Like a short spell of light rains in
the hot summer months, victory in Karnataka assembly elections will provide
much-needed relief to Congress party. But this will be a temporary relief.
Things will heat up soon. To be sure, it is not a spectacular victory for
Congress, rather an expected drubbing for BJP. The electorates have taught the
latter a deserving lesson. The message from Karnataka is loud and clear.
Corruption is now the most serious offence in the eyes of electorate,
punishable with denial of votes to the perpetrators. Poor governance and lack
of development also rank very high on the voters negative list. A leader is a
dealer in hope but in India we have to be content with wheeler dealers.
Hope the two major national parties dreaming to form the next government at
the center have got the message right. First BJP, the main opposition
party in the parliament. They would do well to remember the famous words
attributed to French diplomat Talleyrand about the restored Bourbon dynasty
after the abdication of Napoleon "they had learnt nothing and forgotten
nothing". Apparently, BJP have learnt nothing after debacles in Jharkhand,
Uttarakhand and Himachal to name a few. Perhaps, they would become wiser after
their thrashing in Karnataka. A party which till the other day took pride in
calling itself a party with a difference is a totally different party now. They
may be less corrupt, more democratic and development-oriented but are bereft of
new ideas. They do not seem to have added new voters and will continue to face
drought of sizeable minority votes. In short, a pedestrian party surviving
only because their main opponent is sinking in the quagmire of sleaze and
sloth. It has some competent and honest leaders but the party as a whole does
not inspire confidence. Only a Lehar (wave) can take them near
the 180 mark. And they may well be tempted to play the Narendra Modi card to
generate this wave. Will that work?
The situation of Congress is worse. They have simply lost the confidence of the
man on the streets. The life of an ordinary man has become insecure as never
before but this supine government is unable to do much. However, when it comes
to the lives of VIPs, nothing is left to chance. In fact, the union Home
Minister has created an unprecedented record by providing the highest security
cover (Z plus category) to the country's top corporate leader who lives in the
most expensive house in the world. Being the wealthiest Indian he could have
easily paid for the best available personal security system in the world. By
the way, he is the same gentleman who is reported to have boasted that "Congress
toh ab apni dukaan hai" (courtesy Nira Radia
tapes). Coming on the hot topic of corruption, as if their big-ticket
scams like CWG, 2G and Coalgate were not enough, Congress-led UPA-II government
have also dirtied their hands with smaller ventures like Adarsh gate,
Chopper gate and now Rail gate. But for the courageous and exemplary
intervention of judiciary, laudable work of CAG and alacrity of a vigilant
media, the country would not have been able to watch the corruption item
numbers in 3D. People are so aghast and distressed at this sordid state of
affairs that they are waiting for elections to fix the fixers. We know from the
tales of "Arabian nights", that only a greedy and reckless
Cassim gets caught while the smart Ali Baba manages to escape. Both brothers
have their clones in the murky world of Indian politics.
Political power is like poison, confessed Congress main hope Rahul Gandhi in an
emotional speech a few months back. Looking at the kind of life enjoyed by the
beneficiaries of this system, he should have said that power is like nectar.
Once you have it you don't need anything and if you don't have it, it does not
matter what else you have. Contrast the lifestyle of these lotus-eaters living
in a land of milk and honey with the pathetic conditions of millions who gave
them this power. Do we need to say anything more? In 2009, when he commenced
his second innings no one would have imagined that an honest, hard-working and
humble person like Dr. Manmohan Singh would come to be associated with
corruption and his opponents would dare to point fingers straight at him. A
tragic paradox but incredibly true! It remains a mystery as to why he has not
quit so far. Loyalty to the leader who gave him the job or lure for the chair
or both? One day we may know. Decent man that he is he should not have
descended so low. We can only hope that history will be kind to him. Here one
is reminded of the lamentations of Thomas Wolsey, Chief Adviser to King Henry
VIII in the 15th Century England, "If I had served my God as I did my
King, He would not have given me over in my grey hairs ".
Make no mistake. Corruption, as things stand today, will be the single most
deciding factor in the forthcoming elections to the State assemblies and
Parliament. For the political class which loves to perpetuate this unholy and
unfair dispensation, it is time to reflect on the sane advice of famous Swiss
psychotherapist Carl Jung, "The man who promises everything is sure to
fulfill nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil
means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to
perdition".
