Let the people wait!
India in the past 72 years of independence must have been able to produce a number of leaders who could take democratic republic to dizzy heights. It is not to be. Why so? Our people are so merciless to the ones who are ready to work for them selflessly. Take for example, the case of Kamaraj the great.
Thousands of primary schools were started; hundreds of industrial projects were initiated; village Panchayats were given sufficient administrative and financial powers to have plans of their own that would benefit the local people; corruption was unheard of at all levels of governance. Yet, people of TN defeated him badly to enthrone an utterly dishonest, disrepute group of people.
That was the end of all that was good in public life. The so called ‘reformers’ looted the exchequer and could yet deceive the people with a decorative, ornamental campaign that stupefied the common man. Now we in TN are witnessing the sad spectacle of followers (?) of Kamaraj joining hands with the very same people who tarnished the clean image of Kamaraj for petty political gains. It is not a different story in Maharashtra either.
An average Indian is still not capable of standing solidly by the side of honest politicians. In spite of being a vastly educated society, states like Tamilnadu or Maharashtra have failed miserably to reject the unsavoury elements and encourage the good ones to come up – from whatever political party they hail. It is precisely and uniformly the same everywhere in India.
In Maharashtra, the Congress of Sonia or NCP of Pawar could win a sizeable number of seats and Shiv Sena is still in a position to elicit considerable support at least in certain quarters. Do our people have any sense of responsibility at all? Do not mistake me that i am giving a clean chit to BJP. How can we do any such thing?
The BJP netas have mastered the art of being rude and arrogant to the voices of dissent. We have not come across a political outfit in our democracy in the last 70+ years that is as rigid and as adamant as the BJP in imposing its well crafted agenda, unmindful of its ill effects on the nation.
We have to choose from among the available options and at present, a government of Fadnavis seems to be the safest bet. The situation though volatile seems to be favouring him too. Because it would be too difficult for the Congress to support the Sena, even from outside since the core ideology of the Sena is almost same as or even more aggressive than the BJP.
When that be the case, the Congress is in a fix with not much of a scope to extend even an indirect support to the rightists. If it is to happen, for some reason or the other, it would mean that the secularists are left with no one to look forward to. This is the worst that could happen in Indian democracy today.
The current uncertainty is not the result of a fractured verdict. The BJP and Shiv Sena fought the elections together and they have the majority too. The people of Maharashtra voted for the combine, for Fadnavis to continue. That much is clear. But the Sena leaders are talking about ‘other options’ today which is against the spirit of democracy and is a shameless betrayal.
The NCP is fuelling the ambitions of the Sena and we can not find fault with them because NCP is a party that does not have any ideological bondage. It can go with anyone so long as it helps ‘their people’. The legislators of NCP would be too happy if by any chance they can taste the fruits of power eluding them for many years.
Congress on the other hand does not have the ‘luxury’ of being a ‘no ideology’ party. It may be run by unprincipled leaders but it does have a tradition of being largely ‘secular’. Hence, it is the duty of the Congress to see that any talk of supporting the Sena is rejected outright. To remain mute towards any ‘possibility’ of Sena + NCP government is a great injustice and the Congress can ill-afford to do it. It is high time that the Congress comes out in the open distancing itself from all that is happening now. If this is done, the uncertainty would come to an end too.
In spite of all the differences among them, if Sena, NCP and Congress decide to go together, the question of stability of the government may come in the way of the Governor accepting it. Given the tendency of the BJP to use its ‘good offices’ to unsettle anything that does not suit them , the Sena – NCP – Congress arrangement would only be a non-starter and there might be another election with the rule of the Governor till then. It seems the state is fast moving towards this unpleasant development.
When nobody is serious about respecting the mandate in its simplest terms, various possibilities emerge everyday with nothing really coming off. We can’t help it. People of Maharashtra may have to wait!
(to conclude
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