MIP - MARCH 2024

FOCUS
ISN’T THERE ROOM FOR A
THIRD NATIONAL ALTERNATIVE

Election 2009, has come and gone into history. 15th Loksabha has already started its business of deliberating the administration and management of the country and its resources. Fortunately despite the umpteen predictions, the fear of a hung parliament is not there. Electorates have thrown up a reasonably stable verdict to enable the country to have a government for all the 5 year term.

As the country has seen there were 4 groupings this time. Congress led UPA and its allies, BJP led NDA and its allies then there were 2 more fronts 3rd front and 4th front. Although all were fighting each other ostensibly to serve the ‘aam aadmi’, the, fact was they were only looking for the crumbs of the office as shamelessly proved by the adament attitude of DMK leadership. Their self promotion was in abundant display.As we all know there were at least half-a-dozen Prime Ministerial aspirants. UPA had declared its incumbent PM as its candidate, so was LK Advani from NDA. These two were the main contenders, while there were at least four others, namely Sharad Pawar of NCP, an associate in UPA, Ms. Maayawathi of BSP, Ms. Jayalalitha of AIADMK, then Lalu Prasad proposed Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP.
In a democratic set up, there is nothing wrong to dream. The logic was, if HD Deve Gowda can become Prime Minister, why not me too? But nobody really bothered to think, if they truly deserved to be the PM of worlds largest democracy? All thought, if they can manage theirnumbers well and reach the bargaining table then it was their pot to have a shot at. It was as simple as that. Of course, in the event, all failed miserably and fell by the way side. Ms. Maayavathi thought, she would romp home with the maximum seats in UP, may be even as high as 50, in the 80 Loksabha seats of Uttar Pradesh, so that she could emerge as the kingmaker. She fell far short at only 20. So was Ms.Jayalalitha who didn’t get any in 2004, thought she could manage at least 20 seats in 2009, she too fell short badly with only 9 seats. Boisterous Laalu thought, he shall have the trump card in association with Ram Vilas Paswan, so that, backward class can see its first Prime Minister of free India. While doing that, did he have a discreet personal agenda? with Laloo, it is difficult to think straight, many a time. But Laalu had no inkling of what was written on the wall. He simply didn’t have a clue, what hit him. In the outgoing Loksabha, Lalu’s RJD had 22 seats with 4 seats of LJP of Paswan. In 2009, RJD was reduced to just 2 and LJP lost all, even prime ministerial candidate himself lost.

That left, only Sharad Pawar in the reckoning. Having huge money bag and the apparent sway over the Maharashtra politics, Maratha strongman and his cronies thought its quite possible to have a potshot at the PM’s ‘gaddi’. After all, Pawar had it all in the public domain, only position that he didn’t have was that of India’s Prime Ministership, whether he deserved it or not was not the point. But he too could muster only 8 seats, despite hobnobbing with all fronts. That left only the principal rivals to the ‘gaddi’ Manmohan Singh and LK Advani. However the kind of decisive mandate that 2009 election threw up left no body in doubt what was in store for all Indians. Manmohan Singh, the so called 'Weak' Prime Minister has emerged very strong beyond his own expectation. Its good for the body politic of India.

Mr. ManMohan Singh is a clean and honest man, worlds most qualified Prime minister to boot, an alumni of London School of Economics. He needed the courage to do what he wanted to do. This election provided him with that strength which shall hopefully launch him as a strong Prime Minister. Not only shall the allies take him seriously, from now on, but also his party colleagues. From the body language it is also becoming apparent that the lady at the helm, the UPA chairperson, too shall be more circumspect in respecting the position of the Prime Minister. So all in all, there are enough indications that Prime Minister ManMohan Singh, post 2009 election, is all set to deliver. Lets wish him and the country all the very best.

So the curtain has wrung for all the exercise in permutations and combinations. Mercifully it happened so quickly and fast. Hopefully it should be business as usual at the Loksabha with immediate effect. That’s good for the country and bad for all the opportunists who were looking for only their and their cronies welfare. Long live India.
From the mandate thrown up by the Indian electorate, it was clearly evident that Left parties which held the outgoing UPA combination for ransom all though the 4½ years, until Left withdrew its support, is decimated badly. Yes the Red Fort has fallen. Both in West Bengal and in Kerala, it was drastically cut to size. And when the Aseembly elections take place, in coming days, then it may be the death knell for Left politics. Similarly regional parties which held its sway in earlier elections have suddenly lost its lustre.

