S.K.Rekhi
Mass scale abuse of political power by the UPA especially during its 2nd run has not only given boost to crime, lawlessness, insecurity, unbelievable corruption, financial mismanagement and very steep price rise but has also created a scenario where political upheaval became almost inevitable. Arvind Kejriwal tactfully used the mass anger and anti-government grouse of an anti-corruption movement to form a political party under the name of Aam Admi Party. Masses in general appear to be so fed up with the ruling UPA that the emotional touch of “Aam Admi” with Kejriwal’s party so attracted the people as if corruption killers had taken birth in India. Being a non-professional politician he became more acceptable and quite many popular social activists, intellectuals, artists and well groomed youth joined him. Party’s Ist knock in Delhi Assembly elections turned the tables and now it is confidently contesting the Lok Sabha elections like a national party. It is likely to play as a game spoiler for NDA otherwise expected smooth success in Govt. formation at the Centre, as it did in Delhi assembly. Scandals galore and loss of confidence of the people in the U.P.A simultaneously, gave rise to the B.J.P wave which appears to be so fascinating and promising that not only some small political parties have merged in it but very many eminent personalities, intellectuals and luminaries from different fields especially the Defence and Administration have also joined it making it more magnetic. Some political heavy weights of some other political parties too have joined it by jumping out, as per their analysis, of the sinking boats with the hope of reaching some new power centers as in politics friends and enemies very oftenly change their directions with the change in the direction of political winds. If one goes by the media reporting NDA is the front runner in the coming Lok Sabha elections and had Baba Ram Dev shown the same old enthusiasm for the B.J.P. in that case the numbers game for the party must have been far above. The Third Front constituents, sensing the favourable turn around of the political climate once again repeated its history in the name of secularism, nationalism and the common good of the people which most of the politicians and political parties use for making their future bright as who is really concerned with secularism, nationalism, and the common good of the people? Some of the Regional Parties too are trying for electoral grains, to enlarge their area of operation and political girth by breaking and making alliances, horse trading. Do these acts of such politicians not amount to state protected and state sponsored anarchic affairs which are consuming innumerable human lives in many parts of the country? In the words of Jeremy Benthem “Tyranny & anarchy are never far apart.” This is the election season, the season of false promises, the season of hate speeches, the season of wild allegations by and against the contestants, the season of promising freebies at the cost of public money, the season of uncivilized and contemptuous verbal attacks and counter attacks and the season of free flow of currency notes, yellow metal and the multi-coloured liquor. H.N. Menken once said “Every election is an advance auction sale of stolen goods”. There is loot of public wealth as per whims and pleasures of the politicians in the form of rational or irrational election manifestos later turning out of be different welfare schemes bearing different names, almost all ending in more of the scams than the public good trumpted for. Most of the welfare programmes emerging out of the election manifestos pass through the identical processes of corruption and the targeted beneficiaries get the left over the percentage where of varies scheme to scheme. In the name of public welfare some politicians are distributing free laptops to the illiterates which get sold as per press, in the second hand goods market for rupees four thousand to five thousand, some are announcing free drinking water, free electricity and free fodder and cereals etc. without knowing their effects on country’s economy, financial management and their effects on the coming generations. Just as an example the Apex Court very recently while confirming the order of Allahabad High Court has enlarged the range of CBI enquiry in the U.P.A Flagship MNERGA welfare scheme. This is just a tip of the ice-berg. Under the election heat the U.P.A has given quite many populist schemes during the past some months like Jaat reservation, uniting of rivers, opening of 3500 B schools, six lanning of eastern By Pass, new fertilizer policy, one rank one pension, more coverage by higher education and additional D.A plus announcement of 7th Pay Commission etc. If one goes by the media reporting many sitting M.P’s including some Ministers of the UPA tried to change their constituencies but the High Command disagreed in most of such cases and that many more were quoted by media as shirking to contest. “John Keneth Galbreth has said about the elections in the words” Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable”. This saying belies the formation of democratic governments in the countries where poverty and illiteracy are in the large scale and during quite some years after independence free distribution of cereals, clothes (dhoties, saries and chadars etc.), cash and eatables etc. kept on influencing the poor and illiterate voters in India which slowed the grooming of opposition. More than six decades bitter history of independence has made our voters sufficiently matured and this is the factor which has made even the very old political players to raise their hands before even the start of the game. By jumping in National Politics, Aam Admi Party has given an unconventional touch to the coming elections which have become most interesting elections in the history of free India. The common man, as per the media reporting is very happy to participate in the unconventional elections and is full of hope and expectations from the would be elected representatives but because of his past experiences, he is equally apprehensive of what an Urdu poet has said in the couplet :
Hum ko rahe zindgi mein iss qadar raahzan mile
Rahnuma pe bhi gumane rahnuma hota nahin
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