The business of politics has always been a very rewarding proposition for its practitioners. But politics has never been so kind to business and has rarely showed any reciprocity to the latter’s generosity. While politicians have prospered by employing in their daily politicking such sound business practices like horse-trading, futures-trading, power broking, and lest I forget, the omnipresent kickback, politics has always played spoil sport with business. Just sample this.
The latest crisis that has now culminated into a more prolonged crisis has clearly wiped out a neat Rs 70,000 crore of investors money off the stock market. And all this at a time when the feel-good factor was just about gaining momentum and a semblance of confidence was returning to the bourses and the economy itself.
Of course, the politicians may not even fathom the extent of damage that they have wrought on the economy as the only economy they are familiar with is their own which is booming, come rain or shine. On the contrary, one can visualise them lamenting that if only some one had tipped them off about such an whopping amount being involved, they would have settled for about 5% of it for offering stability. They would have also added on a free gift called secularism for that price.
And god knows, Industry would have even agreed, for it made business sense for them to avoid another elections. In any case the business community, from a pawn shop to a power corporation, has been paying the politicians through their noses all these years and the minimum they can expect is some amount of political stability and calm for them to get along with their daily chores in peace.
But alas, that is not to be and one can already hear the fervent knocks of the politicians on their doors for seeking electoral funds. And this is within days of dishing out crores during the course of the last fifteen days for ‘financing’ the horse trading market which was very bullish and the floor prices were running very high.
The plight of the common man is even worse. Industry at least can claim of a reasonable quid pro quo to justify the doles though with frequent elections and multitudes of parties the pinch is slowly turning into a vicious bite. But imagine the plight of the average voter who has remained below average forever despite several elections.
His only possession, the vote, is hardly of any value and even that is frequently usurped by a wily dupe sponsored by the local politico, but that is besides the point. What is significant is that every individual today is inextricably linked to the macro economic scenario.
Unlike the insulated past, every development on the economic front has begun to affect even the petty shop owner or the middle class salaried employee. Thanks to liberalisation, economics has become very broad based and is no longer the sole preserve of big business or the intellectual elite. Be it tax reforms or change in bank rates, all measures now impact a much larger section of the people.
Today, not only the stock markets, but also a housewife reads a meaning into even a twitch in the FM’s eye. Man today is more an economic animal than a political one. And for him to take the burden of yet another election- as, technically he is still the exchequer- simply because a bunch of politicians refused to see eye to eye, only compounds his woes. Add to it the turmoil of the electoral process and the accompanying din, and his cries of anguish will never be heard above the cacophony of pure political piffle.
Who is bothered about who rules so long as there is a government in place, is now the popular refrain. This is because, politicians are increasingly being seen as a bickering tribe that are always at each other’s throat. Of course, they are united when it comes to slitting the voter’s throat as they have demonstrated now.
Without compunction and even a modicum of guilt or shame, they have now thrust a wholly unwanted election on the masses and as if this not enough, each of them is now trying to seize the moral high ground, which incidentally does not exist, by trying to pass the buck.
Does any one need to sit under a Bodhi tree to realise who are the perpetrators of this democratic outrage or is it at all possible to sift the chaff from the chaff? Yet they remain insensitive and immune to the people’s anguish and are now looking forward to their next project, elections with real glee but feigned hurt.Democracy for them is a wonderful self-generating and self-sustaining business.
Will the politician ever understand the agonies of the peace loving citizen or their yearning to be left alone in their homes and offices without the painful presence of a politician breathing down their necks, in person or through posters? Never. The people are his Kamadhenu which gives aplenty but has no voice or language.
Anyway, the only language the politician understands is the language of power which again is because it is the surest route to pelf. Behind every political move by politicians of all hues and at the root of every political crisis lies the all pervading presence of money. Yes, parties and politicians still talk ideologies and always remember to couch their deeds in a camouflage of strategy and political self interest, yet the underlying common denominator is always pelf or the prospect of pelf.
When a party strikes an alliance with another, monetary considerations and shares in future spoils are first settled; ideologies then fall in place. When an MP crosses over from one camp to another, he exults in his hour of fame on how he was ill-treated for raising his voice for the ‘party’s wellbeing’, on how the high command was going against the ‘interests of the people’ and on how his genuine concerns ‘fell on deaf ears’. But away from the arclights of the media, and much, much before the press conference, money would have changed hands.
More the bribe, more strident the voice of dissent, larger the suitcase, larger the aura of self-righteousness. Every political defection and every volte-face is certain to be provoked by the sight or taste of Vitamin M. Platitudes are mouthed with impunity, lofty ideals are paraded with conviction, but below the pedestal there is always a pile of money.
And the transition from the secular to the communal or vice-versa is also as simple as the flip of a hundred rupee note. The choice itself is more by the toss of a coin rather than conviction.
Pelf, not principle, is going to be the front running candidate for this elections. The stakes are indeed high for all the political gamblers. The nation having already lost is no longer in the reckoning.
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