DailyPost 2102
BEYOND COMPREHENSION!
Indian politics is an intriguing game, which all the practitioners understand from the word go, but is completely beyond comprehension for whom it is played, the people of India. Think of a jam-packed stadium where the spectators don’t know what game is being played, its rules and how the winner would be decided. Is this a pre-ordained constitutional mechanism or a political ecosystem that has been deliberately created to subserve vested interests, which cannot be achieved in any other manner. The most fascinating part is that, when the philosophy of our life is democracy, why should left, right or any other leanings make a difference to the final outcome – the welfare of the masses. Maximum good for maximum people is our operational philosophy, practice and our delivery mechanism has been created to meet this purpose. All this happens out of public money, but goes in the names of leaders and parties, as if it is their benevolence.
The backdrop is Maharashtra 2022, it can make anyone ponder on the state and fate of Indian politics and can also make you pensive, if you were to rattle your brain on how to take the country out of this self-inflicted democratic madness. Everything apart, the governance of a state can be kept in a limbo at the whims and fancies of one group of people, MLAs as well call them, on their perception of the democratic mandate. The perceptions change even within the life of one assembly. You can come up with any logic to cobble and any logic to de-cobble a government. It is so interesting that the media gets glued and so do the masses, as if whatever is happening has some democratic meaning. Have you ever heard of any politician providing an air ambulance to an ailing patient? Or have you heard any person drawing a very hefty salary traveling in private jet?
Private jets are made for people whose time is of immense value for business or have the acumen and expertise for which people are in need and are ready to pay. It is not meant for political machinations and for people who cannot add value but extract value for themselves, out of disorienting democratic systems. Who wins and who loses is immaterial, the robust democratic system and the people it is meant to serve, have already lost. Hundreds of government decisions have been taken by a lame duck government is a clear indicator that it is some sort of distribution of booty. On the other hand, ministerial positions are being divided, distributed and compensated for, for the next dispensation to arrive on to the scene, is yet another distribution of the spoils of war, in which a new duo is victorious. The power to extract, exploit, influence and enjoy for yourself and your clan, is provided by vote of that poor man, who is omnipresent across the landscape of this country. His vote and fate get sealed for all times to come, he just has to reiterate it every five years.
We can call it the Democratic Bondage. They are called to the streets to battle it out for the warring factions. The same paid followers or unpaid followers who gather every time to take up cudgels for their leaders. What they derive out of it, only they and their operators would know. Geographical Cooperative Federalism comes into full play in these times, the country gets fully united from Mumbai to Surat to Guwahati to Delhi, Vadodara and what not! The movement of prime players has become so seamless. Social Media provides the ideal tool for hide and seek and multimedia communication as per need. From Governor, to legislature to courts, all are there when they are needed by the rebels, warring factions, the puppeteers and the like. A tough job to map it to the letter and spirit of the constitution.
ONLY THE NEW AGE POLITICAL THINKERS CAN UNDERSTAND THIS SORDID SAGE OF DEMOCRACY.
Sanjay Sahay