Responsibility of the
Indian Voter
The decibel levels of
the Delphic oracles in India have reached a crescendo, predicting eternal doom
for Indian economy, Indian education, Indian value system, in short for
everything Indian. 2013 is for all purposes an election year with four states going
for elections before the end of the year while the general elections are due anytime
within the next ten months. The doomsday soothsayers are predicting a hung parliament,
gleefully pointing to the dilemma among voters about the choice before them.
The principal contenders are the Congress and the BJP. But the spoilsports or
shall we say party-poopers are many. The latter will poach onto the votes of
the two principal parties, though they may not perform a pole vault to form a
government at the centre. There will be
no third front, say some of the doomsayers while exalting this new group to still
greater heights as the kingmakers.
But the poor voter
deafened by the cacophony of media debates stands perplexed for unlike the
political pundits in the TV studios, s/he knows the truth that there is nothing
to choose, nothing with which to choose, nothing from which to choose, no
desire to choose , together with the
obligation to choose( apologies to Samuel Beckett). As a committed citizen
of a democratic country, the voter has the obligation to exercise his /her
franchise and therefore has to find a way as how to make the right choice that
would give the nation a stable five year governance.
The voter’s problem is
to some extent solved by the wannabe PM each party is likely to announce sooner
or later. Narender Modi is the choice of the RSS, though within the BJP there
are Modi-baiters and Modi waiters. He is a great performer on the political
stage- skillfully using body language as a powerful communication mechanism
–and closes in for the kill from the word go. He plays to the gallery using
expletives with no holds barred. A master orator, he has the skill to turn half
truths and half lies into full truths and full lies, much to the delight of his
listening audience. He speaks of his dream-to make an India out of Gujarat and
a Gujarat out of India. Given the option, he will not think twice about making
Ahmedabad the capital of India. The only fly in the ointment is with his
persona. India under him will not be a democratic but a modicratic nation. Just
as we hear of no one except Modi in Gujarat , there will be no show stopper
other than Modi in the whole of India. Already one hears his admirers with
their paean of praise:”India is Modi and Modi is India”. The 63 year old man
has had a headstart as the challenger and is showing impatience at the delay in
formal crowning as the PM-in- attendance.
His opponent is 20
years younger-the 43 year young Rahul Gandhi who comes with a clean slate only because
he has not held any cabinet post, and is
seemingly in the raw in administration
and governance. He is far from being a
consummate politician and seems to harbor a strange and naïve optimism that his
fresh, clean image will win over the voters who are fatigued and tired by
corruption and perceived misgovernance. He has unfortunately to carry with him
the baggage of incumbency, scams and an economy gone awry though he would like
his audience to believe that he is the new clean face of the Congress that
would under his leadership see systemic changes and get rid of all deadwood
that had dented the image of his clean predecessor Manmohan Singh. He is no match for Modi’s oratory, but he has
his own strength in being non-abrasive, non-garrulous and self effacing in his demeanour. With his sleeves rolled up and with a dimpled
smile on a pleasant and cheerful face, he is attractive. He is desperate to
make Indian voters believe that he does not make any primogenitural claim to
become the Prime Minister but to be truly elected and accepted to be the
leader. But he suffers from lack of experience and lack of aggression that his
challenger has in abundance. The toss is between youth and age, gentility and
abrasiveness, self effacement and self assertion, partnership and domination.
The voter has to decide as to what are the virtues to be had in the 21st
Century – a period when geopolitics and geostrategies take centre stage. What
passes of as belligerent talk in national politics will not pass muster on the
world stage. India cannot afford to be divided on caste and religious lines. It
should not vote for reductionist approach but for a holistic one.
The regional satraps who
are fairly strong in their states have been behaving like chieftains of small kingdoms
and do not see their states as a part of the larger nation. Many of the non-Congress
ruled states have heavily criticized the Union government’s bid to set up the
National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), GST,FDI retail, and other such programmes
as a measure that curbs their autonomy and jurisdiction. The larger interests of
the nation are sacrificed at the altar of narrow parochialism. Hence these regional
heads of states do not have an idea that is India. The fledgling aam-admi
party has just one slogan - to sweep the
Aegean stable but without understanding
that their sweep is merely raising dust and
tarring all in government in black( except the middleclass babus -their vote bank-
who incidentally are the worst among the corrupt).
The voter has to decide
not by listening to media debates that are often just ‘tu-tu-mein-mein’. Media,
the self styled champions of integrity, honesty, truthfulness and sanity have
shown their Achilles’ heels in promoting paid news and sensationalizing stories
to garner TRP ratings. It is time for reflection; it is time for integrative thinking;
it is time for holistic understanding of national issues that are intertwined
with global concerns; it is time for inclusive development as against lop-sided
development for the exclusive and privileged sections of society.
India has to vote and
vote for a change- a change that will bring the fruits of development to every
citizen, a change that will honour and respect wisdom of age and encourage and
nurture the aspirations of the young, a change that will translate our glorious
heritage like the Vedas and the Gita as well as the ancient economic treatises and
political strategies of Chanakya to be
attuned to modern demands, a change that will bring back the glory of Nalanda
and Taxila to our educational institutions, a change that will make tradition something
new, a change that will see the transformation of our present dehumanized
culture into a humane culture and a change that will see India take the lead in
promoting global humanity.
The importance of the
voter’s responsibility has never been greater than today.
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