We get what we deserve

We get what we deserve

 

B L Saraf

” It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices .”  John Roberts , Chief Justice of the U.S ,  opined so  when  he upheld President Obama’s     health care law . Put it along with   what our noted jurist Nani Palkhivala once said  the matter will fall in   a  perspective . He said, “We get the Government we deserve most .”  Both mean that the people who make a voluntary political choice have to live with the consequences- good or bad .  And what we deserve  is brought out unambiguously  by  one of the important  members of the Union Council of Ministers . That is ; a  single  family rule fortified by self serving sycophants  , with the  sole purpose to  rule till eternity – no matter the country goes to the dogs .
Salman Khurshid , the Union Law Minister , reportedly described the Congress as short on ‘ direction ‘ best provided by party  ”  number two ” Rahul Gandhi . Faced with the storm his remark created, he explained that he had merely urged Generation Next (read Rahul Gandhi) to  come forward to lead the party and the Government . In simple words  the Minister  is begging to the heir apparent to  salvage the Congress party   which to  all the Congressmen / women is synonymous with the country.  Never mind  the implied castigation of his own Prime Minister ! This is another proof – if ever one was needed- of  a  Congress party worker  surrendering to the  Gandhi family’s  pre -eminence . This attitude  has  made  country suffer a lame duck  Prime Minister . No wonder ,we witness policy paralysis in all  spheres of the governmental activity .Most people , though , feel that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is well intentioned person, capable of doing so many good things . His role as Finance Minister in 1990s and Prime Minister in UPA-1  are recalled in this regard. Those who see him faltering in UPA -2 , largely, attribute it to  the lack of support from the party boss  . So much so , the knowledgeable  feel conflicting signals  emanating from the party chief  have weakened his prime ministerial authority. Surely , when men like Digvijay Singh and extra- constitutional bodies like NAC are unleashed on him   P.M. feels  hamstrung .
Rahul Gandhi is projected as the Congress great hope , both as party boss and the  prime ministerial candidate . Time Magazine has  in the latest issue , while describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh   ‘ The Underachiever ‘ and raising question whether he is up to the job ,   noted , ” .. other players in the Congress, most notably  Rahul Gandhi , Sonia’s son are positioning themselves to take Singh’s place… .” Salman Khurshid’s comment has to be seen in that background . One has yet to see Rahul Gandhi’s credentials to   lead the party and the Government . Till now , as rightly pointed out by Khurshid , people have seen his occasional appearances only . That too during the elections  – where  such  appearance did not help his party to garner the votes .  He is perceived to be a reluctant politician . Analyzing reasons for  Prime Minister’s  non-performance  the Time magazine writes   ” The laws that help create growth and the jobs are stuck in the Parliament sparking concerns  that politicians have lost the plot in their focus on shorter term populist measures that win votes .”  True,  men  in the NAC ,  lead by Sonia  Gahdhi,  are, undoubtedly , proving the stumbling block for PM to govern effectively  . Rahul Gandhi is in  politics for a decade now. Courtesy wild card  entry- acquired not on  merit but due to the lineage , he has been  at the top to   decide fate of billion of Indians, though without any responsibility . What has been his record ?Quite dismal . He seems to be bereft of ideas on the vital  economic issues ; has no policy  to tackle security concerns  of the nation . His   intriguing silence on the scams  like 2 G , CW Games , Adarsh  building etc  show him in a very poor light . Thus far , the country has had no inkling of the  ‘ direction” which  the heir apparent  would give to it . Yet , the family retainers see in his stewardship a panacea of our all ills.
When   a party which has eminent men like Manmohan Singh , P Chidambaram , Kapil Sibal and  Salman Khurshid    feels directionless and entreats  the  untried and reluctant  novice to  give them a direction to  navigate the country of India’s size ,  we can only rue our fate . And when we allow these men of ‘ eminence ‘  to rule us till eternity – thanks to the vote bank politics of  appeasement of various sorts  –  we  most certainly deserve  the government we get  and the fate   country consequently  comes to .If that is the political choice we make then , as  aptly said by the U.S Chief Justice , it becomes job of no body to deliver us from the  rot  we land in .
(The author is  former District & Sessions Judge)