Threads and Strands

Threads and Strands

The Chinese Year Of The Horse 2014, with a reputed tendency to gallop, begins Friday the 31^st  of January instead of the usual 4^th of February. It follows on from the Hindu Mauni Amavasya, which occurred, with its recommended Ganga Snan, on Thursday, 30^th January.

It is remarkable how the cultural and religious calendars of the world seem to intersect. In India a Muslim festival invariably occurs within a day or two of a Hindu one, even as both religions follow a moon-based calendar. Whatever the effects of the confluence that is India, this implies our diversity has many common features and binders, not always obvious to the naked-eye of the Western trained Sociologist.

The Chinese reckon their symbolisms somewhat differently, as their ancient cultural influences of Confucianism and Animism mixed with a modified and stratified Buddhism, are at some variance from that of the sub-continent.

Likewise, some observers criticise our political parties for being too similar to each other. But this is because all must, for electoral gain, have an element of Welfarism and Socialism/Populism aimed at the masses. Growth may strengthen the country at both a fundamental and macro-level, but is not very comprehensible to the poor voter, and a much harder sell. This makes Narendra Modi’s success at promoting his ‘Development’ vision all the more remarkable.

This election is crucial because the country is in drift, politically, militarily and economically, and most political parties are still clinging to yesterday’s ham-fisted prescriptions in an empty sloganizing sort of way. But the public senses, thanks to the robust vision enunciated by Narendra Modi, that strong, decisive leadership could set India and Bharat galloping towards a bright economic future. This is the No.1 issue and requirement at present.

The Congress, for all its riches of experience and wealth, because of the way it is structured, is unable to provide that leadership to guide the destiny of this nation. It has become a fiefdom of one intellectually rudderless family, and even though many senior leaders in the Congress are privately vocal about the Gandhi family’s shortcomings, they cannot act on their perceptions, for fear of the fissiparous tendencies it would unleash. These could break up the grand old party, contained as it is with its many internal rivalries.

So a Congressman’s ambitions must necessarily flow through conduits leading to Rahul Gandhi and 10, Janpath. It is a process of application, supplication, demonstrated loyalty and usefulness. But will this process sustain beyond the steady grip of the Sonia Gandhi era? Will Congressmen and other UPA constituents jump ship to the BJP/NDA once the 2014 results come out? This is likely after an NDA win, overtures are already on, for Narendra Modi certainly represents the future of this country as much as Congress represents the past.

This election seems to be demanding more than rhetoric and political flourishes. It wants to know what the contenders will do about the people’s aspirations. And as the Congress citadel and fort are under imminent threat of being breached, it is under pressure to find ways and means to connect with the hoi polloi that votes. This is proving extraordinarily difficult, given the corruption, the policy paralysis, the economic down-turn, the high prices and surging inflation. These factors are compounded by the criticism of thought leaders, influencers, literati and media. And the pervasive demoralisation of the rank and file Congress-worker in the absence of vote-getting leadership. Talk of systemic change a la Rahul Gandhi sounds like a vague promise and crafty dodge of present requirements. 

There is a lot of whistling in the dark from the many Congress spokesmen that try to correct the gaffes of its ‘poll campaign chief’, but the key plank of attacking Narendra Modi on Godhra has  now been decisively lost.

This because Rahul Gandhi has now effectively equated, in the public eye, 1984 with 2002, claiming falsely that there was no Government push given to the 1984 pogrom. But he also admitted the involvement of ‘Some Congressmen’ at the same time, and did not apologise to put a quick lid on it. The fact is, the Central Government’s encouragement of the Anti-Sikh Riots of 1984 in Delhi was shameful and deliberate.

The BJP could not have done a better job of telling the truth and clearing the air on the facts. Neither could it have hoped for a better windfall than the resurrection of the 1984 riots by Rahul Gandhi himself. More so, given that the ruling combine has little else to criticise Narendra Modi on, except that he has risen from the status of humble ‘chai-wala’, belongs to a backward caste, and was Chief Minister during the Godhra Riots. The former slurs clash with its espousal of the cause of the common man, and the latter reeks of hypocrisy and selective amnesia.

But meanwhile, the reason why Narendra Modi is getting an over 50% rating as the most preferred candidate for prime minister, is because the people want someone in the driver’s seat who is able and willing to drive! This is simply not on offer either from Rahul Gandhi or anyone else in plain sight.

Progressives, not in the Socialist or Communist sense, but to name those who drive the economic betterment of this country, are few and far between, interspersed with many, in small parties and big, who pitch various divisive and self- aggrandising political saws.

After PV Narasimha Rao, we can count only Atal Bihari Vajpayee amongst prime ministers with a visible economic vision and legacy nationwide. In the States, Chandrababu Naidu did much to elevate the status of Hyderabad in his time, and Shiela Dikshit certainly added to the circumstances of the Delhi city-state. Similar things have been done by Narendra Modi in Gujarat over his three terms and counting. Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh, Raman Singh in Chattisgarh have been voted into third consecutive terms for the same reason, and the spectacular come back of Vijayraje Scindia in Rajasthan also points to her good governance during her previous term.

But again, looking at the size of the pack, the leaders who make an impact economically are few and far between. Others raise the political temperature and make for much heat and light but leave the country poorer, less sure of its future, and with its institutions and governance in disarray. And unfortunately, all such tub-thumping is invariably done in the name of the common people, accompanied by a cavalier attitude to the core strengthening of the country, that true and visionary leadership calls for.

(1,089 words)

January 31^st, 2014

Gautam Mukherjee