the long run. Its policy on poverty alleviation too, in the form of employment guarantee for rural households seem a short run phenomenon. The effort neither involves building skills by which individuals can work for their livelihoods, nor does it involve spending on infrastructure where existing skills of individuals can be harnessed for them to earn their bread. There is somehow no tangible improvement in the situation where an individual can say with confidence that he or she can lead a life by the employment opportunity in its present form. However, short run spikes in consumption levels are definitely a site to see. Only time will tell the efficacy of this policy. Such considerations apart, the policy indeed did wonders for the Congress in these elections. However, there have been well intentioned people who have done some good work. The Knowledge commission, though a good initiative ended up being at the mercy of the whims and fancies of the Ministry. The positive efforts like the constitution of the Knowledge commission and its subsequent half baked contribution do speak of one thing. That all said and done, despite there being capable and well intentioned people in this party, the dominant direction of this party seems to be one of minority appeasement in the name of minority upliftment. There was a problem with the Home Ministry and the Finance Minister came to the rescue. There was problem with the PM and the Foreign Minister came to the rescue. Rather, they were there to do theri little bit when things had been going awry. Firefighting was what was evident. Moreover, good efforts by the previous Govt. were completely ignored. For example, the Golden Quadrilateral and the North-South –East-West corridor came to a literal standstill, so much so that even the posters of Atal Bihari Vajpayee were removed from the highways. That was a classic example of utter disrespect for the good work done by a member of the key opponent party. No sane individual would appreciate such actions in a democracy.
And then there is the so called rightist party, the BJP which actually seems centrist. This party which formed the government, a few years back did make a difference to the nation by building highways, roads in villages, disinvesting loss making government undertakings, defence expenditure etc. There had hardly been a trace of minority bashing or preferential treatment for the majority when this party was in power. And yes, there has been no appeasement of any section of the society too. But God knows why this party is involved in issues relating temples and mosques. History is testimony to the fact that despite almost beating Aurangzeb, the great Shivaji, who is credited by many a historian as the epitome of the revival of the Hindu kingdom in India, did not focus attention on rebuilding demolished temples by demolishing mosques. Neither did any of the successive Hindu rulers do it. While Swami Vivekananda happens to be an inspiration for the BJP, I find it hard to understand, why this party is engaged in committing itself to issues related to rebuilding demolished temples when the sum and substance of what Swami Vivekananda said is contained in this single phrase, “Serving man is serving God.” In no way do I mean that the sentiments of the Hindus have not been hurt in the past. But then, to make a new beginning, Hindus can construct larger temples, carve larger images of Gods and Goddesses and show the world that they can’t be bogged down by history and prove that no invader has the ability to destroy their faith by destroying their temples. Unfortunately, the emphasis has been on going back to history, pulling out a poignant episode and fighting today to undo the past. Revival of the glorious past of the Hindus need not necessarily be by such acts of committing to undoing the past, but by positive efforts to execute a plan for a glorious future, which will be better than the glory of the past. Should there be a Huen Tsang traveling to this nation again, he must once again be awestruck by the grandeur of our nation, the heights of material wealth and the opulence of spirituality. I am afraid; this party really needs to get focussed. In the recent elections, what I saw was the worst possible public insults of the Prime Minister and going personal in election campaigns is like stooping down to low levels. In a democracy, I for one would not appreciate such an act.
In effect, the so called Center in India seems to be leaning towards the Left and the Right, though its actions seem Centrist is committing itself to some extreme right concerns. The Leftists, who seemed to be opposed to probably everything, in my opinion have been rightly brought down to an insignificant number and are better if they are left alone. While the Congress boasts of some young faces, the BJP too seems to be gearing up with new faces making it to the top. But the Leftists do not seem to be having any trace of succession planning. They do not seem to therefore have a future.
In conclusion, what we see is that there is no party in the country which is truly centrist in its approach. But don’t each one of us think that there should be such a party that commits itself to laying foundations for an egalitarian society where there are equal opportunities for people from all religions, castes, tribes and economic and other classes? What I desire is a party which is non-partisan and whose intentions and actions are aligned to the immediate needs and long term needs and wants of the nation rather than to the immediate needs of the party. My desire is for a party that believes in a development agenda as against populism. The big question is how do we bring development in politics and get rid of politics in development.
