I did not go to the Capital nor could I follow the happenings fully owing to my Hindi handicap. Still I had kept track of the Delhi polls very studiously by all possible ways. Apart from the professional call, the interest was also propelled by an earnest eagerness to understand how our electoral democracy is evolving.
For one, rapid urbanisation is the most natural fallout of economic growth and the process is only gathering pace in a competitive mileu. Our capital ranks among the top metros of not just the nation but the world itself. The issues that rage here have global as well as pan Indian relevance. The Delhi campaign is an advance template of what is to come as polls successively hit other parts of a growing nation. The intensive and intricate debates about civic, environment, social and safety related problems are very educative and enlightening precedents. They are a welcome shift from the mere political rhetoric of the past.
Delhi set an example as a catalyst for change. For decades, Delhi under Cong rule and as a Nehru family fiefdom (not very different from Mughal dynasty and British raj) achieved great notoriety for power politics. The outward calm of Lutyen’s Delhi was a facade for well entrenched vested interests and their vicious intrigues that however impacted the entire country. And that turned the undoing too: Anna & Co, having rolled and roiled in the dust and grime of ‘other India’, finally and quite rightly stormed Delhi’s hotspots to draw the people’s attention, which was already ripe for the picking. The nation’s ugly underside, soiled by corruption and cronyism, was laid bare at its very core — the Capital. The Delhi spark set off a widespread fire-alarm and the old order was promptly overhauled.
Delhi has also emerged as a lab for political experiments. Anna has since left, but his successors have made Delhi a wholly different playground. Today’s Cong-less polity is only a side story. Cong, with its sordid baggage, was easy game for both AAP and BJP. But the battle between active politicians and activist politicians has risen to a new level with the latter two locked head on. The BJP directing all its firepower on only AAP is the latter’s biggest victory in Delhi. That even national parties, Mamta and her Leftist bete noires included, are now backing Kejriwal makes Modi the undisputed central figure of national politics. A BJP win will be another feather in his cap. If, however, Kejri runs away with the Delhi broom even as Modi aims for a complete Swach of Bharath, it will be a small setback, forgotten soon. But a big boost for the fresh kid on the block, no doubt.
Delhi experiences has spawned a new thinking across parties and public persons. An ideology driven, traditional party like BJP however has seen the pluses of ideas and has promptly reinvented itself. Modi’s mantra to the ambitious middle classes and the long suffering poor is inclusive growth, not ‘exclusivist communalism’ as his critics would want it. That the BJP could so swiftly lure and launch a rank outsider like Kiran Bedi at once displays the party’s daredevilry …. or desperation, if you wish. And that the self-righteous, dharna-happy and ‘reluctant politico’ Kejri is now game for any compromise just for an encore is another proof. But whatever his claims, credentials and capabilities, his decision is still good. Also, past performance notwithstanding, ruling politicos face perennial pressure. Pompous personalities may still be on parade, but cannot prevail for long before an impatient populace.
Delhi therefore is an encouragement and must be emulated elsewhere too. The expansion of political space beyond the pale of the usual suspects is surely on the cards. With old mental political constructs crumbling the time is indeed gradually getting conducive for those aspiring for service through politics. Loyalty, money, and personal beliefs will still count, but one can clearly discern an aggressive and even professional ‘talent hunt’ by political parties. The only dampener to sincere but sensitive candidates will be the kind of mud they will have to face, much less from opponents as from the stinging media. But who said it will all be easy?
In sharp contrast to the Delhi din is the Srirangam silence, at our own backyard. The by-poll slated for Friday, the 13th of Feb seems ominous for democracy even otherwise. Don’t we know the result already? So, TN will remain blissfully exempt from all the good tidings listed above for Lord Ranga knows how long.
By the way, how is Ajithkumar’s latest one doing?
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