Can The Politician's Image Be Redeemed?

OPINION   First Published in TEHELKA on 08 August 2012

Can he redeem the politician?

Randeep Wadehra argues that we need leaders who genuinely care for their countrymen 

WHEN ANNA Hazare called off his fast on 2 August and declared his intention to enter the arena of electoral politics, there were mixed reactions. While some politicians dismissed it as a predictable gambit, a section of the media looked upon the development as a game-changer. Anna’s celebrity sympathisers like Anupam Kher asserted that this development was not preplanned but an unintended stage in the ongoing process involving Team Anna’s fight against corruption. Whatever the reasons or intentions for this decision it should be welcome for several reasons.

If we look at the track records of various governments since independence one cannot ignore the fact that there has been all-round bad governance. There has hardly been a serious attempt at divesting our laws, as well as the law enforcing agencies, of their colonial character. Oppression and corruption comes easily to those in power.

For a long time now the Indian polity was drifting into ennui caused by having to choose between the UPA Tweedledum and the NDA Tweedledee. Both the political groupings have shed whatever ideological pretensions they ever had. So, the Lohiaites don’t mind joining hands with the Saffronites and BSP keeps its options open between the two groups while SP and TMC use every trick — fair or foul — to extract all sorts of developmental packages for their respective states, not to mention unstated personal privileges, power and pelf for the party satraps. Whatever one may say of ideology its one major advantage was its ability to lend a distinct character to a political party. You knew where a party subscribing to a specific ideology stood vis-à-vis other political parties as well as the public at large. Now, ideology has been reduced to a partisan shibboleth mouthed during election campaigns.

We are not aware of Team Anna’s economic philosophy or social agenda except for its campaign to for the Jan Lokpal Bill against corruption. The latest developments, however, make one wonder whether the agitation was ever actually apolitical, let alone altruistic. Not that any altruism survives in our polity where expediency impels a leftist party to join hands with the right wingers merely to embarrass its political friend turned foe. Till yesterday, Bihar’s CM Nitish Kumar had no problem with BJP, but today he finds the same party tainted with Narendra Modi — as if the latter had joined the party only now. One doesn’t hold any brief for BJP whose leadership had no compunction while admitting Kushwaha to its fold, only to earn flak; the point is, our political parties have discarded all pretensions to possessing and practicing fundamental morality. This has certainly created space for a political party that genuinely cares for the country and its people.

One may rightly argue that time has come to formally bury deep all ideology and leave it in an unmarked tomb so that it may never be resurrected again. Perhaps, a new set of political ethics needs to be codified, which would be more in tune with the common man’s aspirations. However, it remains to be seen whether Team Anna would be able to provide such leadership. Presently, we do not know anything about its ideological underpinnings. The only thing we know is that it wants to fight corruption by legislating the so-called Jan Lokpal Bill. In his blog post Pritish Nandi, a former MP, had observed, “Today, out of 543 MPs in Lok Sabha, 315 are crorepatis…The assets of your average Lok Sabha MP have grown from Rs 1.86 crore in the last House to Rs 5.33 crore. That’s 200% more. And, as we all know, not all our MPs are known to always declare all their assets. Much of these exist in a colour not recognised by our tax laws… Being an MP gives you certain immunities, not all of them meant to be discussed in a public forum…If you think it pays to be in the ruling party, you are dead right: 7 out of 10 MPs from the Congress are crorepatis. The BJP has 5. MPs from some of the smaller parties like SAD, TRS and JD (Secular) are all crorepatis, while the NCP, DMK, RLD, BSP, Shiv Sena, National Conference and Samajwadi Party have more crorepatis. Do MPs become richer in office? Sure they do. Statistics show that the average assets of 304 MPs who contested in 2004 and then re-contested last year grew 300%. And, yes, we’re only talking about declared assets here.”

NATURALLY, ONE cannot expect a strong Lokpal legislation in the foreseeable future. Even if such legislation is passed, its implementation would remain doubtful given the way our system functions. We have seen how ‘stringent laws’ have been neutralised by the system: The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, enacted in 1971, has been grossly misused. It was aimed at providing relief to such girls and women as became victims of rape or those unable to bear healthy babies, apart from preventing the birth of severely handicapped babies. Moreover, unwanted pregnancies due to contraceptive failure too can be aborted under this law. Towards this end amniocentesis and ultrasound scanning were allowed to detect fetal abnormalities. Unfortunately, these techniques are being used in sex determination tests now, thus rendering a deadly blow to the birth, let alone survival, of baby girls. Would legislating laws wipe out corruption? Obviously not. What we need, at present, are not new laws but new social ethos, which would depend less on legislations and more on healthy social conventions that imbue the citizens with respect for the law as well as a constructive attitude towards the larger good of the country. It is not that we do not have good people. 

Unfortunately, unlike the evil ones, the good ones do not form powerful associations that would impact the functioning of a polity. Even when the likes of Anna Hazare come forward to bell the cat there are always Trojans that infiltrate the ranks of do-gooders and sabotage their efforts.

We need leaders who will redeem the politician’s image — so essential for the very existence of democracy. Although the term ‘politics’ is used, generally, to denote something unpalatable or mendacious it actually stands for the art and science of government; the management of a political party; political affairs and opinions; policymaking and various civil aspects of government.

Anna Hazare has clarified that he would not be a member of any political party and would stay out of quotidian politics — shades of Gandhiji? But then Gandhiji was a man of vision. He never clung to single agenda, viz., ousting the British from India. His was a holistic vision wherein social and economic equality and justice were as much the part of his thoughts and struggles as political emancipation. Anna Hazare, on the other hand, has had more experience in taking up everyday issues. If Gandhiji was a strategist with a vision, Anna is a tactician with concern for the here and now. Can he lead the country to its tryst with destiny?

Randeep Wadehra is a columnist and freelance journalist. The opinions expressed here are the author’s own.