India’s Political Circus

Ramesh Menon

Politicians? Ugh! What are the things that come to your mind

when you think of India’s politicians?

My humble list They have made a mockery of the freedom our forefathers

fought for. Made democracy a farce. Vested interests. Corrupt to the core. Marginalized the educated Indian voter. Permanent damage to the Indian fabric. Have not bothered to study issues. Poor implementation of policies. Do not work on workable solutions.

Coalition Governments Cripples governance. Government is

constantly blackmailed. No hard decisions can be taken. Partner has to be given sops all the time

and protected from legal action. Coalitions are a curse on democracy. Happens when there is no strong party and

people cannot decide on who is worth it.

Govt. pulled in different directions India would have grown faster had it not

been for coalition governments. They put their narrow political gains over

national interest. The Left derailed the govt. stalling reforms. Coalitions cannot guarantee good

governance or effective foreign policy.

Splintered regional parties Over 230 registered political parties. Are more interested in playing kingmaker

and getting the lollies. That is how parties like the Jharkhand

Mukti Morcha can have a cabinet minister like Shibu Soren, who has numerous criminal cases against him.

Casteist and communal politics Dangerous. Dividing society. Political leaders now try to capture power

by dividing the voters on basis of caste, religion, language, sect and region.

Poor intelligence gathering system

Security system in shambles. Poor professionalism. Inter department rivalry. Do not share information. No team spirit. Poor security leadership. Poor technology. Poor training.

Leaders with criminal records

150 newly elected MPs of the 15th Lok Sabha have criminal cases pending against them.

In 2004, it was just 128 MPs. "Of these 150 MPs, 72 have serious charges

against them. BJP has maximum number of those having

criminal cases with 42 MPs. Closely followed by Congress with 41 MPs having

criminal cases.

Poor Political Culture Illiterate Politicians Criminals who are Leaders Caste and communal equations No real accountability Cabinet posts not on merit Lack of general knowledge or perspective

Rajya Sabha is a backdoor entry Many in the Rajya Sabha cannot even win an

election. Many do not have grassroot support. The rich and powerful are now getting into Rajya

Sabha. Many have not contributed: Hema Malini, Jaya

Bachchan, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and so on. They have no business to be in the house that makes laws for the country.

Lok Sabha quality dwindling We have more educated MP’s today than ever

before. But quality of debate is very poor. Many issues are not even discussed. Parliament has become a place to settle political

scores and not where India will be shaped. Shameful behaviour. Absenteeism. Even Ministers bunk parliament.

Shameful Role No academic rigor. Very very few inspiring speeches. When have you felt proud of MP’s in recent

years? A new dawn only if atleast 80 % of them are

replaced. Need new thinking, new commitment, new passion.

They have to keep India above everything else.

Young, the only hope Why does Rahul Gandhi attract crowds? The only hope is that the young will ring in

the new and bring in change. He is firing the imagination of the young

where ever he goes. He is saying the right things.

No Strong Opposition A strong opposition is a must for a healthy

democracy. The Opposition today concentrates on how it can

make the government fall so as to grab power. Issues do not matter.

The only thing they agree is on perks and salary raises. The latest: They want a salary raised to a whopping Rs. 80,001 a month.

Democracy, a fallacy in IndiaTotal electorate: 100

Candidates: 4

Candidate A gets 30 votes

Candidate B gets 20 votes

Candidate C gets 25 votes

Candidate D gets 25 votes

CANDIDATE A IS ELECTED. BUT 70 ACTUALLY VOTED AGAINST HIM!!!

Candidates use caste, community, money power We all here in this classroom want the best

man or woman to win. But other factors play their role in India.

Which caste are you from? Which community? What is the kind of money you spend? What kind of manipulations can you do to

sway public sentiment?

Collapsing Judiciary Badly needs reforms Is overburdened Is corrupt One of the greatest pillars of democracy Cases take ages to be decided There is no time frame for cases and can

go on ever

Piling Cases THERE ARE OVER 73,00,000 CASES

PENDING. It will take hundreds of years for pending cases to be heard at the current rate.

The faith in the judiciary has been shaken. Seems to belong to the rich and powerful. Challenges the very idea of democracy and

justice.

Credibility in Question Judges do not want to declare their assets. Seems impossible in present

circumstances to redeem themselves from the images of corruption and sloth.

Farcical situation playing out. Laws need to be made more stringent.

India, a leadership driven society Where there is a good leader, there is

change. In India, people rarely think. They love to

follow. Everyone follows the leader.

This is what Rajiv Gandhi said: “Politics has been reduced to brokers of

power and influences, who dispense patronage to convert mass movement into feudal oligarchy.”

