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Real Democracy Starts Now!' Part 1

Is It NaMo vs Kejriwal,minus RaGa?
(A sequel to follow.)

Post-assembly polls,as Congress's assumed candidate for P.M,Rahul Gandhi(RaGa) stands decimated\eliminated for now,the battle-lines for the Yudh of 2014 parliamentary elections are being re-drawn. Of the two semi-finalists remaining in the fray,it is now going to be a stiff fight between:

NaMo
vs
ArKe (Arvind Kejriwal).

'The Big Two',who mean serious business! By this,I don't infer that ArKe is a P.M candidate,not as of now. But that the real contender to BJP in terms of idealogical altitude and true democratic debates,will be AAP in the future. Fired by a momentum after their success in Delhi,they are on a roll to spread their reach and bandwidth pan-India,as the party plans to field substantial numbers to contest the 543 Lok Sabha seats.

Hopefully the content of what is debated in rallies from now on,will shift towards who has a more progressive vision for the future,or who has a better module for transparent,clean governance. Away from the misdeeds of Congress corruption and inflation,the awareness of which is already well- ingrained in every voters psyche.

Brand NaMo,showcasing an already implemented paradigm of a progressive,economic vision in his state of Gujarat. ArKe's USP,being the messiah of change for redefining the business of politics,with a non-negotiable stance on altering the rules of elitist power-centers,whether in governing bodies or the way industry leaders transact business. So in a way, 'best' will compete with 'better',raising the benchmarks of democratic excellence!

NaMo may be spared his on-going diatribe at flogging a dynasty-in-decline in his speeches. Instead he will now have to match-up to the moral high-ground of AAP. Or,AAP may need to take a few lessons from NaMo on growth and good administration,as they graduate from activists to administrators. Rallies won't be an exercise in pure demagoguery,but have a more meaningful content in addressing real issues of real people. Political polemics will trend to centre around more pertinent real-time issues from here-on,hopefully.

Namo may have diminished,at least in the mindspace of the electorate,the Gandhis,as the semi-finals to the 4 state elections concluded a 7o% win for BJP out of the 589 assembly seats that were polled. But the spectre of AAP looms large in the imagination of the electorate today. Not necessarily in the political territory ARKE owns of a meagre 28 seats in Delhi,but in his ideological reach which is now turning viral across the geography of India,as the conscience keeper to the nation. Enough for BJP not to rest complacent on recent laurels.

Before I deal with what the future holds,I want to walk you through what led us to the present,and how dynamics of power and perceptions changed pre and post-assembly elections. In this 'Part 1' of my article,I want to focus on the Congress debacle, and can they hope to get their act together? In a following sequel,I will attempt an analysis of a seemingly post-Congress India,and what the emerging responsibility of NaMo and ArKe could portend in changing the business of politics and governance .

Every psephologist,the media and opponent to AAP got their maths wrong in anticipating the spectacular debut of an activist-turned political party. Kilos of laddos ordered by the opposition hopefuls would have lost their celebratory flavour,as the real Diwaali was crackered at ARKE's headquarters. Serpentine queues outside polling booths till 9 at night,only indicated that people came out in multitudes to vote with their feet and stamp out with their hands,the heavy-handed rule of the Congress for 15 endless years. The party that bought Delhi and the nation to its knees,with acts of mis-governance. Frankly the nation had had enough,and a period of nemesis was nigh upon them,which all could see but the Congress themselves. The fact is the party might have accepted defeat with humility,but ruled with arrogance. To be relegated to the back-benches of being in the opposition in Delhi,and undergo a period of penance,and some 'chintan-baithaks' would not harm in the least,if they went into the wilderness to introspect with their “inner voice”!

There are rare 'citings' of the imperious,inaccessible Dynasty in Delhi in public,or media interactions with their subjects,since the years they ruled. Rarely to be seen or heard. But a reclusive RAGA did appear on media post the debacle,from standing behind the shadows of his mother,to relent in a rather amiable manner:

“Hum Nay dimaag say hee nahin,
Dil say bhi sunaa hai..”.

Too little, too late son!

