The unfortunate part of our nation’s life is that it remains deeply mired in all pervasive corruption and the worst sufferers consequently are the poor and marginalized sections of our population who face discrimination and injustice at every step. But no politician belonging to any section of the population, including those belonging to the dalit and backward classes or their political outfits have ever bothered to correct this tragic situation, writes former IAS officer V S Pandey
Elections are the heart and soul of democracy. But democracy should not be reduced to merely winning elections through Machiavelian politicking. Have we the people, opted for a democratic form of government to only enable these crafty netas to occupy high positions and indulge in lies, deceit, corruption, divisive caste based and religion-based politics? Or have we elected them to selflessly serve society and the nation with honesty, integrity, benevolence and compassion. Abraham Lincoln, the former president of the United States very succinctly stated that Democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. However, the current state of politics in our country is thoroughly disappointing as it is not serving for the people. Our political class has been indulging in the one-point program of fulfilling their narrow selfish interests of perpetuating their power at the cost of the rest of the population through media management, event management, rallies, road shows, and wantonly spending billions collected from unknown sources.
The next general elections to the Parliament are scheduled in the beginning of 2024 and the buzz is all about formations of new groupings and coming together of diametrically opposite political groupings. These groupings have only one preponderating commonality- the intense desire to exploit the crumbs of power. Yesterday’s political enemies have now begun to share the dais and commenced dining together. Those smaller satraps who were completely ignored and humiliated by the parties in power are in great demand currently and wooed by all. Newspapers, electronic media, social media platforms are busy gauging the public mood and predicting the future of various groupings, caste affiliations, religious based politics etc. But nowhere is the salient question of “who did what, while in power” being asked or debated. Those aspiring to capture power at the center and those trying to retain their foothold there, have been in power at the center and in states for several years, by now. The unfortunate part of our nation’s life is that it remains deeply mired in all pervasive corruption and the worst sufferers consequently are the poor and marginalized sections of our population who face discrimination and injustice at every step. But no politician belonging to any section of the population, including those belonging to the dalit and backward classes or their political outfits have ever bothered to correct this tragic situation. Corruption is the root cause of the unjust treatment meted out to those who neither have money or power or clout, and they generally are the poorest and marginalized sections of our society. None of the political parties in the fray to capture or recapture power at the center and states have done anything to stop or even limit corruption in police stations, tehsils, registration offices, supply offices, transport departments or any other department dealing with the people. The nation today is in the unrelenting grip of corruption prevalent in every arm of the government, with almost no exceptions. Corruption is the rule, honesty is the exception.
In this scenario who will win electoral power and who will lose out, is immaterial and inconsequential to almost every citizen in our country. A minuscule section does remain concerned about the color of the government as their vested interests do get affected with the change in governments. For the rest of the population, it is mindless entertainment to indulge in discussions and debate over the prospects of the political parties in the fray.
The electorate ought to be interrogating why our education system is in shambles and why no political party or their leaders have ever tried to do anything in this regard. Why has our public health care system collapsed? Why were the billionaires allowed to swindle the poor people of our country in the name of providing health services. Who is
responsible for this dismal state of affairs? Why has no government ever tried to devise policies and take serious steps to provide suitable employment opportunities for crores of our talented men and women who have been left to fend for themselves and struggle for survival. Why are the corrupt, criminals, swindlers not punished and instead are allowed to dominate our life? Why has the justice system failed in its duty to ensure justice to the people? And why is our police system busy protecting our politicians, rich and powerful, at the cost of public interest? Why is India with more than a hundred and forty crore young population so poor and so pathetic in per capita income parameters and has such glaring inequality indexes? All those who ruled India for the past seventy-five years, have tragically and repeatedly failed to not only remove wide spread poverty, inequality, injustice but have also failed to provide a decent and dignified living to our people- sans a minuscule minority.
We, the people. have to pose one basic question to all the political parties vying to rule us – why should one vote for to retain them or oust them when their performance on all fronts has remained abysmal over decades when they had the power to make the difference in people’s lives but have utterly failed to do so?
People sometimes argue in favor of one party or the other claiming that so many roads, bridges, schools, airports, highways, power and other plants were built by these leaders during their reign. We, the tax payers pay billions and billions to government coffers and with this revenue only infrastructure is built. Much more could have been created. So, no credit redounds to any politician or government. If they had infused ethics, justice, morality and honesty in governance then only would they have merited accolades. If the people in power labor to transform education, health, public amenities, police, justice and make governance honest and ethical, then only will they deserve public support. Not otherwise. The current electoral narrative is totally contrary to and negating this ideal. Today lies, duplicity, acting dishonestly, deceiving the public and dividing them on caste and religious lines, ruthlessly demonizing the other, ensures unprecedented progress in politics. This has been our nation’s unfortunate narrative. We need to reverse it now.
(Vijay Shankar Pandey is former Secretary Government of India)