(Congress Centenary in Mumbai, 1985)

Rich Politicans make the grade 836 million earn an income of Rs. 20 a

day and over 300 million live below the poverty line. But, nearly half of the Rajya Sabha members and a third of the Lok Sabha are worth a crore.

The top 10 MP’s in both houses are worth Rs. 1,500 crore!

What did he do as MP? Dharmendra, BJP Rs. 231.1 crore

Lack lustre performance.

No one remembers what he did.

Wonder why people like him get tickets? Govinda, Former Congress

MP. Quit to do films.

Rs. 14.5 crore

Total disappointment

Had the potential to do a lot of good…

Jaya Bachchan Samajwadi Party Rs. 214.3 crore Is active in her party. But public contribution

negligible.

Young and Promising Supriya Sule NCP Rs. 26.9 crore Is shaping up well. Will take the mantle

after Sharad Pawar.

Wealth Leadership! Mayawati Richest chief minister in

India from one of the poorest states.

Total Assets: Rs.52 crore. Biggest achievement has

been setting up her statues.

Raised so many hopes. UP has 113 crorepati

MLA’s.

A new hope for Bihar Nitish Kumar, Janata Dal (U) Bihar CM Rs. 55 lakh Is changing the face of Bihar. Determined leader. Has

captured the imagination of Bihar.

E-governance, bridges, roads and crackdown on crime.

Delhi stands to gain with her Sheila Dikshit, Congress CM, Delhi Rs. 1.18 crore. Has been CM thrice in a

row. Is more dynamic than any

other CM. Well meaning, straight

forward.

Controversial and unrepentant

Narendra Modi, BJP Gujarat CM Rs. 43 lakh Will always be tainted as

a communal leader. Is very popular in

Gujarat among Hindus. Has great ambitions.

Some Chief Ministers stand out Manik Sarkar, CPM Tripura CM for 11

years. Rs. 1.6 lakh. Only a Left leader will

have such a poor asset. Most left leaders used to live sparse lives.

Naveen has matured Naveen Patnaik, BJD Orissa CM Rs. 2.3 crore. Has done pretty well and

has carved out his identity. Has the potential to change

the face of Orissa. But, will he?

UPA Achievements Piloted the Right to Education Bill, got Women’s

Reservation through the Rajya Sabha, ensured 50 % reservation for women in local urban bodies and panchayats.

PM has put in a Delivery Monitoring Unit in the PMO to monitor flagship programmes.

Pulled India through recession well attracting global attention on the resilience of the Indian economy.

UPA Failures Could have governed better. Despite clear mandate, the government still

totters from bill to bill and is yet to deliver on key legislations like Flood Security Bill, Communal Violence Bill and Judicial Reforms Bill.

Still to deliver a breakthrough on Indo-Pak peace.

UPA has a lot to do Will have to make all their progressive

programmes aimed at the poor and common man work and deliver if they have to ride to power again.

Has a weak opposition, but must guard itself against 10 to 15 parties that can dump ideology easily to grab power.

Manmohan Singh has to outdo himself! Manmohan has to compete with his own

halo of the man who freed the economy from the bondage of licence raj. What he did as finance minister continues to outshine his achievements as prime minister. His challenge is to outdo the Manmohan of the 90’s by liberating India from the sloth that characterizes governance.

UPA II has only 4 years left In politics, time flies. Actually, it is the 6th

year in power. Has to capitalise fast on building the party

in states like UP, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala and Tamilnadu. Also Andhra Pradesh with the emergence of Jagan Reddy, son of YSR who might split the Congress.

Rahul, the new hope Wherever he has gone, the Youth

Congress membership has shot up dramatically.

What does this mean? Is Rahul igniting the aspirations of a new

young India? Will he be able to deliver?

Rahul working slowly, but surely Using his position of ancestral privilege, he is

trying to renew the party and make it dream differently.

Not easy to reform a 125 year old party. Remember what happened to Rajiv Gandhi.

India badly needs a young leader to change its political dynamics in the world.

He might just turn out to be the catalyst that India needed.

Playing the reluctant leader Master stroke by not becoming a cabinet

minister or staking claim to Prime Minister’s throne.

The 39 year old does not pretend to have all the answers.

He dashes around the countryside learning his political lessons and seeing the truth of India.

Undoing the politics of sycophancy Does not encourage sycophancy. Hits out at the political culture of the

Congress. Does his own research as he discovers the

spirit of the other India. Talks of a new idiom of governance.

Read, read and read… Indian politics is among the most

complicated in the world; just like Indian society.

If you have to understand it, you must read a lot even if you do not like politics. It will help you understand how this country thinks, behaves and works.

THANK YOU