Think beyond partisan politics and ditch the blame game
The election results from Maharashtra and Jharkhand has distracted us from more significant issues at home and abroad. Analysts are trying, desperately, to survive by babbling about ‘body language and body blows’ and commenting on the obvious to all, the bankruptcy of the Indian National Congress. The undeniable fact of the matter is that BJP is winning elections after elections not because it has found a way to hack the EVMs or that it has rigged the whole process by installing a pliable, partisan ECI and subverted the judiciary; charisma and grassroot organisation contribute undeniably, and investigating and enforcement agencies have come up with foolproof ways to bring about a change of heart among Opposition stalwarts—thorn in NDA’s flesh. Prime Minister Modi has succeeded in convincing the majority of his Hindu compatriots that (like his friend Donald Trump in the US) headlines can make Bharat Great Again.
There was a time when the pundits waxed eloquent about the lunatic fringe and ‘Silent Majority’. What the last decade has witnessed is the dramatic transformation of the ‘fringe’ into a tidal tsunami-like wave and the ‘Silent Majority’ yielding centrestage to stridently vocal vigilantes who represent the majority.
The minority that hasn’t lost its voice entirely, fumbles, falters and flounders time and again because when the ground under its feet shakes its clueless leaders think the tremors will pass and tomorrow will be another day. What the Congress High Command and other veterans in the Opposition remain blind to is the tectonic shifts at home and abroad.
People in India are tired of the Mahabharata Metaphor—the loaded game of dice, broken promises, deceit and duplicity by heros and villains alike, elders and custodians of Dharma (The Rule of Law enshrined in the Constitution in the present context) or even the clichéd concept of ‘Laxman Rekha’ from an earlier Hindu epic, the Ramayana. They have for centuries interpreted these great works on their own, drawing lessons from the mythic past to cope with the present.
The gods and demons dwell in other worlds. What they are worried about are the flawed leaders of different hues and their followers who are strutting the stage today. Those who have to worry about their daily bread have little time to waste on indictment of Gautam Adani in a US court or yet another leaked tranche of documents exposing money laundering, corporate fraud etc.
The common man/woman on the streets watches helplessly as the two houses of Parliament are repeatedly adjourned with presiding officers disallowing a debate or formation of the JPC to investigate the strange conduct of the SEBI Chairperson or the alleged collusion between top civil servants and their political masters. The sacred and profane have changed their meanings. What the mass media is obsessed with is the side shows—ecstasy and despair on the cricket pitch, peeping through the keyhole into the private life of film stars, etc.
Brazening out all criticism and deploying bulldozers to ‘level the ground’, oblivious of Supreme Court’s warnings, continues. We have stopped noticing even the tremors. The Hindi heartland—and what was once referred to as BIMARU states—where the majority of Lok Sabha seats are won and lost is hardly aware of what is happening in the periphery—distant borders where international boundaries are blurred. Manipur burning for years and Jammu and Kashmir where there has been a disturbing rise in ‘homegrown terrorism’ or the disgruntled farmers’ agitation across states seldom become election issues.
The North-South ‘divide’ isn’t as noticeable as it once was. Parties in power and those arrayed in Opposition have same ‘dynastic strengths and personal weaknesses’ as displayed by the rulers and challengers north of the River Narmada and the Vindhya Ranges.
Time to turn to the tectonic shifts that are bound to affect India in coming years more than changes in electoral fortunes of political parties. Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are in the process of drastic transformation. Even Bhutan is cautiously charting an independent course. Pakistan remains perched on the edge of a precipice. The slide to the dark abyss shows no signs of slowing down.
The world has changed dramatically, irreversibly during the war in Ukraine and the genocidal carnage in Gaza. The EU and NATO are in dire straits. Even the biggies—France and Germany—aren’t steady on their feet. The balance of power has changed in the Middle East. Iran has lost ground and Turkey is bristling its muscles. China may have agreed to lower the tensions in Ladakh for the moment but it is going to keep everyone guessing about its intentions in the South China sea and Central Asia. Fall of Assad in Syria will certainly hamper Putin’s push back.
The international milieu isn’t favourable to rapid economic growth and conducive to social justice that India urgently needs. We have to think beyond partisan politics and shed slogans blaming all ills on Urban Naxals and colonial conspiracies.
Pushpesh Pant
Former professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
pushpeshpant@gmail.com