In the Chintan Sivir meeting held to take stock of the prevailing political situation in the country, Mrs.Sonia Gandhi, the longest serving President of the Congress Party has reminded her party men to take care of the interests of the urban elite, euphemistically known as middle class, the largest pressure group in present day India. She has observed that the disconnect between the party and this growing group which is educated and more demanding should be addressed to immediately to stop further slide in the support base of the party. She is the latest entrant to the growing tribes of our political class reaching out to this particular section of our society which is hardly 20% at the most of our total population. But they are ubiquitous by their presence everywhere. In  the establishment, in the private sector, in the electronic media, and in every political party except perhaps the communist parties. The growing tribes of IT professionals lead the pack and they are held in esteem as torch bearers of new India. You had seen them in Aam Adhmi parades deriding every political party and institution, you had seen them in the candle light vigils for Jessica Lal, and latest in the so called silent protest marches in the capital against inadequacy of safety for women in the capital following  the unfortunate gang rape and murder of an innocent woman. The causes that they espouse are no doubt very important and call for introspection from every one of us. The arrogance with which they demand is what seems to be incredulously populist. It is as if rapes are not so common in the country. Attempts are made to portray the police in poor light for whatever short coming they have.

I have been observing this trend for quite some time. Even our Babus in Yojana Bhavan headed by the man who refurbished toilets at a cost of Rs. 30 lacs with a smart card to operate them, our dear Prime Minister, most of his young ministers talk about reaching to this class through social media and take their concerns seriously. The growth figures which are shown as increase in GDP is mostly through the explosive growth in service sector, more specifically in IT and IT enabled services. You have millions of youth who have attained this status of late who can afford to own 2BHK flats in Metropolitan cities, own Luxury cars and all sorts of new electronic gadgets. This is one side of the growth story. But what has been the contribution of this section to the society ? They have paid taxes honestly. Not because they realize that it is their duty but because their employers deduct tax at source. It is another matter that their employers never paid any taxes either direct of indirect. Infosys Mentor Narayana Murthy once lamented that the Government chose not to tax them even if he was willing to pay. For another year CBDT issued a circular clarifying that export income by software firms are exempt from taxes. This is when the Finance minister is confronting a fiscal deficit at 6% of GDP trying to mop up resources by auction of public resources, divestment of equity in PSUs. The growth of IT and ITES has made land prices in our cities to skyrocket making an opportunity for those in realty business to make a killing. These lands in new urban conglomerates are taken over by Governments under old archaic land laws for a pittance from their owners which are converted in to posh gated communities, with swimming pools, gymnasiums, tennis courts, and huge malls. Public Sector and Private Sector banks lend loans to this neo rich to own houses   or palaces while our farmers are committing  suicides pricked by usurious lending practices of local money lenders. This neo rich are the support bases for people like Narendra Modi who presided over a state sponsored ethnic cleansing which even if Mahatma Gandhi were to be born again will be not able to set right.

Our Technology companies ( barring the exception of TCS to a large extent) are to borrow a phrase from Chetan Bhagat are body shopping companies. They earn their living by doing some front office and back office work on outsourcing basis from US and European Capitals. None of them have done anything significant to bridge the digital divide between the rural and urban India. They do not pay taxes. They clamor for every government extended concession. They except Government to provide and improve amenities in their chosen place of business at the cost of the exchequer. They usurp vast tracts of land at throw away prices. Recently when Infosys achieved their stated turnover and profits for the latest quarter, the stocks went dizzy and breached unrealistic valuations they already achieved.

Now if you look at the demands of this middle class you can find most of them are selfish devoid of any economic sense. Remove cap on subsidized cylinders, do not increase price of diesel lest they face discomfort in guzzling diesel in their SUV and MUVs, cut those subsidies that are intended for the poor citing poor delivery mechanism, target them through Aadhar based cash transfers( or benefit transfers as the present Government would like to call them) while shower all subsidies to the sectors delivering comforts to the middle class. Sharad Pawar claims he represents the farmers but he maintains  subsidy for ensuring food security can not be met through Budgets while he clamors for all assistance to his pet projects like Lavasa corporation again a middle class dream. PM and his closest advisors call upon farmers to give up farming and take up some alternate jobs. Who will then feed our people? PL-480 was an affront prior to green revolution and these people want that to be replicated yet again.

Who are these leaders fighting the cause of this class? A Yoga Guru who runs a multi crore ayurvedic and food business, another religious teacher who teaches breathing exercises for exorbitant fees through Art of living classes, a former bureaucrat who is alleged to have misused his trust funds of his NGO, a former Police officer who collected full air fare while paying concessional fares for her travel and a Public Servant who believes he is ordained by God to organize lynch mobbing of all politicians in general and Congress in particular, an electronic media who constantly overplay the anxieties of this class by coverage on 24x7 basis their protests and street fights.

Gandhian talisman ordained any public servant to measure his acts and deeds to the effect they have had on the lives of ordinary people- the poorest of the poor, the daridra narayan. It is a reality that we still live in a country full of abject poverty, where majority of Indians are beyond the development ambit. IT may sound cynical but I believe that even after 60 years of independence, if  our priorities are skewed, when the poor choose to retaliate against a system which does not do justice to them, it will be a colossal onslaught on the rulers of the day.

It is time we re- think on our priorities and model them on aspirations of the common man.