What a relief to see young, fresh candidates in the fray for the forthcoming general elections. The Congress Party seems to have a whole slew of new generation politicians fighting to enter the Lok Sabha to hopefully initiate a different ethos into our rather pathetic and distasteful political arena. The oldest party with the youngest faces!
Passing of the baton ignites hope and change. Everywhere in the world we find Prime Ministers and leaders in their 40s and 50s except in India where the political images are of old, tired ?orators? carrying the baggage of a period gone by. These days they look sullen, sulking because of the realities that are beginning to overtake them. What continues to amaze me is the reaction of the BJP and others to the entry of any member of the Nehru/Gandhi family into active politics. Why this unprecedented hostility? What is their fear, their insecurity?
Is it because they know well that the icons of this family, through the generations, continue to carry political ?clout? that the next generation could take forward? One young man decides to enter the fray and fight an election and the opposition to the Congress along with the media go berserk. Why this deep-seated insecurity? If the other parties were confident of themselves and their agendas, why would the reaction be so vociferous?
The media too is utterly predictable and dull. Endless repeats of the same question…for two months they have been asking to know when Rahul or/and Priyanka will enter politics. Clearly, they believe that the entry of both these individuals is of great import otherwise why would they carry on and on? In the time that lapsed, not one channel or newspaper did any homework to find out professional details about the two. There was not one story of consequence. All they could find to say was that these young people hail from the Nehru/Gandhi family. We all know that and so does every hamlet in India. What is new? Is that why the reaction is so hyper?
Then, they go on and on about ?dynasty?. One would imagine that Naveen Patnaik went on a holiday to Orissa, fell in love with it and decided he wanted to rule the state! Naresh Gujral was enticed by the new happening city, Jalandhar! It is all so absurd. This dynasty talk that has entered ?political discourse? is so inconsequential, so irrelevant to the realities of political change in India that one is alarmed by the importance given to this issue. Is there nothing else that merits discussion and debate? Dynasty is a non-issue. Have our communicators lost it? Where are their priorities? What are their motivations?
Surely the freedom to decide what you want to do professionally cannot be dictated by anyone except yourself. So what is wrong with Naveen, Vasundhara, Naresh, Akhilesh, Omar, Sachin, Jyotiraditya, Rahul et al entering politics and public life, fighting elections that they could win or lose? It is hard work, far better than sitting in the background wheeling and dealing on the bat of family members. Good luck to all these ?inheritors? and all the others who take the plunge and the risk, giving up their ?privileged? lives! It is time the debate changed to more substantial issues.
Luckily, corporates and media companies have been spared the attack. The many ?inheritors? of empires…the Ambani brothers, Anand Mahindra, Kumaramangalam Birla, the Jain brothers, the ?Hindu? family, the list is unending and even includes Deepak Parikh whose uncle set up HDFC. Why doesn?t the BJP attack all of them on the dynasty issue? Do these people have a divine right to ?rule? their companies? Did they fight to be elected into their fathers? positions or were they anointed upon the death of their fathers? That is acceptable. But, to fight and win or lose an election as someone?s son or daughter is reprehensible. Makes no sense, and those with common sense, which is the Indian electorate, could not give a damn about this rather weak rhetoric and political diatribe.
There was a malicious ad on Zee TV that smacked of regressive ?nationalism?, issued in ?public interest?. It spoke of Indians having broken the shackles of foreign rule and how satta must not revert to foreign hands. It is this kind of campaign that reduces to rubble the great cultural and philosophical strengths, the special ethos of India. It is interesting to see the opposition to the Congress be so defensive. If in fact they are not, then why the vociferous attacks, often evil-minded, malignant and vile? To allow that kind of muck into the public domain is akin to endorsing eveteasing and other horrors meted out on the streets of urban India to all. This is not ?Indian?. This is what is alien and foreign to India.