By KARTIK
LOKHANDE :
Several announcements
clearly fall in the
category of freebies
or doles. Still, there
appears to be a
sinister competition
among the political
parties in this regard.
There was a time when
the freebies were viewed
as something bad and
harmful to the progress
of the country. That does
not appear to be the case
now. More saddening is
the fact that the people
of Delhi, who have voted
for the AAP’s previous
promises previously, do
not appear to realise that
doles also come at a cost.
POLITICSistheartof thepossible,theysay. But, while making one thing
possible, several otherthingsgetcom promisedforalong,longtime.
Unfortunately,given political scenario in India, the focus
of all the parties appears to be
only on making things convenient to them possible. In the
process, they are resorting to
cheap populism. No doubt, certain sections of the society are
happy, but most are unaware of
the future dangers to overall
social health. Political class,
which usually operates with a
long-term vision of ‘five years’,
may not be bothered about the
consequences of short-sighted
actions. Hence, the responsibility to correct the course falls on
the shoulders of the citizens, particularly the voters.
The most prominent, and ugly,
display of the populist measures
is currently in place during the
campaign for the elections to
Delhi Legislative Assembly. All
the political parties, right from
the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
to Congress to smaller contestants, are busy in making
announcements to woo the voters. Several announcements
clearly fall in the category of freebies or doles. Still, there appears
to be a sinister competition
among the political parties in
this regard. There was a time
when the freebies were viewed
as something bad and harmful
to the progress of the country.
That does not appear to be the
case now. More saddening is the
fact that the people of Delhi, who
have voted for the AAP’s previous promises previously, do not
appear to realise that doles also
come at a cost.
Of course, there are saner people in Delhi who are disturbed
by the freebie culture sweeping
the political landscape there.
They realise that when something is free the beneficiary is
the product for the political class.
In a democracy, nothing may be
more shameful than citizens voluntarily adorning the role of voters who could be purchased with
the lure of financial assistance
announced ahead of elections.
Those who are disturbed with
this undesirable phenomenon,
often stop at only expressing
helplessness. At the most they
resort to social media posts. A
few among them finally choose
to press the ‘None of the Above’
or NOTA button on the electronic
voting machine. Some others
speak of not voting at all. But,
none of them realises that such
exercises do not actually bring
about a desired change in the
electoral conduct of politicians
as well as people. Even if some
do not vote or press NOTA button, they do not affect the outcome of the elections. Because,
India adopts the ‘first past the
post’ system under which whosoever secures more votes out of
the total votes polled, is declared
winner in the election.
Hence, such armchair elitism
is of no use when it comes to
effecting a change. Similarly, the
publication of criminal records
of candidates in the fray in an
election does not make any
impact other than evoking hot
debates over tea, coffee, or drinks
in posh drawing rooms. This is
because of the insensitive and
short-sighted approach taken by
the political class over the years.
The political class has realised
that emotive issues make an
impact on masses and provokes
them to vote for ‘X’ or ‘Y’ party.
So, some leader speaks of
‘Constitution in danger’ and‘proportional representation’ based
on caste lines by subtly planting
the pitch of deprivation among
various sections of society, and
some people rally behind him
without verifying his claims. So,
some leader promises doles and
then shifts the responsibility for
financial handling of Delhi to the
Central Government, and people do not question his next
announcement. So, some party
releases manifestos and makes
promises that are repackaged
freebies, and people conveniently forget the ‘revadi’ comments made by the party’s leaders. So, some parties brand everyone else as ‘petty bourgeoisie’
and people do not verify if their
allegations have truth. So, the
sympathisers of banned radical
organisations call for overthrow
of democratically elected government in the name of ‘revolution’ but the emotionally charged
people surrender their ability to
foresee destruction of social fabric.
This happens so on and so
forth… Then, what should be the solution to the scourge of political
opportunism? Beyond the abovementioned social media cry or
pressing NOTA or not voting at
all, people must stay Indians first.
Rather than allowing themselves
to be used as an electorate divided along caste, religion, language,
ethnicity, gender, beneficiary
identities, people must organise
themselves into peaceful groups
committed to the cause of holding the political class accountable. People who can afford not
taking benefits of government
schemes must genuinely refuse
to be impressed by the
announcement of doles.
Those
who truly believe (not just pay
politically motivated lip-service)
in the Constitutional values and
teachings of the eminent
founders of the Indian nation
over centuries, must refuse to
get emotive when any politician
speaks divisive language. Those
really committed to the cause
must organise and stage protests
against freebies and fake narratives at the offices of all the parties and all the leaders across the
country, to build pressure on the
political class to shun playing
dividing games.
Of course, this is easier said
than done. But, if there is any other way to curb the degenerate
political culture of freebies, fake
narratives, and emotive issues,
people are most welcome to
express those, without any political intention.Will people do this,
at least?