RaGa, at 43 years,being the youngest leader compared to his peer-opponents,ARKE being 45 years old,and NaMo 63 years,should have been the voice of youth and change,and felt their pulse. Youth senses the needs of youth,being contemporaries,in camaraderie! Simply because being younger,should have made him more in-sync with the countries largest constituency,the age group of 20 to 35,who comprise half of the voting populace. Did he hear their aspirations? Did he speak on vital issues of corruption festered by his mothers regime? On Nirbhaya? Or about a progressive economic vision,or inflation?! No. His speeches lacked content,were abstract and un-empathetic. If he spoke of heroic sacrifices of DaDa,Dadi,and Daddy,to an audience whose sentimental-memory had a short shelf- life,it was inadequate to erase the sins of omission in the 'Now' of living-memory,of what the UPA II did: usurped the resources of the nation with scams,gave unequal opportunities to fulfill the desires of Young India,tried muzzling free-voice by intercepting mails and phone calls as alleged by AAP,letting loose a raid-Raj on opponents to stifle them,so reminiscent of Indira Gandhi's period of emergency. Did he once speak up about embezzlement from national coffers of money drained out of the system and how it could or would be bought back? Or about the crony-capitalism the Congress festered,and who was accountable?

What did RAGA stand for? Tacitly,for continuation of the Old-Regime,but strategically to posture himself as a rebel,more like an opposition leader in order to distance himself from the apathy of the government. Not a dynamic word,thought,or deed,to spell his intent for change. All he voiced was the brief given to all Congress spokespersons,who are seen parroting their claim-to-fame of food-security and MNERGA. Sops,sops and more sops,only to camouflage issues of non- performance and the factual de-growth of the economy.

As Chetan bhagat said: “A corrupt party can enjoy power,as long as it keeps the oppressed classes happy. So long as people are given bird-in-hand-freebies at election time,(as later politicians will reject them),a completely rational view...For this, they send agents to power,who might loot the nation,but share the booty through the occasional hand-out 'Plunder-and re-distribute' business model of the Congress party.”

The fact is,'Sonia-nomics' of populism did not resonate with either the urban voters who were struck by the high price of living; nor with the youth for whom meritocracy was meaningless in a jobless recovery and lack of educational facilities; nor with the downtrodden jhuggi-dwellers who live a few kilometers away from Rahul's house; nor with the rural poor whose aspirations were skill-development in order to be absorbed into industry. Even the pseudu-secular concerns for the Muslim vote-bank was turning the minorities skeptical of the party's intent,as they were being insulated from any great economic progress.

Equally neither did RaGa,as the New-Guard of his party,nor did the Congress take cognizance of the fact that their policies undermined the crying need for a self-respecting populace that wanted their rightful demands of free and fair opportunities,not beggars awaiting a dole of two-free meals after 66 years of independence. They failed to sense,in their insensitivity,that Indians post-liberalisation had moved beyond 'roti-kapra-makan',to 'mobiles-televisions-fridge-aur-cars' as aspirational intent!!

When a New-India is emerging,what most people feel deeply,is a sense of alienation from the oldest party of the country that fought a Peoples Movement for independence. This was not their exclusive fiefdom but one fought by all Indians,who held an equity in ownership. As the New-Guard,he perpetuated a feeling of exclusion of the common man from entering its domain. A space kept as the monopoly of his family and their coterie. Why is it that as a citizen,I feel I can have access and a right to redressal, should the need arise,to BJP and AAP,in a manner of speaking? Most have felt the inaccessibility of an arrogant regime,top-down! Did Rahul try to alter that perception?No! Because the Dynasty and the party were in cohorts at protecting the ring-fence of power around themselves.

With 5 months left for the general elections,what can be 'Plan-B',for a party in damage-control?

-Further profligate populism,is the natural modus for the Congress. Regardless if the measure puts the country's sovereign ratings under pressure,as it only raises fiscal deficit. Because to shift focus to performance from populism,gives them very little time!

-RaGa talks of re-energizing and getting more aggressive in auguring change within the party cadres. How much time does he have? What stopped him from doing so from the time he became VP?

-He grudgingly praised the AAP model of giving voice to the common man. Was his party not already the longest in history,who stood for the common man with their oldest plank 'Garibi-hatao'. What then was new?

"RaGa is looking for a solution,when he is himself a part of the problem".

So,if we go beyond Rahul as the face that will lead his party to the elections, will he be the proxy-power like Sonia, but put forward his preferred choice for a P.M from the names doing the rounds like F.M, P.Chidambaram? Or Nandan Nilekani,both who have strong credentials in experience and governance? If the reluctant heir-apparent were to formally recuse himself from prime-ministerial aspirations,continue with organizational party-work,but not replicate Sonia's blunders in interference and clipping the wings of the highest C.E.O of the country,it would be a change from the Old-Guard's mind-set!This for sure would signal a shift in stance from a cult-centric party,to giving way to a stronger Prime Minister,who would not be expected to function as a phantom in the opera of true democracy! But,will the elections of 2014 give him that chance to display the change he wants to be? Or has Congress lost the battle till 2019? A gripping tale to wait and watch!