Survival Of The Fittest

The tale of three ministers is symbolic of modern Indian politics. The karma and kismet of Narendra Modi, Digvijay Singh and Suresh Prabhu is emblematic of the "dark cloud with the silver lining" that our lawmakers have reduced our politics to. Let's first take that big dark thundercloud called Narendra Modi. His government's complicity in the horrifying Gujarat carnage has been too well-documented by the media, constitutional bodies, NGOs and private citizens to bear repetition. Even L.K. Advani, who defended him in India, apologised in London, describing Gujarat as "indefensible" and a "blot". But Modi still survives in office and that emblazons the biggest failure of political accountability in post-independence India, the ineffectuality of our constitutional and democratic processes and the utter moral bankruptcy of Indian politics. Taking moral responsibility for a wrong—even when one is in no way responsible for the act but simply because one is the head of an institution—is one of the most hallowed principles of governance. But Modi has cremated that ethic as well.

He is a classic example of how several BJP functionaries are still prisoners of the Opposition mindset. Modi probably doesn't realise he is no longer a street fighter. As CM, he is expected to behave with dignity and decency. For, he represents the Government of Gujarat, not his party, not his constituency, not his religion or caste. Therefore, his divisive actions and loose words have very damaging impact—not just for himself, his party and his ideology, but for the whole country. But his accusations of bias damns him even more—people often accuse others of crimes they are themselves guilty of. That's precisely why it is so dangerous for India in the long run that important bodies are now being packed with RSS sympathisers rather than the most-qualified persons.

It's also amazing how Modi tries to deflect attention from the real issues. The main question is not why the CEC refused to hold elections early, but why Modi was in such unseemly haste to prematurely dissolve the assembly in the first place. If, as he now claims, holding elections a few months earlier won't make a difference, then why didn't he wait these few months and let the assembly run its full tenure? But then, we all know the answer to that, don't we? Surely, Modi represents the nadir of Indian politics—as long as he gets his votes, it doesn't matter if his edifice of power is built on wrecked lives, homes and institutions.

And then there is another chief minister, Madhya Pradesh's Digvijay Singh, the first modern politician to make good governance fashionable and politically lucrative—he defied laws of incumbency to win another term simply because he concentrates on grassroot development. A good leader leads the silent majority. He doesn't run behind a murderous mob. One of the remarkable events in recent days was Digvijay's decision to impose sanctions on two villages: Latahadi, where upper castes destroyed crops belonging to Dalits, and Tambolipatna, where 65-year-old Kuttibai committed sati. That the sati had the sanction of a super-charged mob, which prevented even the police from intervening, is no excuse for the government to allow sati to gain any kind of legitimacy. If keeping the votes of such mobs that commit crimes were all that mattered, then the government would have quietly ignored the incident. But that Digvijay chose to be proactive, not merely depending on our archaic judicial system, but creating an atmosphere to unequivocally condemn and punish such barbarism by denying aid to the villages, shows courage and determination to transform and improve society. It is comforting to know a few politicians like him are still around. Any sensible citizen would see this is not being anti-BJP or pro-Congress, as Hindutva lobbyists would immediately accuse.The issue goes far beyond parties and labels, both of which only obfuscate reality, preventing people from thinking, analysing, introspecting calmly and clearly.

And then the third minister, Suresh Prabhu, a professional chartered accountant-turned-politician, who, like Arun Shourie, was among the most dedicated ministers in the cabinet. But Prabhu is useful to his Shiv Sena party as long as it hungers for respectability. But when he doesn't satisfy its lusts, he's dumped. One doesn't need to look further than Prabhu's karma and kismet to see why good people shun politics. But good people can do one thing—keep a hawk eye on Prabhu's successor Anant Geete.

Power is one of the most crucial sectors on which our future hinges. There is simply no way we can even cope with existing demands, let alone surge into the future as a vibrant economy unless we generate more power. But the power sector is probably the most complicated, corrupt, inefficient, tangled, landmine-ridden, rich but bankrupt sector in the country. But without power sector reforms, we are doomed. Here was a low-key, hard-working minister struggling to untangle the power mess. Instead of patting him on his back, Bal Thackeray pulls the rug from under his feet. The same Thackeray who hypocritically claimed he was fed up with "corrupt and murky" politics. One is flabbergasted by his complaints against Prabhu—"After Rajiv Gandhi, he wants to be known as Mr Clean" and that Prabhu told him his current reforms would yield miraculous progress in 10 years. "Till then what? Think of the remaining two years. Are you going to continue, will this BJP government continue?" a querulous Thackeray reportedly retorted to Prabhu, implacably angered by the empty pipeline from the mega million power deals to his party.

If one searches hard enough, even in the darkest clouds one can find a silver lining. After all, if this had been the attitude of India's leaders when we became free, we would still be living in the dark ages.

(The author can be contacted at post@anitapratap.com)