Shiban Khaibri
” Ever tried , ever failed ; no matter ;
try again , fail again , fail better ………”
Perhaps, a thing or a venture started , more so related to politics where the sole aim , the lone objective is to unseat and defeat a sworn opponent , again , perhaps for no fault of his, comparatively has blessings of only a few. In other words , again ,these few must have their own reasons to support and back such a political venture. Lot of rhetoric is there to be seen and heard about democracy from those who are claiming to be its real flag bearers and the clamour about it being “in danger ” since 2014. Such a dank narrative , although not cutting much ice across the country , nevertheless, under its cover if not in pursuance of upholding its cherished values, the right of opposition parties cannot be questioned to count the shortcomings , if any , of the incumbent government . It has right to convince the electorate about their better, prosperous and comfortable living should they be elected to power instead. It can well be inferred that the opposition parties must be having in their possession a superb workable and instantaneous dividends giving economic policies, better social welfare measures, better and varied opportunities for the people, plans to make our armed forces strongest in the world to face any sort of challenges, providing comparatively still better roads, uninterrupted power supply , drinking water , ”removing” unemployment and last but not the least, how to fight rampant corruption in the political, administrative and related ecosystem and the like. These vital issues are always sought after by the general public across a country of our size and magnitude, some notable progress in each of such segments made since 2014 notwithstanding .
At the moment, let more urgent problems plaguing our country in addition to the above , not be discussed to expect resolution thereof from the said alliance, not only in a better way in comparison, but a grand initiative taken , all backed by a strong political will by them . Is that the message emanating from the said alliance called Indian National Developmental Inclusive (INDI) alliance? For example , we have not heard anything from the alliance like how to demonstrate on ground absolute zero tolerance to terrorism , how to arrest communal hate and separatism not to speak of having any soft corner there-for, how to aspire for and ensure a common civil code for all citizens , how to control population explosion, when to have a transparent and honest census of all immigrants like Bangladeshi , Rohingyas and other persons living illegally in this country with intent to starting a transparent process of their deportation who otherwise are enjoying political and other types of patronage and economic help to the peril of the interests of the citizens of this country . The natural corollary could be expected in respect of employing other stringent ways to pre-empt any more infiltration and make it too difficult for any unauthorised person to enter India . There is not a word on all these very important and critical issues either from the alliance as a single entity or from any constituent thereof. The reason, perhaps, is about choice of a priority and immediate aim of the alliance which is well known, being nothing else but how to remove Narendra Modi from power in 2024.
We, very often watch how most of the speakers representing some opposition parties on various TV Channels, even not remotely touching such issues but intentionally are only harping on high prices, unemployment and “Hatya” of democracy under Modi rule. A few speakers even carry a lemon, a tomato , a potato or an onion into the studio to share with the people their “concern” and the resentment against the government for “high prices” of these freely whipped and “exploited” vegetables as if those were condemned to remain within the range of Rs.5 to Rs.10 a kg only , yet blaming the government that the farmers’ incomes were not growing. As if it was not enough , a candidate wearing a ”garland of onions” recently rode a donkey to submit nomination form at Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh – perhaps a singular case of such nature in any country. That shows the priority, the prime concern but the desperate aim of the ”grand” alliance which is really inconsistent with the real threats from within and without and grave challenges posed to this country for which there ought to have been a stand and a response with more sincerity and seriousness . Democracies thrive and get strengthened not by forming alliances to only unseat the incumbent government without there being available a better alternative but in the high spirits of democracy , country’s interest needed to be kept supreme without compromising with the constitutional right of the opposition parties and individuals to fight elections and garner support of the people offering a comparatively better governance based on sound and tangible policies.
That the journey of democracy has reached this far smoothly since we adopted the constitution in 1950 , of course, with hiccups of a short period of 2 years of Emergency in 1975, speaks volumes about the vibrancy and the resilience of the factors of checks and balances in the system especially the stupendous role played by our judiciary. Hence peddling of the narrative that “democracy was in danger” is not only false and self contradicting but is apparently laced with petty motives particularly when seen in the perspective of airing such manufactured things and all the associated fictive from foreign platforms. That inflation and unemployment were two fronts not seriously addressed by the government as very frequently whined by the opposition, too, on the face of it, is a total dicey and one sided version. That is precisely on account of comparative dismal performance of the respective governments in the states ruled by them. In fact, the levels of unemployment and inflation in such states are far below from those states not ruled by them. Does it not look , therefore, ludicrous that a model of very soft inflation and lowest unemployment rate which they intend to implement immediately after unseating of the Modi government , is nowhere to be seen already implemented in their own ruled states. What a hypocrisy ?
Furthermore, the masquerade of ”helping the poor” by the opposition political parties sets in operation of vicious circle of brazen appeasement, freebies galore – power, water, transport etc – loan waivers, old pension model, false promises etc especially spun with velocity at elections, was bound to bring in its wake, disastrous results sooner than any later, on the one hand and turning out to be a mere charade, on the other . That, this self disastrous vote winning model started in Delhi since 2014 should be aped by almost all opposition parties, a lead taken by Congress therein, just to win votes, is going to pose serious challenges to the economic and social equilibrium of the country. It is sad that the ruling BJP led NDA too has ”fallen in line” in promoting freebies , agreeably to stay in power in the states ruled by it . What, of late, worries the principle opposition party is that how a particular segment of voting for the BJP could be ”snatched” and turned in its favour for which a new feeler, a novel overture has been articulated – caste census. A lot is said and ”lamented” mainly by the Congress over it and not a word is spoken or anything mentioned in its election manifestoes about the delay caused to the due general census and when a legislation would be around to put statutory limits on new births. You cannot continue with relegating to background the interests of the country just for votes . Imagine we are presently 142. 9 crore while in 1948 we were just 34.8 crore. You must have a solid policy , now, to address it whether you are in opposition or in government.
On the contrary, it is noteworthy that dividing the country in more castes and sub-castes was vehemently opposed by Late Smt. Indira Gandhi and also by Late Rajiv Gandhi . How can the present Congress leadership be wiser than the two late Congress leaders , is beyond comprehension . Again, how thus a two pronged political strategy be endorsed – one to consolidate the Muslim votes and two – to divide the majority community in hundreds of thousands of castes and sub-castes ? This country simply cannot afford any more political, social and economic unrest especially when overall economic standard of people is steadily rising both in terms of per capita income and per capita consumption as also at a time when India’s profile is rising continuously in the comity of nations. That the country’s economy from 12th position having jumped to 5th is no ordinary achievement , rising to the 3rd being the set target must be seen in right perspective. The “grand” INDI Alliance , on the other hand , is confused , incongruous, divided on ideological and individual prospects, consistently working out individual gains and losses in the event of going to polls as one entity, and totally unsuccessful in convincing the people – “how we are better ” . Concerns of the architect of the alliance Nitish Kumar as also of SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav vis-a-vis the stance of Congress can give many indications of how the ship was going to sail in deep waters and whether there were enough fair political skills to repair it on ”high seas” of 2024. Illusions , therefore, need to be dispensed with.
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