Rise of the political phoenix
Qureish Raghib
New Delhi
Tue, 19 May 2009:
The recently concluded 15th Lok Sabha elections in India was regarded as the most incredible election exercise in the world as 8000 candidates participated in the elections and 42 crore registered voters exercised their franchise across the nation.
Alike politicians, voters too showed immense electoral matury.
In this election, voters responded positively to any candidates- regardless from any political parties- who sincerely vowed for development and peace rather than to those who indulged in communal rhetoric.
While Rahul Gandhi harped on sincere development, his cousin Varun Gandhi irresponsibly raised the communal slogan and hate-politics. Once an important ally of communal forces in Orissa, the Biju Janta Dal (BJD) registered a spectacular third-time win in the State. The BJD’s success formula reflects in its leader, Naveen Patnaik’s statement that “it’s a vote for peace and harmony as well as development”.
In comparison to past elections, an interesting fact in this election was the rise in numbers of influential and powerful politicians having lost. It reflected the mood of the voters for genuine and affective change rather than read faces.
Not only individuals, but whole political parties were ignored by voters because of their leadership’s arrogance. Self-claimed kingmakers like Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, Bihari comedian Lalu Prasad Yadav and the South Indian ‘Amma’ J. Jayalalitha, Dalit queen Mayawati and not to forget the old horse L. K. Advani, all revealed their desires to occupy 7, Racecourse Road. All lost in one way or another.
Contrary to that, successful Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi strongly declined the offers of being PM and Manmohan Singh was heard to be saying he wasn’t a ‘natural leader’. They rather, sincerely worked for the betterment of the people.
The dramatic political inroads made by the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan and Maharashtra were based more on its mature leadership rather than non-performance of past governments.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh likewise, nurtured the electoral with disciplined aptness and gained their faith which subsequently saw all but one seats won by the BJP in the State. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar smashed the caste-governed political dynamics in Bihar by wide-spread infra structural development and job-oriented schemes and yielded a resounding victory.
As for the Muslims, even though no political party sincerely fielded appropriate number of Muslim candidates, Muslim voters opted for parties which mostly won and are in a position of strength at the Centre.
Muslims apparently voted in two ways. In States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi and Chhattisgarh, local Muslims were taken for granted as they had no option but to vote for ‘friendly’ political parties like the Congress- whether it had performed or not for the community’s development.
However in some places of Gujarat, Karnataka and Orissa, Muslims directly voted for communal party candidates or out-rightly didn’t vote any of the candidates and hence indirectly helped communal party candidates who have contributed in the local Muslim community’s development. Muslims, particularly in the Hindi heartland in central India have largely voted with an open mind taking widely into account their local interests in business and social development. Muslims in West Bengal distanced themselves from the Left government after supporting it for three decades. The Left enraged Muslim leaders by not giving serious heed to their plight, particularly after the declaration of Sachar Committee Report.
Subsequently, serious thought will now be given by political parties to involve Muslims in mainstream politics and governance. It’s time politicians understand that traditional vote bank politics is now passé. Accountability and performance now rules in the new, young India.
However, it wouldn’t be wrong to state that the 15th Lok Sabha election has risen the phoenix and a slow return of one-party rule is on and a gradual decline in multi-party government evident.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Jawaharlal Nehru are the only PMs so far to have been re-elected after a full five years term in office, but the only issue by which PM Singh can create history by getting elected for the third consecutive time would be by affectively pursue development, peace and stability in India. He has all the cards in his favour. Can he do it – is the ultimate question?
(The author is a political and social commentator. He can be contacted at: qhraghib@gmail.com)