Elections 2009 - The Takeaways

Thumbs Up!

It’s true that one general election result is too less to understand the changing psyche of Indian electorate but it is definitely a precursor to a change that is inevitable in the context of a rotting Indian political system. After a long-long time the people have given a mandate that has delivered a smack down to manipulative powers that gained undue importance in the last 15 years due to the circumstances and their ease of changing ideologies to stay relevant. India has voted and voted with a certain level of certainty. “Refreshing and satisfactory” is how I term these results.

There are a few takeaways from these results that I can think of. I might have missed on a few important takeaways as I write this post well past the midnight with droopy eyes and the stubbornness to complete it before dozing off.

Missed the bull's eye, rather the whole Bull

Takeaway 1: Opportunists shown the door
The 2009 general elections clearly write home the fact that the public has pronounced a clear verdict to shun the opportunist third and fourth fronts. Prior to the elections it was a free for all to claim his/her right on the PM’s post. The public took it upon itself to clearly state that it was in favor of a stable pre-poll alliance (UPA and NDA together got over 421 seats out of 543). The Left was left in the lurch and Laloo’s lantern was snuffed. The same leaders who were waiting to manipulate a predicted hung house are now queuing up outside 10 Janpath to offer unconditional support. The biggest relief is that the results have allayed the fear of a Mayawati or a Jayalalitha coming back to haunt a nation with their obscene demands.

Thank God! It's not her!

Laloo swept away

Takeaway 2: It's your work that speaks and not your mouth
The result has clearly underscored the fact that the nation can look beyond casteist politics and communal/non-communal propaganda. There was hardly any anti-incumbency in states where development has been the buzzword. Andhra, Bihar, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, MP, Karnataka and Orissa have predictably given a clear mandate to performing Governments. Following the same logic, the Left Governments have been left biting the dust. Congress regained its mass base in UP solely because of the untiring efforts put in by Rahul Gandhi in the past five years that were termed kiddish and just cheap fun under the sun by others.

Singh, the King?

Takeaway 3: Gandhi supremacy established
There is gross misconception in assuming that the magical five letter word spelt as Y.O.U.T.H. has simply succumbed to the charm of Rahul Gandhi. People have voted Congress because they wanted stability and the in-fighting in BJP and lack of a definitive ideology made it easier. The Congressmen I see on TV are hell bent on proving a wave of Rahul mania sweeping the elections. However, in the whole humdrum, they have chosen to conveniently ignore the contribution of a someone called Manmohan Singh. Believe me when I say that a lot of people voted Congress because of this man. Reasons varied from sensible to bizarre. But when it came to according credit, the PM himself believed that the victory was due to the efforts of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. There's a thin line separating humility and lack of confidence so giving people the reason to be in doubt should be avoided. I won’t regard BJP a sore loser if it still says that the PM’s office has been devalued. I hope that with a strong mandate to back him up this time, Manmohan will be much more impressionable as a leader and for once will give his Government and not a person the credit for some good work he does.

Takeaway 4: Dynastic politics is here to stay
Dynastic politics that Rahul lamented at in his last press conference is back in business. Have a look at his high profile youth brigade that is expected to get recognition in the ministry. Sachin Pilot ((S/O Rajesh Pilot), Jyotiraditya Scindhia (S/O Madhav Rao Scindhia), Sandeep Dixit (S/O Sheila Dixit), Milind Deora (S/O Murli Deora). They all are hopefuls. Nothing seems to have changed except that political legitimacy has been granted to the Prince who will be the King.

I think the results demonstrate the defeat of a negative campaign, of the fear of a non-deserving casteist sycophant or a corrupt politician assuming power, of the hatred spread by inciting religious sentiments and sending development on the backburner and of the lack of discipline within the opposition where the question of future leadership took precedence over the current task at hand.

Rahul's charisma played an important part in the victory but it's still early days to think of this Gandhi scion as the savior of a degraded system. I have always felt that the best question to answer in an examination is an objective question with a YES or a NO as the alternatives. There is 50% chance that even if you don’t know the correct reason, you will answer the question correctly. The people’s verdict is also one such answer in a YES and NO. Everyone can choose to draw inferences that suit their belief (same holds true for me too). Congress too has drawn its own inference and that could be a calamity of sorts if stretched too far.

The Gandhi family has regained unprecedented power to run the game and with talks of Rahul Gandhi assuming a cabinet berth doing the rounds, there is every possibility that the authority of the council of ministers will be undermined. Even the accolades being showered by the Congressmen on Manmohan are just because 10 Janpath has decided it that way. I fear ministers holding their opinion on a policy issue in a cabinet meeting just to know what Rahul Baba has in his mind to avoid speaking anything that may be against the vision HE foresees. It won’t be surprising if they unanimously authorize Rahul to take a decision in the best interests of the country.

