If they did, you would not be seeing the kind of disgraceful wheeling and dealing we witness today. The citizens of India are not unfamiliar with horse-trading, with sworn enemies becoming sworn friends for short-term electoral gains. Alas, the shenanigans currently on display are not in pursuit of winning the general election, they are in pursuit of an agenda which has little relevance as far as the voter is concerned. Indeed, the callous indifference to what really matters—rising prices—is both shameful and shocking. It is not the crazy realignments that are disgusting but the priorities of a government allegedly dedicated to the common man.
I am frequently asked: what is the inconsistency in going for the nuclear deal and containing inflation? None. But I don’t see the best and brightest minds of the upa burning midnight oil on the ‘price of onions’. I do not see frenzied activity and urgency, visible for rushing to the iaea, equally visible for opening fair price shops. How is the government going to bring down prices when all its energies are consumed by an issue which people cannot cook or eat?
The voters of India are going to punish those parties which have made hypocrisy their guiding canon. If the Congress gets less than 100 seats in the general elections, they will have only themselves to blame.
