It is a shaming and shameful fact that in
India the only job that has no minimum requirements from a candidate is that of
a politician. We are happy to hand over our country, our present and our future
in the hands of the incompetent, the unreliable and the untrustworthy. A person
applying for the job or a sweeper in any government agency is scrutinised more
than a person being anointed as Prime Minister-designate. We are hard-pressed
to find anyone who has a spirit of public service or greater common good
driving the decisions and actions that affect almost one-seventh of the world’s
population!
Though India is called the world’s largest
democracy because we have the electoral voting system with “One Person = One
Vote” system in place; in reality we are something of a glorified tribal
monarchy with various factions scrabbling for power. Today, every single
political party in the country (with the exceptions of BJP and the Communists)
is a “family business” or autocratic, single person outfits (like Jayalalitha’s
AIADMK, Mamta Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and Mayawati’s BSP). Even the new
kid on the block, AAP, has quickly spiralled and devolved into being just
Arvind Kejriwal.
The prime example of the malaise of
monarchy that rubbishes any claims that India makes on democracy is the Indian
National Congress, the Party that touts itself as the “oldest” one. They have
staked claim on the pre-Independence Congress that was a driving force for the
Independence movement. Sadly, INC or just Congress (as it is better known as),
to the common man means Jawaharlal Nehru and his family. Not only to the common
man, but even members of the gigantic Party believe that their leaders can only
come from the Family – whether by birth or marriage. Thus they went to Sonia
Gandhi to “save” them. Then they celebrated Rahul Gandhi – who never showed any
political acumen or understanding of India and Indians. Rumours about his drug
problems, wayward lifestyle and lack of education fly around but Congress still
thought him to be the best amongst them to lead the entire country and announced
him as their Prime Ministerial candidate.
After the abysmal showing in the Delhi
elections (zero seats), the Party workers demonstrated against Rahul Gandhi.
Their solution: Get Priyanka Gandhi – from whom great things are expected
because of her tenuous physical resemblance to her grandmother, Indira Gandhi.
For two months, Rahul Gandhi disappeared
from the country. No one knew where he was or what he was doing. His quiet
return into the country probably had the Party heaving deep sighs of relief but
the Party policy is a wall of silent reverence.
While Congress is a perfect example of the malaise,
they are not the only ones affected by it. Every party suffers from the same.
When the British were there, there was an identifiable
“other” who was the enemy. Now the enemy is from within. If the British looted
India, the present politicians are beggaring her totally. This is the inherent
danger of unquestionable monarchies and autocracies.
As things stand today, only a Total
Revolution (as envisaged by Jayprakash Narayan – arguably the last “leader” in
the country) can change and rescue the country.
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