In the interest of democracy and the political evolution of the country, there must be very few national parties inslead of the present basket of some 40 parties. Can that happen in the coming days? is a big question. But most of these parties have always tried to have an alternative to both Congress and the BJP, the two main national political parties. Thus, there is a danger that if these small outfits, who are cobbling up an alternative front against both Congress and BJP, are finished, that could also lead to a serious vacuum. Yes, while there is indeed a need for an alternative to both Congress & BJP, these small outfits, running into over thirty, cannot be the viable and real alternative.

Hence, a viable, principled and a potent alternative to these two main national political parties is a must. This alternative has to be a on a distinctly different model unlike Congress and BJP. Both these parties suffer from serious contradictions and therefore they must be challenged on logical grounds.
Congress is a 150 years old political party started with the objective of attaining Indian political freedom. Having got the political freedom, Mahatma Gandhi had recommended its dissolution. But the party continued with Jawarlal Nehru being at its helm. He remained Prime Minister of free India uninterrupted for 17 long years. He had in his government, leaders with proven track record of service, but he did not hand over reins of P.M’s 'gaddi' to anybody. Lal Bahadur Shastri, who followed, was the shortest to serve in the P.M’s post. He died in office in less than 2 years. IndiraGandhi who followed, remained in office for 12 uninterrupted years up to 1977 when she lost, post emergency, to Janatha combine. Thus from 1947 to 1977, for 30 years, it was Congress rule. In this 30 years, father and daughter ruled India for 28 years, then Indira came back for 5 more years, from 1979 to 1984, when she was killed by her own body guards, only to be followed by Rajeev Gandhi, for 5 more years from 1984 to 1989. Of course Sanjay Gandhi could have taken the reins if he was alive. But he died little too early. Thus, Congress allowed the slow emergence of dynastic rule by Nehru’s family. This trend of dynastic rule encouraged sons and relatives culture within the Congress. Thus, almost 50% of Congress members of Parliament or Assembly have their relations, sons, daughters and close friends. Thus Congress became a private limited company of sons, daughters, relatives and friends. Hence it became less and less representative from across the social spectrum. There are any number of MPs, MLAs and MLCs, who are elected again and again, leaving a whole lot of people with no scope for political advancement.

As compared to Congress there is this Bharatiya Janatha Party(BJP), a new avathar of old Jan Sangh. Jan Sangh as a political party did not make any impact at all. It was only when it merged with Janata experiment and left it to start a new political party under a new name, as BJP, it slowly started tasting the political fruit. Yet for over 45 years it was just Congress monopoly.

Coming to BJP, it has never really enjoyed the political power, which perhaps it hoped, it would some day. BJP is the political wing of Hindu outfits of India. In an India where 80% of the population is Hindu, if BJP has not been able to muster enough numbers to be on its own even in one of the 15 Loksabha elections, there has got to be some profound reasons. BJP, the Hindu nationalist party, remained in the fringe of national politics for a long time. In 1984 it had only 2 seats in Loksabha won by Atal Behari Vajpayee and one A.K.Patel in Mehsana Gujarat.

“Hindu fundamentalism, long the thirst of a section of the middle class, has never got much response in an India whose population is 80% Hindu. It needs to be pointed out that India remains a secular state not because 1/5th of its population is Muslim, Sikh or Christian and therefore obviously has a vested interest in a secular constitution, but because 9 out of 10 Hindus do not believe in violence against minorities. If all the Hindus had been zealots, no law and order machinery in the world would have prevented the massacre of Muslims who are scattered in villages and towns all across the country” wrote M.J.Akbar a former M.P. and a well known journalist in 1985 in his book “India: the Siege Within” (Penguin:Page:23)

Whatever has happened since 1985? Not even 10 years have passed since then, but there has been a discernible change in the national psyche. The Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, being in the fringe of national politics for a long time has entered the centre stage. From mere 2 seats in 1984/85 it became the largest opposition party in the parliament, they even walked away with 4 state governments, until the tide has been slightly checked and even a little reversed in the elections that followed. Why has this phenomenon come about? To understand this, one has to go to the genesis of the problem. The socio-political reasons, the role of media, the unholy alliance of selfish and self-centered politicians, anti-socials and the clergy.

