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Singh Is King:VOTER HOOTS FOR STABILITY, by Poonam I Kaushish,17 May 2009 Print E-mail

Political Diary

New Delhi, 17 May 2009

Singh Is King

VOTER HOOTS FOR STABILITY

By Poonam I Kaushish

Three cheers for the Indian voter, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi. Election 2009 belongs to them. A watershed poll wherein the aam aadmi has shown his profound wisdom and maturity and voted for stability . A victory serenading the end of politics of cynicism and negativism to usher in a new dawn of constructive politics of change and rising aspirations. Underscoring as never before that jo jeeta wohi sikandar.

Indeed, Singh is King. Today, Manmohan Singh stands numero uno amidst a motley crowd of pompous Made in India Johnny-come-lately netas. The voter plummed for his decency and clean image and reposed faith in him to be the harbinger of change as he did in 1991. In one fell stroke he has silenced his critics and metaphorised from a ‘weak’ Prime Minister to a strong leader who is no push-over. Wherein the sniggers of ‘the power behind the throne’, read Sonia Gandhi have been given a burial once and for all.  

Importantly, this poll will be remembered as the coming of age of Rahul Gandhi and personal victory. His clean image appealed not only to the youth but all age groups jaded by the corrupt political culture of I-me-myself syndrome. True, he may lack the experience of more seasoned politicians but his gamble of going it alone in UP and Bihar resulting in Congress gaining 19 seats shows him as a lambi race ka godha and one rooted to the ground. By refusing to join the Cabinet, the fifth generation Nehru-Gandhi scion has shown his eyes are on building India future by imploring the youth to join the political mainstream.

Not only that. The Congress’ resounding victory is also partly due to the BJP’s repressive politics and negative campaign. Instead of offering the people a viable alternate model of governance, Advani and his cohorts banked on the Congress-led UPA’s inability to fight terrorism and economic recession. Besides running a relentless personal vilification campaign against Manmohan Singh. Forgetting in the process, that it was not Singh per se but the office of the Prime Minister of India they were denigrating.

Significantly, election 2009 underscores the political pendulum has swung back to a mature two-party system instead of a fractured polity. Borne out by the Congress-BJP combine cornering over 300 seats. Wherein the electorate has resoundly rejected the regional satraps, their mohalla mentality of parochialism and naked personal ambition of aggrandisment. Both the Third and Fourth Front failed to provide policy alternatives to the national parties.

Two the janata has given an unequivocal thumbs down to opportunists netagan who revel in playing spoilers by resting their politics on bargaining power, blackmailing and switching stands and sides sans any electoral strategy. Illustrated by LJP Paswan’s first ever defeat. The Dalit leader has adorned the Treasury benches for over a decade changing loyalties at a drop of a hat.

Three, the voter has been equally unforgiving of pompous leaders with less than 40 seats who strutted the political kaleidoscope by announcing themselves as the ‘next’ Prime Minister. The likes of Pawar, Lalu, Mayawati, Chandrababu Naidu and Jayalalitha.  Four, the election is a good omen to the end of criminalization and mafia raj. The defeat of warlords in Bihar and UP stands testimony to this.

Five, if the results in the cow-belt States of UP and Bihar is an indication the era of vote-bank politics, the raison d’ atre of regional parties, is nearing its fast demise. The ‘underdog Congress’ surprising victory in UP has shown that the people are fed up of caste-creed politics and rooted for development. Ditto the case in Bihar wherein JD(U) Nitish Kumar rode the crest of victory on his record of restoring law and order and giving a push-up to infrastructure.  The same holds true of the results in Andhra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu which understate that development, pro-poor policies and not the anti-incumbency factor is all important.

What next? Undoubtedly, power is a heady mixture and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Already the Congress sycophancy brigade is busy chanting ‘We want Rahul.’ It remains to be seen whether he can withstand the pressure and put an end to the culture of sycophancy in his Party.

For the BJP, the moment of reckoning has arrived. True, it has shown a good result in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh but as Advani steps into history the Saffron Sangh needs to do some honest soul-searching. To regain its stature as a ‘party with a difference’ it has to desist from playing the Hindutva card and appeal to a larger spectrum of people of different religion and different regions. The pink chaddi campaign against the Ram Sena led to the urban youth turning its back on the Party.

More. It has to grapple with the inherent contradictions of its Gen next ambitious leaders who are busy under-cutting each other. Towards that end it has to immediately get rid of President Rajnath Singh who is widely viewed as being behind the intra-party politics. (Remember the fracas with Arun Jaitely over power-broker Suddhanshu Mittal.) Also, he has surrounded himself with a motley crowd of petty mofussil leaders instead of relying on the selfless party cadres. All eyes will now be on the RSS. Will it be able to show a new disha?

The writing is also on the wall for BSP’s Mayawati whose power in UP stands dented by the way she has sort to redefine the State in her own image by perpetuating herself in sandstone in every kasba and mohallas. Cocooned in the narcissism that she can do no wrong, Mayawati failed to realize that by taking the Dalit vote for granted and not delivering on her promises was seen as personal aggrandizement only directed at herself, not for the people of the State.

The Samajwadi has been issued a stern warning by the Muslims. Mulayam will have to do a lot to redeem himself in their eyes as they view his association with Kalyan Singh, the man they hold responsible for Babri demolition with revulsion. The RJD’s Lalu brand of jiski laathi uski bhains politics has been outrightly rejected and he will now have to re-invent his politics to regain his foothold in Bihar.

For the Left, hurting from its worst performance in decades – from a high of 65 seats in 2004 to 24 in 2009 – the knives are out for Prakash Karat. His arrogance, fatal error of judgment and rigid politics led to the downfall of the Party. True, Nandigram, Singur and the in-fighting in the Kerala State unit added to its woes.

But these were not insurmountable problems. Instead of taking decisions looking at the ground reality, the central leadership pronounced judgments sitting in air-conditioned ivory towers. A coarse correction is badly needed before the 2011 Assembly poll in Bengal if the CPM has to regain power. Failing which it may find itself reduced to only Tripura.

The Congress needs to cushion itself against the unpredictable Mamata and her retrograde economic baggage. She could act as a speed breaker for economic reforms. The UPA Government would have to straddle two worlds --- meeting the expectations of the aam aadmi without sacrificing the interest of the corporate world.

On his part, Rahul knows only to well that his father Rajiv fritted away a 400-plus mandate in five years. He has to avoid being complacent, arrogant and abuse the trust reposed in him. Rise to the expectations of the aam aadmi with humility and honesty.

In sum, Manmohan Singh has to remember that the real meaning of politics is not power but service. Today, the Congress is once again on the threshold of a great future. A future of a billion strong people and one nation. With great power comes greater responsibility. Of providing good governance based on greater transparency and pubic accountability of a better tomorrow. The Congress needs to remember Lord Buddha’s wise words: To dream about a better future is possible only by doing good in the present. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

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