The Politics of it all...

Brevity is overrated. In my world, it is indeed. I am such a sucker for details. Of course, being articulate is an enviable quality to posses. But sometimes those long verbose, unwieldy dialogues are much more revealing than short, succinct responses.


[Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking you trade in lively, incisive discussions for boring speeches, like the ones that some of our politicians make!]

Speaking of which, I watched Rajneeti the other day. Although the movie was not about what I had thought it would be, I came out feeling good. Ranbir Kapoor’s dark side, scheming yet restrained, was definitely something which kept me engrossed. {On a tangential note his character reminded me of how we continuously think how a ‘clean’ man can’t enter and survive mainstream ‘politics’. You have to sell your sell your soul and cross over to the dark side.} Nana Patekar was his usual brilliant self, and it would have been so amazing to have him and Naseeruddin Shah in the same frame. But it was not to be. Manoj Bajpai has always been a draw for me, ever since his Satya days. The movie is largely about dynastic politics and the in-fighting in a powerful family which holds the state ransom to its whims and fancies. While the cast gives the movie much needed impetus, it failed to impress me much. It could have been so much better. The dialogues were uncannily weak and subdued. While this one-time watch is not a complete down, but with contextual similarities to Mahabharata and Godfather, I expected much more from Prakash Jha. Enough said, since my cinematic reviewing skills are very, very limited at best I would encourage Jabberwock’s review of the movie. Brilliant.

On a separate note, the opposition parties called for a nationwide “bandh” on Monday against price rise. They were supposedly doing it only for the common man, the daily wage earner. The spiraling costs due to inflation have hit most sections of the Indian society. The issue warrants concern and should surely be dealt with urgency, but a nationwide bandh?? Grr…. What does that achieve?

[I do not have any political leanings, and no favorites to speak of. But a deep interest in observing our elected representatives compels me to give in to the following rant]

The BJP top brass (Party president Mr. Gadkari, senior leaders like Mr. Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and several others) came out to the streets in protest. Some political leaders courted arrested, while others were more like strategic generals who only cracked the whip from their comfort zones. Sharad Yadav was quick to declare the bandh representative of the people’s verdict on the issue. Mr. Chandrababu Naidu warned of increased agitation if their demands were not met. Mrs. Karat, was quick to declare, and repeatedly asserted later, the CPI (M) was not joining hands with the BJP, and the issue was not a political one but one where people had come out to protest against the unilateral decision making of the government. She seemed extremely concerned with people doubting CPI(M)’s ideological purity since they choose to align with their sworn enemies, BJP. The CPI (M) and other Left parties do not suffer from vacillations and compromises to which the Congress was prone, she claimed in one televised interview.

The Bandh was successful, declared all the parties in unison. But was it? Did people down shutters because they are in agreement with the opposition’s decisions or was it because they feared physical harassment and damage to their properties/shops?

As expected, congress was also extremely quick in terming the bandh a nuisance. It went as far as to call the bandh anti-people and accused the opposition of being irresponsible. Our Finance Minister, Pranab Da, urged the people to look beyond “the cheap and opportunistic politics at the cost of the nation.” He also ruled  out a re-visit to his decision to de-regulate the fuel prices.

Sigh.

Personally, my irritation began on Friday itself. When I was writing an email to my US counterparts to inform them that the Indian office would be shut due to a nationwide Bandh, I was kind of ashamed.

[I almost typed in that we too were celebrating the American Independence day!]

In this day and age, it is almost preposterous. It just did not make sense. I get it that people want to protest against certain policies of the government and it is their fundamental right to do so. BUT, it is my fundamental right to NOT be a part of it. I am pretty sure the constitution states that the right to expression should be carried out peacefully. Why enforce the bandh? It will only make me question the validity of such a bandh. Who actually went out and protested? Was it the common man or a bunch of for-hire gundas, or simply misguided party workers? How is burning of 100 buses, interrupting rail and air traffic and disrupting public life of any benefit to the common man? Why did the leaders of the opposition fail to engage the government in a meaningful dialogue over the price rise issue in the regular parliament sessions? Oh wait, they can’t do that. They are to busy interrupting the proceedings, hurling chappals, calling names and staging walk-outs. Are the opposition parties simply there to oppose anything the government (or a particular party in power) says? School and college goers rejoiced as most schools remained shut. Working professionals could not care less as long as they got an extended weekend to enjoy the World Cup madness.

I know of a particular instance, wherein a company {which without being named is part of one of the most trusted and respected industrial groups in India} which was working despite the bandh being announced, was arm twisted into shutting down. A group of hooligans entered the official premises & went from floor to floor, terrorizing the employees till the senior management rued their earlier decision to remain open. Banking operations were disrupted in several states. The daily wage laborers, who this bandh was supposed to protect, lost a day’s wage. Most of us will have to work an extra Saturday in lieu of the forced holiday on Monday. I still remember a particular snap in one of the newspapers, where a bride looked very sullen, as most of the guests could not show up for her wedding. This was supposed to be the happiest day of her life.

These so called elected representatives, messiahs of the comman man, are hardly common men and women. What is common about them? They are in most cases elitist, power drunk and very rich. Are they willing to give up the free fuel, electricity, water and other perks like chauffeured transport, armored security and residences in plush locales? I do not find them stranded in traffic? Neither is any one of them by my side when police turn to harassing general public and refuse to register FIRs.

In all this chaos, few things did not quite catch the limelight. It was originally BJP, who had proposed the de-regulation of fuel prices. Of course, they will plead higher inflation. But our Oil companies have been running into heavy losses, financial prudence dictates that we allow the free market to take over. In every country tax cess on fuel is a variable component of the total fuel price. In US it is 19% of the price, in Japan it is 43%. In India it is 39%. That is steep and while I could definitely use a little deflation, is the correct answer to give in and continue with subsidies? Do subsidies doled out really help? They are designed to help the poor(er) people. But the fact is the benefits of cheaper fuel do not necessarily percolate down to the very poor. The same benefits are enjoyed by people riding a 2 wheeler bajaj scooter as well as the young couple driving in their new Mercedes. While I am not sure if subsidies should be done away with, we should definitely revisit them if and evaluate if they actually achieve their purpose. Is there not a better solution to this problem?

Another thing which emerged, which I did not know of is that the bandh was noticeably worse in the states ruled by the opposition parties. Life was disturbed to a lesser extent in Cong ruled states.

[Is it that people in Cong ruled states do not mind the hike in fuel prices or do you sense something else here?]

Apparently, Congress had proposed to all state governments to reduce the sales tax from the current highs to offset the fuel price hikes. And now to anybody that would be a sensible move, right? After all, all the politicians are concerned about is the strain on our purse strings. And any relief, howsoever little, is going to help. But most of the states ruled by opposition parties declined. Why? Because sales tax collected goes to state ministry coffers as opposed to the central government. Sheesh! My mind is boggling at this point. And I am not sure if I can continue to draw any rational conclusions anymore.

Are these the people we have elected? Do we really have a choice? What kind of message are we sending to the other countries? Is India truly ready for prime-time as everyone believes? I wonder. Regardless, I will always remember that on July 5th India was held hostage by the very custodians of our democratic rights.