While it in true that BJP as an opposition did go from strength to strength, it is also true that it could not maintain its momentum. In fact it failed to maintain its winning abilities. Somewhere along the line its pan Indian appeal kept slipping. Although 2004 election did show the decline of the party nationally, it was in 2009 election that its fall was clearly discernible. Is it because the party with a difference has proved that it too is no different after at all?
If there could be profound reasons, for which BJP needs to look within, for the decline in its vote getting abilities, there are also equally profound reasons why Congress lost and BJP gained in earlier elections. One of the significant reason how and why BJP made inroads into Congress votebank was the pseudo secularism practiced by the Congress leadesrship especially post Rajeev era.

The story of Indian political parites, except that of socialists and communists, has been, one of sleaze, favourtism and self aggrandisement. Socialists and communists have not made any money for themselves. May be there are off springs who took advantage of parents political position, as that of Jyothi Boshu's industrialist son. But by and large they remained clear of financial wrong doings. Of course there may be stories, which are few and far between, linking socialist and communist politicians to any scams. But can the same be said of Congress, BJP, and other regional outfits? There are any number of stories of wrong doings by the Ministers, MPs and MLAs belonging to all these parties. And these wrong doings are not just gross financial misdemeanours but involving even moral turpitude, and they committed with non-challance. To top it, law took back seat and we have witnessed time and again, how law enforcing authorities were mute witness to the rape of probity in public life.

Yet its the very same political parties who have made it to the corridoors of power all across the country. It is true, communists did better in Kerala socially, but economy and industry suffered with their moribund ideologies. Socialists never really made it on their own, but the Janata experiement of JP, although provided a magnificent opprtunity, fritterred away, due to individual intracegencies and lack of broader vision. And Janata buckled under its own pressure. In fact it was the saddest moment for JP and all those Indians who felt with Janata coming to power, that marginalised sections may be heard after all. But that was not to be.

Emergence of BJP as a potent political force, so also those of regional outfits, all at the cost of Congress, did bring about development, better and faster. But equity suffered. Social inequity, where rich beacme richer and poor became poorer became a norm. Increasing level of poverty, hunger, urban slum, rural deprivation, human rights violation by police, political and bureacratic insensitivity and umpteen other abberations have become so routine that even media has lost its moorings and a sense of purpose.

Thus even after 61 years of our Being a free country, with vast potential of its own people and its resources, it is indeed a matter of great concern that the nation has remained in the company of developing countries.
So what do we do? In the present political set up there is a sizeable role played by anti social and communal elements, criminals and murderers. The current political system has neither the will not the numerical strength to check the rot within the body politic of the country. The 'super power' in the making is still struggling to be emphatically heard in the international fora. So what needs to be done? is a question staring at all thinking Indians. But unfortunately there is a huge section of Indians, who only think but do nothing. We yap at the coffee table, on fellowship counters, while dining and wining. The debate ends with all blaming politicans and the system. Nothing happens. Yes sporadic,heart warming stories of men and women with pluck do surface. Their problem is they do not get to gether, nor there is any evidence that they are trying to get-together to become a cogent force. Do we remembers Edmund Burke, who has famously observed, "ALL THAT IS NECESSARY FOR EVILS TO SUCCEED IN THIS WORLD IS ENOUGH GOOD PEOPLE TO DO NOTHING".

We have always blamed "Politics is the last refuge of scoundrels". But always stopped short of entering the arena. We must recognise, it is only through politics, the development and emancipation of the masses is possible by the very nature of things. So, there is absolutely no choice, except to have an alternative model of political philosophy-thought of, and acted upon. Educated and enlightened people have to come to-gether for this massive change. While 3rd front and 4th front is no solution to our problems of socio-economic inequity, another powerful dominent alternative is badly needed. There has to be continuous and serious debate in the media for this alternative. Media has to play its role of social mirror to perfection. Media must play its role of inviting and strengthening movements for change. Which is presently scattered in different parts of the country. Yes, as Barack Obama has famously said 'Yes we can'. And mind you, we have both the material and spiritual strength to bring about this change. It was one J.P who brought to-gether desperate politicos. We need another J.P. Who is that? We do have such souls in our midst. We only need to look around with a sense of purpose. Change is only as far as that. As Lord Krishna said in Geetha 'Parithraanaaya Saadhunaam Sambhavaani Yugey Yugey'. THE CHANGE CAN HAPPEN IF ONLY WE WILL.