But I am not going to be a pessimist this time. I just hope that all my doubts prove to be a figment of my imagination in the days to come because that would be the only way democracy in India would be preserved. The nation has played its part by sending a strong message to perform or perish. The ball is on the other side of the court now!

Read more...

Gandhi Ki Aandhi

The Baton has passed

India has been independent for 62 years and the Gandhi-Nehru family has been in the PM's office for almost 37.5 years. Three generations of the Gandhi-Nehru family have been at the helm and the fourth is in waiting yet you are not supposed to call it dynastic. You might find it funny but old people in rural India still go out to vote for Indira Gandhi. That is the power that the surname commands. It is a different matter altogether that much of the name that India has earned in the World has been post globalization in the 1990’s during which none of the Gandhi scions were in power. Oh, maybe it was because of the policies that they made that India embraced globalization.

Sonia was offered Rajiv Gandhi’s vacant chair way back in 1991 but she declined. She was probably still reeling in the aftermath of the tragedy that had struck her family but things are different today. Rahul has more than one reason to feel worthy for the throne that’s waiting for him and he has every reason to feel so.

Reason 1 - The pedigree

There is nothing wrong in harboring political ambitions. Just as a doctor’s son becomes a doctor, a politician’s son can very well become a politician. Count this as a slight aberration when a doctor’s wife becomes the hospital in-charge and his son becomes the chief surgeon citing pedigree. Rahul Gandhi comes from a family that has a history of throwing up young leaders. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi both became prime ministers while they were still in their 40s. Rahul needs to live upto that expectation as well. After retuning to India in late 2002, he has in no time acquired supreme capabilities as a leader. What he did while he was away is debatable. However, since the verdict is not clearly out, we must give him the benefit of the doubt. [Read: For Rahul and Against Rahul]

Dynasty..what's that?

Reason 2 - Forthrightness:

If I admit to being bad, then I am good! Talk of idealism and the face of Rahul Gandhi crops up. With forthrightness, he had extolled his family’s feats back in 1971. The comment had the potency of jeopardizing Indo-Pak relations had Rahul been in a position of command. Thankfully he was just a party secretary and nothing more. The same naivety presented as “forthrightness” was on display when he sang praises of his adversaries and derailed his party’s relations with his allies recently. The mending exercise cost people their positions and emissaries including the PM had to rush to explain the deep meaningful thoughts behind the praise. The silver lining, they say, has been the refreshing feel that his forthrightness has brought to politics. It really doesn’t matter if the timing is wrong. Rahul Gandhi can just not be wrong.

Reason 3 - Connection with the Youth:

I listened to Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with the youth in Ahmedabad. The intelligent man that he is, he declared that Gujarat was bigger than UK (the Google result on the comparison of size and population of these two suggests otherwise). There were claps all around. Sometimes, the charisma overshadows the effect of the words spoken. This was just one such case. He then went on to proclaim that India was BIGGER than US and Europe put together (Link) This time there were no claps. Maybe this time the power of words outweighed the charisma or maybe people were trying to figure where he got his stats from. Was he talking of the size of democracy and not the actual size? What would that comparison mean? It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that no one questioned him and people listened with rapt silence. That shows how well he connects with the youth. If there are no arguments, you can safely assume that things are under control. He also recently presented a unique solution for getting rid of terrorism in 15 minutes. I don’t consider myself qualified enough to dig deep into the radical method he would choose to adopt. Did someone say empowering the villages could be one way to do so? I am amused.

On a more serious note, there is no denying the fact that Rahul Gandhi has an identity of his own. The reticent Gandhi of 2004 has become a confident Gandhi of 2009. But can personal improvement from a zero to a 'X' become a measure to establish your credentials as a leader of repute? What if he had been an Indian Prime Minister sitting across a table with his Sri Lankan counterpart and lauded the guts and courage of Prabhakaran, what if he had met Obama and praised his nationalistic feelings for taking measures against offshoring and what if he had gone ahead and declared war on Pakistan thinking that it was probably as big as Bhutan?

No one knows what holds in future. With time he may learn and become worthy enough to lead. He does have age on his side and the intent to improve is there. But what makes me cringe is the way people go about lauding his credentials as a leader today when all that he has done has been to “understand” his constituency. The rational side of me finds it hard to accept a person with refreshing thoughts but no restraint as my leader. The opportunist in me says that I should probably side with him. After all, the might is always right and whether you like it or not, the dynasty is here to rule!

Read more...