Elections have been announced for Uttar Pradesh (UP), a state that has traditionally controlled who rules the country from Delhi. For any party to get a majority and not have to spent quality time dealing with the many idiosyncratic and ideological interventions of coalition partners, is near impossible without a majority of seats from UP. The largest region under one legislative assembly, it needs to be bifurcated into at least four segments to allow for proper functioning and growth. This heartland of India continues to wallow in economic backwardness, societal upheavals and rampant criminality, despite having once been rich in tradition, culture, intellectual discourse, political movements and all the other ingredients of civilised society.

The deterioration over decades of failed governance has resulted in anarchy. Values have changed, positive aspirations have been suppressed by profound fear of high-handed authority and landed robber barons who have usurped and overwhelmed the public space. Poverty is more apparent here than in any other state. Coalition politics that has been reduced to blackmail and horse-trading, whether in the states or at the centre, has betrayed India and her growth, has compelled this subcontinent to stagnate, particularly across the hugely neglected countryside.

If only there was a national political party that was willing to open its eyes and ears to see and hear the pleas of the people, some plaintive and peaceful, others militant and armed, change would happen. People, regardless of caste, faith, creed or class, from top to bottom, are tired of corruption, exploitation, faulty policies, misrule and total lack of governance. This year India celebrates 60 years of Independence and we have not been able to make our municipalities work and be accountable, let alone our democracy. We have created destructive monsters that have corroded almost all the institutions that were anointed to work ?for the people?. Over the last four decades, the Indian administrative system has worked for the handful who control the reins and misuse the system to dominate the rest. This is because the intellectual calibre of those who are employed to serve the nation is limited. Overarching general knowledge is virtually non-existent, reading is rare, manipulation is rampant, ?innovative interpretations? of the law to suit personal gain form the prevailing administrative mantra. Unfortunately, no government seems to want to alter this course, or restore a semblance of dignity. Maybe those in command know no better and cannot see the filth that we live within. Maybe the best and brightest have moved away from governance, leaving the realm open to all men and women who have neither the passion nor the inclination to commit themselves to the excitement of change. Maybe their dream and ambition is to move one more step up the ?social ladder?, up the economic scale. Period.

The deterioration over decades of failed governance has resulted in anarchy. Positive aspirations have been suppressed by a profound
fear of authority

It never ceases to surprise me that our ministers, their secretaries and other public personages who have passed through school and university, who have travelled far and wide in India and overseas, do not see the muck around them. They drive down city streets that are impossible to navigate if you are a law abiding citizen, they walk past unattended garbage pile-ups outside their homes, they watch men pee on their outer walls, and they themselves spit out scum with impunity. Why? What is it that makes them into such non-participatory zombies? What makes them so utterly base? What motivates this sheer disregard for civilised living?

The central cabinet in New Delhi has, amongst its members, many sophisticated individuals who have seen the world and its many contours, have experienced much diversity.

Where are they in this deteriorating mess? Have they abdicated their mandate to lead? Are they tied up in knots and therefore not able to deliver even simple change and renewal? Is it time to shift the generation in power into forced retirement to save India?