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- Aditi R Raja, December 20, 2005, 15:00 IST
Most people will agree that politics is struggle for power and
a game of false promises, where the end utterly justifies the
means. People who play this game swear by its codes. They use
every bit of their political talent — with emotions and
visions as catalysts — to lure electorates for their party.
The most talented one grows to become the ‘icon’.
Subsequently, the ‘icon’ becomes too good for the
party that makes it. Indian politics is not alien to such events.
Every major political faction in India has internal or external
offshoots. ‘Icons’ keep altering their paths to
power. Assurances made in the name of one party get bartered
to another. And when the ‘icon’ bathes in the new
ideologies, the duties and priorities obtain new political ‘colours’.
But, what becomes of the voting public that swears by the ‘icon’?
Are they swayable? Or do they ask, “Yeh naya rang kaunsaa
hai”?
Maharashtra witnessed the most glaring shift in loyalty when
Narayan Rane joined forces with the Congress party against his
mentor Bal Thackeray’s saffron organization, Shiv Sena.
What ensued was a heated exchange of verbal outbursts, with
Thackeray calling his ex-lieutenant a “dedh footya”.
Rane pledged allegiance to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, who is one of
the regular targets of Sena’s frequent verbal bouts. However,
his defiance earned the Sena no gain, while Rane bagged the
State Revenue Minister’s gaddi. Another die-hard Sainik,
Sanjay Nirupam, had joined the Congress only a short while before
Rane took the plunge too. Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray’s almost
‘Rane-like’ act has only meant more trouble for
Sena. However, Rane’s supporters are as trusting of their
leader as ever. “He has always worked for the people and
he will continue to work for the people. If he has taken this
decision, there has to be a solid reason,” says Sanjay
Pawar, an auto-rickshaw driver in Chembur. Some wear the support
for their leader on their sleeve. “I completely believe
Raneji. He is not fanatic and that is the reason he separated
from the Sena. He will champion the bigger cause of the people,”
opines Shyam Kunder, a shopkeeper in South Mumbai. Incidentally,
another ex-Sainik, Chaggan Bhujbal, too has had all-gains after
joining the NCP. He has served as the deputy Chief Minister
of Maharashtra. “These leaders were left cold and damp
in the Sena. See, how much they have succeeded after leaving
the party,” says B.S. Arun, a banker from Bandra, who
feels that at times, parties underplay the potential of its
leaders forcing them to move out. Many like Arun feel that politics
in India is all about personalities, after all.
Blind followers exist no doubt, but there are also some who
back the split-ups and new unions for they feel, it helps the
leaders serve the people better. “I never held Rane in
high regard while he was a Sainik. Now, I respect him more as
an individual,” says Shilpa Surve, an advertising student.
“In fact, unlike in the Sena’s throttlehold, the
democratic and open structure of the Congress will give him
the liberty to perform better,” she adds. So, do leaders
literally try to break free from dynastic or despotic group?
Clashes for the top posts are an old story. And the Congress
Party has received the maximum blame for ‘dynasty politics’.
He joined the Janata Party in 1977. Today, rebellious politicians
choose to establish their separate parties. After much acrimony
for the Congress, Sharad Pawar, with P.A. Sangma, floated the
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Today, Congress and the NCP
have a coalition alliance in Maharashtra. Mamta Banerjee’s
famous Trinamool Congress and Karunakaran’s little faction
of Congess in Kerala too are fine examples of the power hunt.
The fragmentation and proliferation in Indian politics is greater
than ever. Gone are the days of the ‘two-party’
structure. Today, there are desertions, divisions, alliances,
cross-alignments, coalitions and walkouts galore. This is primarily
not because of disagreement over ideologies, but for the want
of personal parochial political profits. Everyone wants to be
the kingmaker. The splinter groups have become inevitable because
bigger parties have no room for the swelling economic interests
of the local dominant leaders. These leaders choose to be big
fish in small ponds rather than yield to the managerial and
organizational guidelines of larger parties. Though there are
people, to whom all that matters is the ‘icon, largely
the triumph of the party remains subject to the work that the
‘icon’ continues to do in its name. “It is
well known that these politicians do any thing for power. Changing
parties is only a part of it. In stead if they concentrate on
the needs of the people, they will win anyway,” states
Vijayalakshmi Bhaskaran, a higher secondary school teacher in
Andheri.
Some see politics as a contagious disease that spares no one
who comes in contact with it. “In politics, it is second
nature to be a double dealer. No one is immune. They do it all
the time — with people and their parties too,” asserts
Ajanta Godambe, a railway official. The credibility of those
who regularly change colours is the large question. This lust
for power has resulted in moral degradation. “How can
you trust some one who promotes the very cause that he has been
swearing against?” asks Jagruti More, a call center executive
in Belapur. The erosion of faith is obvious. There are people
who feel ballot vote is no longer significant. The leaders,
who solicit votes for a party, once told voters to stay away
from it. “It is like choosing the lesser evil. All promises
are, after all, based on the calculations of gain and loss.
We think they think about us. The fact is, they don’t,”
declares Shamavi Gupta, a homemaker in Ghatkopar. “Look
at Uma Bharati, who is ready to take sanyas at the drop of a
hat,” she adds.
Like everyone else, today politicians, too, are busy taking
care of their power-numbers. It is the age of ‘career-politics’.
An expressway to Satta is all that needs to be built. A large
number of the population feels demoralized at the degeneration
of leadership qualities and values. Power is the sole moving
force. While in pursuit of it, fair is foul and foul is fair.
All politicians know that common ‘symbols’ will
do their job in drawing in vote banks, no matter what dye they
use. The people seek a charismatic and towering central leader,
who can keep the flock together. People seem to have resigned
to the fact that politics is a dirty game and very few can remain
clean in the muck. Though the public memory is short, its wrath
is explosive, which should keep the politicians well aware of
their actions and compel them to transform their words into
deeds. All said and done, we will all agree that changing colours
will always remain a part of the politician character. For,
once a politician, always a politician!
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