EVERYTHING IS NOT FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR- IT IS IN POLITICS

There is a very old saying- Everything is fair in love & war. I do not know how really this adage was generated but one thing is clear that it justifies the achievements rather than means to achieve. It is loud and clear that in ultimate analysis the only thing which carries any weight is - your goal is to be achieved. Gone are the days when people used to give more importance to the means rather than the goal and the achievement of goal had no significance if means were not proper.

Today politics is redefining this age old adage and has added new dimensions to it. Today everything is fair in politics-Indian Politics. The new mantra is- Everything is fair in politics. Those who dumped the UPA after enjoying the fruits of power for five years were shameless enough to renounce it before election on some pretext or other, have been equally shameless with no compunction to admit their mistakes remorselessly. A politician never admits or accepts a thing in direct manner but they have been very candid to admit their folly with hope that it would provide them another chance to rape the speechless bride which is known as Indian politics. It does not matter to them that just a week back they were fighting tooth & nail against the UPA and when public rejected them then they were quick to declare their support. It is of no consequence to RJD that their three MP who won election have been voted by public against Congress.

Take the example of SP in UP who had supported congress on the issue of no confidence motion on nuclear deal. Then walked out of ruling partner without withdrawing support and fought election against each other. After the declaration of results now again they are professing loyalty and support to new Govt which is to be sworn in. The supremo of ruling party in UP while sensing good number of seats in election had flown to Delhi thinking that now it is her turn to try her luck for the post of PM. They declared support to Left parties in hope to become their nominee for the prime-ministerial post so as to become the rallying point for the discontented elements. I do not think that Congress would be so naïve to align with them so as to embark on the path of suicide.

It does not matter to these actors of Indian politics and they do not mind to join hands with anybody, to collaborate with anybody, to create a filmy scene at centre , to resort to horse trading for grabbing the power because everything is saleable in the market of politics. Every element has a price and that price has to be paid. One will be surprised to listen the logic given by the leaders to justify their unjustified actions like- Politics is the name of uncertainties, everything is possible in politics, politics is the game of searching similarities among dissimilarities , a stable govt is to be provided to the country, nobody is untouchable in politics, we will not allow fundamental and non secular element to form govt, we are committed to secular govt and so on & so on. The problem is that today’s politicians have to grab the power by hook or crook and their immoral actions can be justified by such evasive talks only.

In this country a stage has come when a politician with 10-15 MPs dreams of becoming PM and expects the parties with hundred odd MPs to support him because he knows well his nuisance value. In the game of politics where 51 out of 100 counts 100 and 49 out of 100 counts 0, he knows very well that he can bargain hard because in the event of non formation of govt his loss of 10-15 MPs would be equal to the loss of 100-150 MPs belonging to larger party or the largest party. This theorem extends equal bargaining power in the power game between to highly unequal players. They assume public to be deaf, dumb and blind who can do nothing. They are themselves state leaders who would question them. Had it been for any body other than Shri Sharad Pawar from NCP he would have already shot on his feet like trio others. He judiciously waited till last and then declared his intentions to support new govt. But any body can understand with equal ease that those who were making noises from his party to make him PM ,were actually doing so at his instance only.

We have one politician known by name of Shri Ajit Singh from Lok dal who was quick to judge the trend of blowing wind and was with NDA in pre election time. The results were hardly declared and he could see the writings on the wall loud & clear. Now he has shown interests in leaving NDA and aligning with Congress to join New Govt. It is not difficult to see that the only consideration is to enjoy the fruits of power in the best possible way. The card of secularism is always available for such eventuality and to justify the action any time, anywhere.

How one can forget Leftists who had enjoyed the proximity to power for considerable durations. Then dumped the UPA on the issue of nuclear deal. Even while supporting the Govt their attitude was apparent- To take credit for every right thing done and to shun away responsibility for a unsuccessful thing. Then every now and then coming in the role of mentor cum big brother and making the going get tougher for the ruling partner so as to point finger at them. All this was being done because one thinks that people are not able to judge the real motives and they do not understand all this drama. See what has happened to them now. A party who was claiming before the election till the declaration of results that no govt can be formed without their support and congress may have to support them rather than seeking their support in formation of govt are not able to muster courage to face the media as bravely as they were doing before.

