The Modi Mask has been the most appropriate symbol of the Gujarat election 2007, need I say more? If the constituents of Gujarat genuinely believe that the incumbent chief minister will bring prosperity, inclusive growth and secular peace, and will uphold the law of the land, fight to conserve and strengthen democratic institutions, and if they vote him back with a clear majority, then, what else can I say?Gujarat deserves him and all that he stands for.
Democracy is about bringing to public office those who, you the voter believes, believe in you and your values. It reminds me of the 1977 election when this nation rejected the dictatorship unleashed by the Congress under the garb of an internal emergency in June 1975. Indians asserted their democratic rights when given the opportunity, and threw out a dictatorial regime that had abused our fundamental rights, and then, when forced to the hustings 18 odd months later, they unseated the Janata combine and voted the Congress and Indira Gandhi back.
In Gujarat, it was unusual and positive to find the Congress and Sonia Gandhi address and damn in no uncertain terms the ?Hindutva? realities and other social horrors that have erupted periodically in the state over the last decade, dividing different communities and generating fear in the minds and lives of minorities. The ?mud-slinging?, a description by the press of the podium altercation between Modi and Gandhi, gave us an honest revelation of the divergent political beliefs of the two opposing parties.
If the Congress loses this election to Modi and Moditva, for having spoken out without fear and for not having covered its position with explanations and excuses as has been its predictable and traditional wont and political stance, it will have finally ?lost? for all the ?right? reasons! Some leaders, who have been ?soft partners? with their political opposition in a desperate effort to keep the status quo and their official positions intact, and who, by not speaking out and not confronting the real issues, have over the years deeply disillusioned state Congress workers, must now be forced to be fully accountable for their past actions and deeds. Only then will change take shape.
Constituents too will start to recognise the differences between party ideologies and individual leaders, forcing the next round of elections to attract a fresh response and generate renewed faith in a hopefully evolving political space. Businessmen feel comfortable with strongarm rulers because, in a limited way, dictators tend to ?protect? the interests of that particular community.
Liberals, in contrast, work within a democratic and inclusive framework and attempt to address all levels and layers of needs and aspirations. It is far tougher than working through diktats from a politburo or high command. The original premise of the Congress of yore was to represent a cross-cultural and cross-caste cross-section of the country that believed in common values above differences of creed, tribe and faith. These were diverse representatives of the Indian polity who could together, without discrimination, participate in nation building, growth and change.
Tragically, political mismanagement, together with a lack of thoughtful application of ideas and experiments and a frightening tendency to look away from the harsh realities of India, resulted in a weakening of our inherent liberal tradition. This failure to knit the patchwork of colours and symbols aided and abetted the release of other political forces that polarised groupings, thereby renting asunder the complex and diverse fabric of this subcontinent. This has set India back.
A growing opportunist political class will have to be replaced by a committed, lively, intelligent and energetic generational shift to an environment where all the redundant baggage of the recent past will have to be abandoned, where invigorating ideas and unconventional experiments are conducted and hard risks taken. Reinvention is the call of the day!