Whatever are the results of election but it is beyond doubt that the verdict given was not anticipated by any party in their wildest thought including the Congress who are now working overtime to point out the gains of hard work of Rahul. Rahul and the congress ,till the other day were busy in wooing the partners for prospective govt till the results were declared. You see how far Indian polity has traveled. It is the responsibility of political parties to give tickets to persons who are with clean image but all of them across the board had given the tickets to candidates with tarnished image and bad credentials. They had found it hard to discard them , after all in order to win election today you need money and muscle power. But this election appears to have set the agenda for the future elections in this country i.e. field the candidates with clean track record or face the consequences. It appears to me that in the time to come this message would be more loud and clear.

One has to appreciate the right thing done by Rahul. The reason for fighting election as a single party in UP and Bihar may have been taken with the view that Congress in these two states was in such a bad condition that there was nothing to loose further. So it was prudent to give a try to this idea. The concept of bringing youths in the politics who are mostly with clean track record has caught the attention of public. In Bihar it could not dent the ruling party since it is already giving good governance with social security & development activities. The people of Bihar have already enough in the past two decades and were eager to see good governance therefore there was no need for a change but in UP it has made all the difference. Irrespective of the claim of ruling party in UP, the state is in pathetic state ,very badly ridden with caste politics, corruption and abuse of power. There people could see a ray of hope in Rahul who was canvassing the transparent and corruption free politics to be judged based on the yardstick of development activities and not on the basis of caste, creed or religion.

I am of the opinion that Rahul is being groomed for the prospective role by Congress and the party stalwarts have not lost any time to see the silver linings in the achievements though they would have praised Rahul in the same manner ,had there been dismal performance by Congress . So there is nothing new if they are in full praise for him when results are good. We have to be candid with the requirements of Congress that they see something abnormal if leader is not from Gandhi family but to country it does not matter as long as a person with clear thought, sincere motives and clean image is at the helm of the affairs to discharge the business. After all one has to occupy that slot. Therefore it is of no consequences to people if Congress is able to delver under the leadership of Gandhi family. Results are needed to be delivered, that’s all.

Rahul has to be appreciated for his moral courage to point out very clearly the biggest malady with which our polity is suffering and that is caste, community, religion based politics wherein development and good governance with clean track records takes back seat. How many of our seasoned and matured politicians do have moral courage to acknowledge this evil and further how many of them have taken steps to contain this evil. At least Rahul has symbolically demonstrated with proof that youths can be trusted for this responsibility and they can a deliver results too. One may argue that if Rahul has to rise to the top post ,he do needs a team of young turks that’s why all this is being done. There is no denial to the fact that he would need a team of younger generation to force his way through the older generation. But then what is wrong in this. Any body in these circumstances would have done the same thing which Rahul is doing.

There do exists a pitfall for Rahul. The Congress party has always been accused of dynastic rule and promotion. It is true also to some extent. I was seeing the team of young MPs with Rahul and I find that most of them are either the scions of old congress men. Some of them has been taken from NSUI which is again a Congress outfit. There is lack of mass appeals to youths of this country. My suggestion would be to bring also those young persons/youths in the organization and politics who have no Godfather, no person to promote them politically or to push their cause, who is a common youth of a common family and should find a place in the Congress Organizational structure, party, set up. If this happens then a very common youth of this country would identify himself with Rahul, young Congress and this would produce miracle not only for Rahul, Congress but also for country.

We know from history that a Chandra Gupta Maurya in making needs a Chankya, kautilya. The present team of Rahul does not seem to gave one fit for this role. If Rahul takes my advice, though I am no body, it would be better the sooner he gets his Chankya because without kautilya a Chandra Gupta can not be born. Why cann’t Congress devise a screening procedure for the youths of this country on the line of Civil Services competitive exams and selects common youth for the party to be finally selected through their interview at final stage. It may be a good food for thought. I do not see anything wrong in this if it generates confidence in me that irrespective of very common family background of mine ,I have opportunity to rise in politics and fulfill my political aspirations, if found suited for this job. Let politics be a profession in the true sense otherwise at present it is a business in reality.